The 28km Airport Rail Link began full commercial operations on 23rd August between central Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi airport in Samut Prakan.

The rail link will charge promotional fares until the end of the year on its city and express lines. It expects to serve up to 50,000 passengers a day.

State Railway of Thailand (SRT) governor Yutthana Thapcharoen said: It is the fastest rail system in the country. It is convenient and provides [a quality] service.

Passengers using the City Line, the all-stops line, will pay a flat rate of 15 baht for a trip during the promotion period. The line, which operates from 6am to midnight, takes 30 minutes to travel from Phaya Thai station to Suvarnabhumi airport.

Those using the Express Line will pay 100 baht for a trip. It takes 15 minutes to travel from Makkasan station to the airport non-stop. It also operates from 6am to midnight.

Fares for the City Line will range from 15 baht to 45 baht, depending on the distance travelled, after Jan 1, 2011, while the fares on the Express Line would rise to 150 baht.

Passengers would be able to check in their baggage at Makkasan station for transfer to their airline once the service was fully operational.

Coach service connecting Bangkok International Airport (Suvarnabhumi) and Pattaya.

The 32 seats coaches are non-smoking and the single fare is 124 Baht

From Suvarnabhumi airport, 7 buses depart each day.

7am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 9pm

Ticket booths at
1. Airport Bus Terminal
2. Arrival Terminal (on 1st floor) between Gate # 7 and Gate # 8

From Pattaya, 7 buses depart each day.

8am, 10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm

Ticket office and bus stop is located on Thapphraya Road opposite to Pan Pan restaurant

The Red bus line looping around Pattaya, Jomtien and Banglamung has restarted.

No word on frequency or first/last buses or anything remotely useful like that.

Following the relief service the airport provided to stranded tourists during the shutdown of Suvarnabhumi Airport by anti government protesters, Pattaya City decided that U-Tapao should be developed as an international airport for Thai and foreign passengers, and its name changed to U-Tapao, Pattaya International Airport.

Mayor Ittipol presented the plans for renovation and development including the environment around the airport and the road and traffic systems. The road to the airport will be expanded from 2 to 4 lanes and advertising boards will be erected to provide income to offset the costs of the development.

Up to now, the navy has presented the project to the government, requesting a budget of 995 million baht to rebuild the airport terminal and doubling the capacity of the passenger lounge, to renovate the landing area and parking area for aircraft, the X-ray machines, the fuel storage facilities, the fire and rescue service and the security facilities.

The Rear Admiral stated that if the budget request was approved, the airport could become one of the most popular airports in Thailand.

Pattaya City will more stringently control new fares charged by baht bus drivers after receiving complaints from users about overcharging.

Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh gave an interview to the media regarding new minibus fares in the city. The city has requested that the Chonburi Transport Office provide a definitive fare list for minibuses.

This is being announced to the public and Pattaya Baht Bus Cooperative will charge their fares accordingly.

The minimum minibus fare set by the Chonburi Office for the city is currently 10 baht. But as gas prices continue to drop, a corresponding fare reduction should be considered, the deputy mayor said.

If users are charged the wrong fares by the cooperative, they can call the 1337 Pattaya City Call Center to report it. Disciplinary action can then be taken against offending drivers, such as fines and suspension of the driver's licenses.

Official minibus fares listed by the Chonburi Transport Office are:

The Charoenrat Pattana-Najomtien Village route:

Charoenrat Pattana-Nipa Lodge Hotel 8 baht
Charoenrat Pattana -Asia Hotel 21 baht
Charoenrat Pattana-Soi Chaiyapruk 29 baht
Nipa Lodge Hotel-Pattaya Market 8 baht
Nipa Lodge Hotel-Asia Hotel 14 baht
Nipa Lodge Hotel-Soi Chaiyapruk 22 baht
The Pattaya Market -Soi Chaiyapruk 15 baht
Asia Hotel-Soi Chaiyapruk 8 baht

The around Pattaya route:

From the beginning of South Pattaya-Banglamung Plaza 8 baht
From the beginning of South Pattaya-Nipa Lodge (North Pattaya) 10 baht
From Banglamung Plaza-Nipa Lodge junction (North Pattaya) 8 baht
From Banglamung Plaza-beginning of South Pattaya 10 baht
From Nipa Lodge junction (North Pattaya)-Banglamung Plaza 8 baht

North Pattaya-Central Pattaya:

North Pattaya-Central Pattaya Road Intersection 8 baht
North Pattaya-Somprasong Plaza 11 baht
North Pattaya-Wat Bunkanjanaram 23 baht
Central Pattaya Road Intersection-Somprasong Plaza 8 baht
Central Pattaya Road Intersection-Central Pattaya T-Intersection 17 baht
Somprasong Plaza-Wat Bunkanjanaram 8 baht
Somprasong Plaza-Central Pattaya T-Intersection 12 baht
Wat Bunkanjanaram-Central Pattaya T-Intersection 8 baht

To welcome visitors, U-Tapao, Rayong International Airport will be renamed to U-Tapao, Pattaya International Airport within next 2 months.

By this issue, Rear Admiral Surapong Aiyasanon, deputy director of the airport, had joined the conference discussing tourism and transportation development matters.

At the meeting, Rear Admiral Surapong revealed that the airport’s passenger terminal had been improved to facilitate more than 400 passengers and the run-way had also been widen to land up to 49 airbuses. In addition, the airport required international security standard by installing radar for airlines landed in the airport and allowing passengers 24-hour entrance.

I used to see the Red Line bus quite frequently, but haven't seen it for some time now. Has the company gone bust? Driven away by the baht bus mafia? All those shiny new bus stops are now worthless antiques, and the bus stops on Beach Road have *never* been used.

Mind you the company didn't help itself, refusing to publish a timetable, and changing the times and routes several times without warning.

Anyway RIP Pattaya bus service.

Pattaya’s Beach Bus is the latest victim of the increase in gasoline prices, with the operator axing one of the routes because it is no longer profitable to run.

Pattaya Beach Bus Co Ltd, which has a seven-year contract to operate a scheduled bus service and which began operations in August 2005, has found itself with an inadequate number of passengers and escalating costs of running its vehicles.

The company’s general manager, Suriyont Klindee, has announced that the Yellow Line has been axed. The buses had run on a Soi Chayapreuk-Thepprasit Road-Thappraya Road-Third Road-South Pattaya-Central Pattaya-North Pattaya-Pattaya City Hall-Sukhumvit Road route. Suriyont said there were too few passengers for the route to be viable.

The Red Line and the Green Line services remain. Suriyont said that the travel time for these routes is 45 minutes and that the buses run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. The buses, however, must have at least 25 passengers for the service to be sustainable, he said.

The fare remains at 20 baht per route.