In Pattaya most of the entertainment is located in and around Walking street, and the soi's in and around Beach Road, Second Road and Soi Baukhao. It is very easy to get around in Pattaya with transportation running 24 hours a day.

Baht Bus

The baht buses run 24 hours a day and generally run up and down beach road and second road which are both one way streets in opposite directions. To get on a baht bus you wave your arm for one to stop and you just hop on the back of the bus. Once you get to your chosen destination you press a buzzer found inside the baht bus, the driver stops, you hop off and pay him or her 10bht. The baht buses are shared so there will always be people hoping on and getting off regularly.

You can also hire a bht bus for a private journey. This will usually cost you about 100-150bht depending on the distance of your journey. For a private hire you would stop an empty baht bus, tell the driver where you want to go and negotiate the price in advance. Negotiating the price in advance is important because failure to do so could lead to the bht bus driver demanding an excessive amount of money on arrival at your destination.

Motorbike taxi

You will always find motorbike taxis at the top, middle and bottom of almost every soi (small round) 24 hours a day. There are times when a motorbike taxi may be more convenient than getting a baht bus. Prices vary depending on how far you are going and varies from 20-80bht depending on your destination.

I would always recommend you negotiate the price in advance with a motorbike taxi driver as a 40bht ride could turn into 100bht at your destination if you don't. Refuse to pay and you could end up getting in a fight and beaten up and fighting in Thailand is definitely not something you want to do here as its is almost always a no win situation. See later in this guide.

Motorbike rental

If you like you can rent a motorbike in Pattaya for a day, a week or even on a monthly basis. There are many motorbike rental shops all over Pattaya and all you need to do is once you have chosen a bike, you hand over your passport to the shop to take a photo copy, pay for the motorbike and collect your receipt. Do not let the shop owner keep hold of your passport.

Personally I would not recommend renting a motorbike in Pattaya for safety reasons. Thailand roads, the driving skills and safety precautions taken by the locals is nothing like in your home country and there are many road accidents involving motorbikes leading to injuries and deaths everyday.

If you do decide to rent a bike I would recommend you make sure you carry out a thorough check of the body work and make sure each scratch or mark is noted on your receipt or you may find yourself been asked to pay for scratches which were present before you took the bike away.

Helmets: always wear your helmet otherwise you will find yourself getting stopped by the traffic police and told to pay a fine, about 400bht.

Insurance: In addition, there is no insurance available for motorbike rentals so if you damage the bike in any way you will need to pay the cost of the repairs which tend to be very highly inflated in relation to the actual damage unless you are lucky to find an honest shop owner.

Car rental

This is not recommended or even practical for a vacation in Pattaya as you can literally walk or hop on a baht bus or motorbike taxi to get anywhere. However if you do wish to rent a car, just like motorbike rental shops, there are car rental shops all over Pattaya.

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