Getting in Pattaya By Train

Provided it’s a weekday, the most economical way to travel between Pattaya and Bangkok by public transport is by rail - the one-way fare is just 31 baht, and if you’ve never experienced a 3rd class Thai train, this is a good one to try.

From Monday to Friday, a single daily 3rd class (non-aircon) train departs Bangkok’s Hualamphong Train Station at 06:50 and arrives at the main Pattaya station at 10:18, before continuing on to Sattahip; it then returns via Pattaya at 14:21 and terminates back in Bangkok at 17:40 (on Saturdays and Sundays it turns back to Bangkok at Chachoengsao, so is of no practical use for getting to or from Pattaya at weekends). Regardless of direction, simply turn up and buy a ticket at the station - this train can’t be pre-booked.

Pattaya has two train stations, both just east of Sukhumvit Road:

Pattaya Train Station (tel. +66-38429285) is the main stop, just north of the junction with Central Pattaya Road (from Sukhumvit Road, turn into Soi Pornprapanimit and then turn left immediately before the road crosses the railway line). A Baht Bus waits here for the train to arrive and charges a reasonable 30 baht/person to anywhere in the Pattaya Beach area; in the opposite direction, budget around 40-50 baht for a motorbike taxi from Beach Road. Facilities comprise a small snacks / chilled drinks counter, toilets, a solitary payphone, and the ticket office - which also sells maps of Pattaya.

Pattaya Tai Train Station is a small unmanned halt about 3 km further south, and hence closer to Jomtien, near the Sukhumvit / Thepprasit Road intersection.

At the main Pattaya Train Station, tickets must be bought before boarding and are only sold in the final 30 minutes prior to departure. The fare from/to Bangkok is 31 baht, from/to Sattahip 6 baht.

As the Pattaya Tai halt has no ticket office, passengers are permitted to board here without tickets and then pay on the train (32 baht to Bangkok).

The surcharge for transporting a bicycle (up to 20 kg) between any two points on this line (ie Bangkok-Sattahip) is 80 baht.

Tickets for other journeys can be purchased (up to a maximum of 60 days in advance) at the Pattaya Train Station ticket office between 08:00 and 16:00; the same tickets can also be arranged through Pattaya agencies, who will add on a 200-300 baht markup to cover their assistance and the cost of sending a moto-taxi to collect the tickets from the station

Pattaya Orientation - Read it First

Districts “Greater Pattaya” occupies most of the coastline of Banglamung (one of the eleven districts that comprise Chonburi Province). It is divided into a larger northern section which spans the areas to the east of Naklua Beach (the most northern beach) and Pattaya Beach (the main beach) plus the Buddha Hill headland (immediately south of Pattaya Beach), and a smaller southern section covering the area to the east of Jomtien Beach (which lies directly south of Buddha Hill) including Dongtan Beach. Jomtien’s beaches are much broader and generally in better shape, and the atmosphere locally is more sedate and family-oriented, than at Pattaya Beach.

South is central, Central is north Pattaya’s sub-district names sometimes cause confusion, usually when the official Pattaya Bay area titles (North Pattaya, Central Pattaya, South Pattaya) are misunderstood. These names don’t relate to Pattaya as a whole, instead they refer to the sections of Pattaya Beach to which each sub-district is aligned. Pattaya’s coastal side is divided longitudinally into five contiguous sub-districts (or six, if also including Jomtien). Each one is named after the section of beach or headland at its seaboard.

In the middle are the three Pattaya Bay sub-districts, which share the main Baht Bus route (so most places are within 5 minutes / 10 baht of most other places, at any hour) and have much else in common, and hence in combination make up the main quasi-downtown zone:

North Pattaya (Pattaya Nua) - not the northern-most part of Pattaya (as Naklua lies further north), but the section of Pattaya adjacent to the northern end of Pattaya Beach and extending inland to both the north and south of North Pattaya Road. Does not include Naklua.South Pattaya (Pattaya Tai) - not the southern-most part of Pattaya (as the Buddha Hill headland, and then Jomtien, lie further south), but the section of Pattaya adjacent to the southern end of Pattaya Beach and extending inland to both the north and south of South Pattaya Road. Includes Pattayaland and Walking Street. Does not include Buddha Hill or Jomtien.

Central Pattaya (Pattaya Klang) - not the dead centre of Pattaya, but the section of Pattaya adjacent to the middle of Pattaya Beach and extending inland to both the north and south of Central Pattaya Road. Some maps/guides disregard the Central Pattaya convention, and instead extend North Pattaya and South Pattaya to meet each other along Central Pattaya Road; sometimes, Beach Road is described with a similar division, and the respective halves given “North Beach Road” and “South Beach Road” monikers.

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