private taxi vs meter taxi from bkk to pattaya

[westexpat2]

looked but did not see this question / answer, if there is an answer please link it.

What is the current cost of meter taxi from bkk to pattaya

vs how reliable and on time are taxi service like nam's etc... 

considering just getting first meter taxi if they are the same price and dont have to wait if they are late ( or if im late ) current private taxi seems to be 1100b 

arriving at 6am mid week. 

thank you 

[Kandinski]

No idea of price on metered but e.g. Nam has never failed to show and if she did U still got the metered right outside the door

 

[Sloracer]

1 hour ago, westexpat2 said:

looked but did not see this question / answer, if there is an answer please link it.

What is the current cost of meter taxi from bkk to pattaya

vs how reliable and on time are taxi service like nam's etc... 

considering just getting first meter taxi if they are the same price and dont have to wait if they are late ( or if im late ) current private taxi seems to be 1100b 

arriving at 6am mid week. 

thank you 

Bangkok is a big place. Are you talking about Suvarnabhumi Airport or Bangkok City. From the airport a private car will be ฿ 1000-1200 (+ tip up to you) and a standard taxi around ฿1500.

If you do a search here you will find many existing threads on this.

Edited January 19, 2025 by Sloracer

[Luv2Phuket]

I have zero experience using a metered taxi from BKK to Pattaya (I'm in the "use Nam's" camp), I'd be pretty shocked if a driver agreed to use the meter all the way to Pattaya.

And I don't blame the taxi driver -- unless he gets incredibly lucky and finds someone going back, he's effectively driving RT for a OW fare.

[Kandinski]

9 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

....driving RT for a OW fare.

...and the 4-500thb for doing that has OFC  already been included in the price. 

[travelling_man]

3 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I have zero experience using a metered taxi from BKK to Pattaya

We didn't have grab or many reliable alternate taxi services when I first started my trips.  Metered taxis were the only choice at first.  No one like them.

Sometimes you would be in a taxi and half way to Pattaya they would stop and tell you to get in the other taxi as they would finish the trip.  Talk about f$&_king scary doing this at night on a dark road.

I'm sure they don't do this anymore ... But still, I never forgot it.

Made the switch to private taxis and never looked back.

Nam's has a bad reputation to me and I would never use her service.  But there are many reliable alternate services who will be there for you.

But if you want adventure ....

 

 

[LoneCelt]

 

I had a FU with Nams one night.
Result was no driver waiting. Rather than hanging around for hours (even minutes) after a loong flight.
It's a no brainer to us Grab then. The app is available with the airport wifi or better still go to their despatcher in the taxi section and you will get the fare quoted there, like Bolt job is job based not time so the meter doesn't matter.

14-1500THB everything included. So for about €5 more than Nam you are on your way again.

Thailand is very easy to recover from irregular operations like this, everything is irregular, hard to grasp that concept in the West.

[mtr81]

I have booked with Nam's.  After a 12 hour flight with probable poor sleep I don't want to have to look for a taxi on the day while hauling around 25kg of luggage. I want someone waiting for me who will then drop me at the entrance to the hotel with minimal effort. If it costs a few hundred Baht extra then that is a price I am willing to pay. I will send a reminder the day before I fly though as I booked quite far in advance...

[h.harris]

Just come back to Pattaya few days ago and here are the options that I found :

1. Bus to North Pattaya Bus station or Jomtien (170 baht for Pattaya/Jomtien bus or 190 baht for the Bell bus).

2. Bolt car or private book, mine was with Meow (1100 baht).

3. Grab car (1350 - 1500 baht)

4. Airport taxi (1700 baht... they have a printed card which will show you this amount, but they were asking for 2200 baht at the beginning and not until I walked away that this card was shown. Have to haggle hard, may get a little cheaper but this is the only last option !)

Me personally, I take the bus to Pattaya and would book the private car with Meow for the trip to the airport (plane does not wait for you 555...)

Last time I took the Bell bus to North Pattaya Bus Station for 190 baht, and a Bolt to my condo for 80 baht. Big A/C bus, Bolt was 1 minute wait, for only 270 baht in total and best of all, no need to haggle or pre-booked !

[Luv2Phuket]

I should have qualified my input with this:  I don't even take metered taxis from BKK to my hotel in Bangkok. 

I used to, but they are almost always crappy cars, with uncomfortable seats and shitty a/c (my experience; yours may differ).

