Gaybutton wrote: ↑Sun Oct 12, 2025 7:29 pmFor a while they had regular bus service, hence the bus stops. It didn't work. Hardly anybody ever rode the buses. They simply didn't want to. I don't know why people refused to ride the buses, but they didn't and the whole thing failed.
How frequent were the buses ?
I've seen buses in Chaing Mai, at a 45 minute interval & costing 30 baht. That's guaranteed to fail.
From memory, there is at least one bus line in Khon Kaen, with a similar frequency. Guaranteed to fail.
In Bangkok, the next bus will probably be along in 5 minutes or so. And whilst Bangkok has songthaew, they run different routes to the buses. So no one will jump on a songthaew before the bus arrives. The bus network in Bangkok works. Just like in many
normal cities.
My suggested approach for Pattaya is:
1 Ban Songthaew from the main north south routes.
2 Put buses on, with a 5 minute frequency and a swipe payment card & bus lanes. So for longer trips, this will be faster than the current set up. For shorter trips, well both Thais and certain foreigners would benefit from actually walking a few hundred metres some time.
3 Create a full route network, with a map, numbered routes and swipe payment. Send the songthaew to the new routes, initially. Have them connect with the buses. Both tourists & locals might just appreciate a full network. Gradually increase the provision of proper buses to replace the songhtaew.
