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Many travelers arriving at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand for the first time have no idea how to find the bus or taxi's to Pattaya.
This article will help the first time traveler to Thailand find the bus and taxi ranks in Bangkok international airport and how to find the meeting point where friends and private hire drivers wait to collect their friends, family and passengers. The first thing people notice when arriving at Bangkok international airport is how far it is from the plane to the customs control. Luckily Bangkok airport have many long moving walk ways which make the journey from the plane to customs much easier especially when carrying heavy bags.
Once you've collected your baggage and cleared customs then comes the problem of leaving the airport and finding your way to Pattaya. At first the size of the airport can be a little intimidating as with all large modern airports but Bangkok airport is not only modern and clean it is also very well sign posted. Look for the blue information signs they're located by all the main exits and above..
When leaving customs you'll enter the main arrivals hall close to Gate 8 on the second floor. To hire a taxi to take you from the airport to Pattaya go down to the first floor. There are plenty of escalators to take you or use the glass lift. On the first floor head for gate 4. Gate 4 is where the taxi rank is located. Just outside the gate is a taxi ticket booth. Go to the booth and tell the assistant where you want to go. The assistant will tell you the price and hand you a ticket. Give this ticket to the taxi driver who is waiting at the booth. The ticket tells the driver where your going and how much to charge. The average charge by taxi to Pattaya is 1500 Baht.
Also from the airport there is a non stop bus service that takes you straight into Pattaya and stops at the mini mart on Thappraya road Jomtien. The bus will also stop along Sukhumvit road in Pattaya if the driver is requested too. To catch the bus for Pattaya, go down to first floor and head towards gate 8. At gate 8 there are ticket booths offering taxi and bus services. The bus to Pattaya is clearly marked and is close to the Magic restaurant. The price of the bus ticket is 124 Baht.
The journey time from Bangkok airport to Pattaya is now only one and a half hours.
While on the first floor you can take advantage of the Magic restaurant. This is the coupon restaurant that mainly Thai's and those in the know use. It's a lot cheaper than the food emporiums found on the third floor. The magic restaurant is clean and cheap and serves a mix of Thai, Muslim and Vietnamese dishes. A meal will cost between 35 and 60 Baht. If you've never used a coupon restaurant before it's very straight forward. Go to the counter and ask for coupons to the value you want to spend in the restaurant. With the coupons go to one of the many food stations inside and order your meal. When finished, any coupons you have not spent are returned at the counter where you bought them from and change to the value of the coupons is returned to you.
So far this article has covered how to find the taxi rank and the bus to Pattaya and along the way somewhere cheap to eat. However! Some who arrive at the airport have a private car waiting to collect them or a friend to meet. To meet friends and relatives and pre arranged private hire cars go to gate 3. Gate 3 is also called the meeting point. All the exits have round numbers above them. As you leave customs control you will be on the second floor near gate 8. At gate 8 there are large blue signs giving important information such as where to find the meeting point. These signs clearly point to gate 3 and the meeting point. Here friends and pre arranged private hire drivers will be waiting to meet you holding up their white boards with their customer names written on them.
A quick re-cap. When leaving customs on the second floor go to gate 3 if your meeting friends or have someone waiting to collect you. Also to be found on the second floor are the Thai tourist police and the lost luggage office. Go down to the first floor to catch a taxi or bus to Pattaya. Also on the first floor is the coupon restaurant. Clean and cheap Thai food.: On all floors there are telephone cum internet stations which cost 10 baht a minute. A little expensive but if you need to make a phone call or use the internet there invaluable
What about the other floors? Well located on the third floor are the restaurants and drink vendors and up on the fourth is the international departures and check in control. This article has dealt with international arrivals and the various ways of traveling to Pattaya. This article has been written through many years of experience of meeting people at Bangkok international airport and listening to the problems they have had finding transport to Pattaya and locating the meeting point at gate 3.
Inside the the airport the floors are marked as Floor 1, Floor 2 and so on James Lamborn