After 30 hours of travel (including layovers/connections), I don't wanna cram my frame into a Corolla with spring popping out of the seats.  I spring for the extra $40 or so and have a Bangkok car service pick me up.

[kd_traveller]

Also, check if there is a festival happening in Pattaya if you chose to get the bus to North Station from either the airport of Bangkok. In late November, I got the dates of the Fireworks Display mixed up and arrived on the Saturday at around 4pm from Ekmai and the bus took nearly 3 hours.  I then spent an hour waiting for a Bolt, they kept cancelling and one accepted, but then wanted to increase the price dramatically by a factor of 4 or 5!

When one did finally arrive, it then took 58 minutes to Soi Buakhao 15! So all in all 5 hours from Bangkok to where I was staying in Pattaya, If I had known, I would have got an earlier or later bus so as not to hit Pattaya at that time.

It should also be noted that a Bolt fare may not be the final price as they have the option to increase the price if traffic is heavy.  You will only know the final price once the journey is finished.  This happened to me in Bangkok when after heavy traffic the driver demanded about 2.5 times the agreed fare, which I initially thought was scam, until I saw the  email from Bolt which confirmed the price. It is a bit opaque how any additional fee is calculated and the driver has the option to apply it or not!

For these reason I have always used Nam or a similar service like Meow when coming from BKK as at least you know the cost in advance!

 

PS, I did give the Bolt driver an additional tip from the North Bus Station as he did not avail of the option to increase the fee due to the heavy traffic.

[Greg_B]

13 hours ago, travelling_man said:

Nam's has a bad reputation to me and I would never use her service.  But there are many reliable alternate services who will be there for you.

But if you want adventure ....

 

 

I'd never use anyone but Nam for my ride to/from the airport

[darpra]

Pre booked taxi -1100b

Bolt - 1100-1200b. Usually its someone else who gets the booking. They chat and negotiate a price and then another driver shows up and picks you up.

I asked some electric vehicle counter just outside BKK - 2000b for small sedan. I thought electric would be cheaper.

[sinbinjack1951]

On 19/01/2025 at 00:43, westexpat2 said:

looked but did not see this question / answer, if there is an answer please link it.

What is the current cost of meter taxi from bkk to pattaya

vs how reliable and on time are taxi service like nam's etc... 

considering just getting first meter taxi if they are the same price and dont have to wait if they are late ( or if im late ) current private taxi seems to be 1100b 

arriving at 6am mid week. 

thank you 

The first time I was in Thailand I did the meter taxi thing and just negotiated a price ,only to be dropped of out side the airport and stuffed in a rather old car and taken to Pattaya in that. I got there with no problem but it's something to watch out for. A better way is a taxi you booked and my choice has been Nams taxis , all women drivers and decent cars at decent prices.   [email protected]

Edited July 27, 2025 by sinbinjack1951

[Hamchang]

I used to use AOT for years simply because once i had my bags I moseyed to the counter by baggage reclaim and then they take it and off we go into a car with no fucking about. Last trip I tried Nams and another, and although the car was OK etc the whole kerfuffle of finding them, hanging around whilst they get a car for you, walking miles to the car (or what felt like miles) just annoyed me a little. From a hotel in BKK then its fine, but when I get to BKK off of plane I just prefer spending a little more to get a whole lot more in terms of service. 

So in answer to the question, neither. But if it were a straight shoot out, Nams or @jerry's missus if she is still doing it. Better cars, less chance of being rinsed, and no stupid loud exhausts to give you a blinding headache. 

[pHD (MiT)]

I used Cherry Taxis on my last trip both ways, airport to Pattaya and vice versa. Perfectly happy with service, will use again.

[Luv2Phuket]

14 hours ago, pHD (MiT) said:

I used Cherry Taxis on my last trip both ways, airport to Pattaya and vice versa. Perfectly happy with service, will use again.

I used Cherry one time when Nam couldn't get me a driver (Bangkok hotel to Pattaya).  I was very happy with their service.

[jerry]

On 28/07/2025 at 02:26, Hamchang said:

So in answer to the question, neither. But if it were a straight shoot out, Nams or @jerry's missus if she is still doing it. Better cars, less chance of being rinsed, and no stupid loud exhausts to give you a blinding headache. 

Sun still going strong . 

[kiera8x2]

Meter taxis are okay but sometimes they try to negotiate a flat rate anyway which is annoying after a long flight. 

I used Transfeero for that specific route last month and it was way smoother since the price was locked in. 

It’s better to have someone waiting with a sign than hunting for a cab at 6am.