Bangkok Bus Terminals

[Braveheart]

Bangkok's three official long haul bus terminals are:

 

Eastern Bus Terminal - also known as Ekamai, this relatively compact terminal is located right next to Ekamai BTS station on Sukhumvit (E7). Ekamai serves Eastern Thailand destinations, including Pattaya, Rayong, Ban Phe, Chanthaburi and Trat.

 

Northern Bus terminal- also known as Moh Chit (or Mor Chit or Morchit), this is the largest, busiest, and most modern terminal. The upper floor serves the North-East (Isaan); the ground floor serves the North, as well as sharing some destinations with Ekamai (including Pattaya, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat). It's a 30-baht moto hop (or a lengthy hike across Chatuchak Park) from BTS Moh Chit/Metro Chatuchak stations (N8/18), or take the 77 bus and pay the 7-baht flat fare on board.

See the Phahonyothin District guide for more details.

 

Southern Bus Terminal- also known as Sai Tai Mai, this older and relatively chaotic sprawling terminal serves all points west and south from its somewhat inconvenient location on the "wrong" side of the river. The terminal is scheduled to move to a new, even more remote location in Phutthamonthon Soi 1 in February 2007.

 

Extracted from Wikitravel: Bangkok Bus Terminals

[whitespider - RIP]

I do the bus trip every week for work, despite having two cars, as it is more convenient and cheaper and just as quick. Granted I live almost next to the Bus Terminal on Nua but it is still an easy trip.

 

If you are heading for Sukhumvit or Silom (most will be I think) then you should get the Ekamai bus.

 

However do NOT get off at the final destination (Ekamai) - ask the attendant to drop you at On Nut and they will drop you at the foot of the On Nut BTS stairs. Lots of people tend to get off here so its easy to do.

 

This gives you only two extra stops on the BTS but can save anything up to 40 minutes as the traffic usually crawls that last mile from On Nut to Ekamai. In addition if gets you off the bus faster too.

 

Travel time (to On Nut) is around 1 hour 45 - 2 hours. If you go all the way to Ekamai you can bank on anything up to 2.5 hours.

 

Cost will be 117 baht plus 25 baht into (say) Nana on the BTS - all in all its far faster than a taxi all the way (to Nana) at a fraction of the cost. The buses are ALL air-con. Most are quite comfortable, with reclining seats etc but a few are older and not so good. Taxi is probably only worth it if you have 3 people travelling and sharing costs.

 

I recommend buying a 1 day tourist pass on the BTS which is 100 baht if you will be moving around.

Edited December 26, 2006 by whitespider

[eddieusa]

Just a warning about heading to Pattaya from the Ekamai bus station. I was walking into the parking lot of the bus station as a bus was pulling out. An attendant on the bus yelled to me "pattaya?, pattaya?" I indicated yes and the bus stopped and let me on. I paid the 118 baht to the attendant. The bus however, did not go to the Pattaya bus station but rather only travel through Pattaya on its way to someplace else. They let me off at a bus stop on Sukhumvit road. Lesson learned...go into the bus station and buy a ticket.

[Newton]

IT was probly the bus to Rayong , Bangkok South Has been relocated , It is better now . Ekami is ok if you want to get the Sky train, its just out side the terminal, from there you can get any were in Bangkok on the sky train

Edited January 20, 2009 by friendlyric6411

[bjornster]

Just a warning about heading to Pattaya from the Ekamai bus station. I was walking into the parking lot of the bus station as a bus was pulling out. An attendant on the bus yelled to me "pattaya?, pattaya?" I indicated yes and the bus stopped and let me on. I paid the 118 baht to the attendant. The bus however, did not go to the Pattaya bus station but rather only travel through Pattaya on its way to someplace else. They let me off at a bus stop on Sukhumvit road. Lesson learned...go into the bus station and buy a ticket.

 

This bus is slower then the normal pattaya bus since it does not take the highway and stops many times for everybody waving a bit. (The might take up to 3,5 hours and do not have a toilet on board).

 

So yes, the best thing to do is buy a ticket at the ticketwindow, there are so many frequente departures you do not have to wait long.

[rampetamper]

Another warning about the Ekamai station: coming from Sukhumvit Road you wil see several bus stops in front of the building, but buses to Pattaya leave from the other side of the building. I found this out well before departure time, but if I had been late, I could have missed it.