Some time during your stay in Pattaya you might need to visit the Australian Embassy in Bangkok regarding passport issues, having documents notorised, a statutory declaration, or some other reason. The Australian Embassy in Bangkok is located just behind the Embassy of Japan in a short soi off Wireless Road.

This page will show you which bus to take from Pattaya, the best time to travel, where to get off the bus in Bangkok so you don't waste your time in a Bangkok traffic jam, a trap to avoid, how and where to connect with the BTS and MRT so that you arrive at your destination safe and fast.

The easiest way to get to the Australian Embassy and Embassy of Japan from Pattaya is to take the Roong Reuang Blue Bus which travels to Ekkamai Bus station in Bangkok. But there is a slight disadvantage in traveling on the bus. Continue reading to discover why.

The bus service departs Pattaya from Roong Reuang Bus Terminal located at the Sukhumvit end of North Pattaya Road in North Pattaya. The trip takes up to two hours depending on traffic. The last trip I did took one hour and forty-five minutes to reach On Nut BTS station. I will tell you more about that shortly.

Take the Ekkamai bus to Bangkok. The current fare is 109 Baht.

For those who love the early morning starts the first bus departs at 5:30 am then 6:30 then every 20 minutes.

6:50, 7:10, 7:30, 7:50, 8:10, 8:30, 8:50, 9:10 and so on...

Hotels close to BTS Ekkamai

Pattaya Bus Departure Time Hint

When the 06:30 bus reaches Bang Nah Bangkok at around 08:00 it will sometimes encounter a load of commuter traffic. This is the "iron dragon".

It moves at the extraordinary rate of around one foot per minute followed by sudden bursts of ten or twenty feet per minute.

A friend took this route one morning and it took one hour to get from Bang Nah to Ekkamai Bus station a distance of about 6.2 Klm. With this information in mind it is better to take an earlier or later bus.

Avoiding The Bang Na Jam

When the bus reaches Bang Na Bangkok it could be moving at a tortoise crawl pace along Sukhumvit Road.

Fortunately the Thai authorities decided to construct a "Sky Train" service, also called the BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System), which runs right down the center of Sukhumvit Road from Udom Suk to the National Stadium at Siam Square.

So avoiding traffic jams along Sukhumvit Road is a piece of cake. Rather than sitting in a bus in the boring traffic why not get off the bus at any one of the following BTS stations before you get to Ekkamai:

• Udom Suk
• Punna Withi
• Bang Chak
• On Nut

That would be a great time saver if you happen to be on the 06:30am. bus.

Get Off at Udom Suk BTS (Skytrain) Station

Udom Suk station is three stations before On Nut so you will save the most time if you climb on the Skytrain from Udom Suk station. When traveling on the BTS it takes just 9 minutes to reach Ekkamai BTS station from Udom Suk station. Depending on the time of day it could take up to 40 minutes on the slow moving bus.

You will be able to gauge the volume of traffic on the route. If the traffic is bad after the Bang Na ramp down on to Sukhumvit I would always get off the bus and take the BTS.

Before leaving Pattaya you can instruct the bus driver to let you get off at Udom Suk. I have noticed recently that the attendant sometimes announces "Udom Suk anyone for Udom Suk". Of course this announcement is made in Thai language .

Hotels near Udom Suk BTS station.

Getting Off The Bus at On Nut

On Nut is 2.3 KM before Ekkamai. This stop is also called LoTUS as LoTUS is right there beside the On Nut station. It would be the Thai penchant to call that stop LoTUS since they are so much into spending most of their free time wandering around the cool SUE PURR! (Pronounced with great emphasis on the last syllable "PURR) Other more practical landmarks go unnoticed.

I once held a post as hotel front desk staff English language trainer. On Fridays, I would ask my class "What are you going to do on the weekend?" There were always two answers:

"Go to the SUE PURR." and

"SLEE PING."

I told the attendant on the bus I wanted to get down at On Nut. "Low TUS eh?" he asked.

Hotels near On Nut BTS station.

Riding the BTS and MRT to Australian Embassy

Once you are on the train it won't take long to reach the interchange stop on this fast route to the Australian Embassy.

There is an interchange stop is at Asok / Sukhumvit and Asok is the station where you should get off the BTS and head underground to the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) underground train network.

The BTS single fare from Udom Suk to Asok is 48 baht.
The BTS single fare from On Nut to Asok is 33 baht.

For convenience you could purchase a "Rabbit Card".

When you get off the train at Asoke the signage on the platform will show you the way to the MRT. Follow the MRT signs traveling down the escalators all the way to the underground station, now called Sukhumvit, where you will see the ticket office and ticket issuing machines.

You will be riding on the Hua Lamphong line to Lumphini station. Hua Lamphong is the last station on that line. Lumphini is the third station from Sukhumvit (Asok).
About BTS ticket issuing machines.

Token Issuing Machines

The issuing machines are easy to operate. The machines are touch screen. Make sure you tap the English language button if the machine is not already displaying English. You just need to tap your destination, Lumphini, shown on the displayed map then the machine will calculate the fare for you.

You can pay with coins or bank notes. There is a separate slot for each.

My fare to get to Australian Embassy was 21 baht. So I submitted a twenty baht note followed by a one baht coin. Make sure you insert your bank note before inserting a coin.

The machine tends to suffer from indigestion if you execute the action in the opposite order. Don't worry if you screw up the order the first time you won't lose your money.

Once you have successfully inserted your money the machine returns a black token the size of a ten baht coin. You must retrieve this token from the rectangular bucket slot at the bottom of the machine.

If you don't have the exact required amount, don't worry, just insert more than what is required and the machine will give you change.

Take the Hua Lamphong MRT line to Lumphini

When you reach the drop arm turnstiles touch your token on the proximity pad to open the drop arms and pass through keeping the token for when you exit at Lumphini. Once you pass through the entry turnstile look for the sign Hua Lamphong platform. You will take another escalator down to that platform.

Once you reach Lumphini station use your token to pass through the exit turnstile. You will then need to exit the underground at the Wireless Road exit number 3. Just follow the signs.

After reaching street level you will need to turn right on to Wireless Road then walk about 300 meters to the first Soi on your right where the Australian Embassy is located just behind the Embassy of Japan. The new Australian Embassy is approximately 200 meters inside the Soi on the left. See the map below.

Considering the average walking speed of humans is 1.4 meters/second, it should take about four minutes to reach the Embassy of Japan and six minutes to walk from MRT Wireless Road exit to the Australian embassy.

If you feel you don't need the walking exercise then one of the reliable motorbike taxi lads waiting on the corner near Lumphini station steps should be able to wiz you down to the embassy for around 30 baht.

By the way watch out for a confusing sign near the Lumphini station steps indicating that the Australian Embassy is located in the opposite direction down Sathorn Road. That is where the old Australian Embassy used to be located. That is a trap to avoid.

Riding the BTS and MRT to Embassy of Japan

Follow the same directions as given above for getting to the Australian Embassy. The two embassies are neighbors on Wireless Road.

Returning to Pattaya

Go back to Lumphini MRT. At the Lumphini MRT you will need to board the train on Tao Poon line and get off at Sukhumvit MRT station. At the Asok BTS station (Sukhumvit) you will need to board the train at the Bearing line platform and get off at Ekkamai to catch the bus to Pattaya. Ekkamai is the third station from Asok.

Hotels near the embassies (See map above)