I booked a luggage seat as instructed, then a group booking of 12 people all with unpaid luggage got on. The van was overbooked. I was then put in the position of an angry driver screaming at me in a language I don't understand and a group of 12 people trying to move my bag to the front of the bus while they all kept their own bags close.
I didn't need to be fluent in Thai to understand that if I didn't move the bag, the driver was going to drag both me and the bag off the van. I'm not going to get in a physical altercation in Thailand - especially over a £5 van ticket.
Successful in the sense we did leave on time and arrive on time - I would recommend buying your ticket from the provider directly, at least then when you are at the van point there will be someone there willing to step in and help you out if there are any luggage problems.
End station was different, but all was okay.
I didn't need any insurance, but one was added automatically during the online booking, confusing in my opinion.
The van is more like a mini bus, but the air conditioner is very poor so it is very warm to travel during the day, the worst is the flexibility in time, we waited 1.5hrs from our departure time not to include we being there 45min earlier, while another group of travellers simply being rejected to board their van booked 2hrs earlier as it was full already, the seats are simply assigned to others and subject to first come first served, so you might need to wait for the next one, which time is not confirmed as the van departs only when it is relatively full
Trip booked wasn’t existing - we got reallocated to a trip one hour later than initially scheduled. Unfortunately, we knew about this when we arrived to Pattaya Pannipa, not earlier causing us to loose unnecessary time. We would not recommend it.
Worked as expected. The minibus departed a little early, since all booked passengers were on board. Just fine, since the traffic were a bklit heavy (as always).
Working AC. No problems.
The mini-van ride from pattaya to bangkok was ok. The van was not very clean. It should have been sanitized with covid.
Compare to taking the bus. It seem the mini-van was faster. I think would take the bus for more comfort.
Not the best experience. Van was late to depart by 30 minutes. The van condition is also quite run down and unkept. But it did its job nonetheless to take me to where I want to go. Could be improved especially with van condition.
I bought a van ride from 12:00-15:00 and when I got there they told me because of traffic jam I would leave at 13:00. Then when van came they boarded all locals waiting with me and told me to wait. Then 13:30 bus came and same thing, boarded all locals told me to wait. I complained. They said 10 minutes for my bus, finally at 15:00 they boarded me and I get to my destination 3.5 hours late. They overbook and make foreigners wait.
I booked a trip at 12pm but I was told that van is full and next one is gonna leave at 2.30pm. However we got it sort out that we departed around 12.45 so had a little time in pattaya. Return trip was better and less hassless.
The transport was okay and had air conditioning which was nice. The driver however seemed quite hostile towards me yet happy and smiley with locals. Maybe it's because he isn't too find of Westeners?
Didn’t leave until 30 mins late which meant we arrived 30 mins late. We then got dumped at the side of the road no where near our destination but the bus did have aircon and seat was comfortable.
we book 10am , and they require to check in 45 mins before departure. this is unreasonable, so i arrived at 9:40, and then i wait uitil 10:45 for next van. one more ticket required for 2 luggages. the seat is small, you can’t strecth your legs. won’t recommand this.
i bought ticket at 10am, when i reached at 9.45am, the operator kept saying that they want to leave already and just waiting for us. feel like rushing. overall good ride.
The check in booth is very hard to find down, I didnt see “Middle Pattaya” label, I must ask the locals.
Late 30’ start
Everything else is okie, highly recommend
The ride is ok, the minivan came to pick up on time. Because of less traffic for the 7 pm trip, we were able to arrive at morchit before 10 pm, which is a big plus. However, when I boarded the van, it was pretty full, and the operator told me to get off the van and let another guy board the van. Of course, I could not understand Thai, and got off the van for 1 min. Then somehow, the lady worked out a plan for me to get on. Thank God I was not left there. Therefore, if you are foreigners who do not speak Thai, I would recommend taking a regular bus.
Bought ticket to depart at 7pm from the operator office. However, the van was late and the local operator office staffs claimed van will only come at 8pm, as if it's not their fault and it's the booking company's fault. Van came at around 7.30pm. The van was very cramped and the driver stopped by at Bangna's petrol oil station to refill petrol (seriously? You expect your passengers to wait 15 min for you to refill petrol and not before your pick up the passengers?), the worst moments because they turned off the AC and it was already cramped inside. Not ideal for claustrophobic people. Just get the freaking normal bus that is 50 baht cheaper and much more spacious and professional! The only good things were that the van was quite new and we are allowed to be dropped off at other places along the way (eg. Mochit BTS instead of the original bus terminal stop that is more convenient).
Found the station by the GPS coordinates provided in the PDF file of my booking. The place was quite far away from my hotel so I used a tuk-tuk and then walked. I printed the file at home and the manager at the station took the print. The trip lasted for approx. 2 hours not including the time to get to the boarding point. Overall, it's a decent non-expensive way to get to Bangkok from Pattaya
The rating is for the driver getting us to Bangkok ahead of schedule and playing good music. The station in Pattaya is a storefront in the hot sun, far from the main tourist areas, that no cab driver could locate. Once back in Bangkok the driver made a stop at what looked like the Mo Chit MRT station but announced it in Thai, so we were forced to stay on all the way back to the station then take a taxi. The taxi stand had a helpful officer who gave directions to the cab driver (metered) this cab driver then took us the wrong way pulled over and sent us to another (unmetered) taxi who spoke some English and got us to our final destination.
The van left on time but then again we are a group of 3 girls who booked 4 seats, 1 for our luggage and no one from the van company helped us with our luggages. And the terminal is actually really from the city center.
Van was comfortable, trip lasted 2 hours instead of 3.
BUT the station was impossible to find. Pattaya Panipa is not correct, and the two taxis I took both left me in places that were wrong. No one could tell me where the station was. The name of the hotel in front of it is The Park Hotel, and not Park Pattaya Hotel.
I missed my van because I got lost for more than 1 hour, but I took the next one, so it ended all right.
Advise : be way more precise as to the location of the station.