Ekamai Bus Terminal… from Bangkok to Eastern Thailand
In Bangkok, there are three main bus terminals operating buses to other parts of Thailand. Ekamai Bus Terminal is the one that you can get the bus to eastern part of Thailand such as Pattaya, Koh Samed, Koh Chang, and Koh Kood. Ekamai Bus Terminal is just a few steps from BTS Sky Train (Ekamai station).
When you step inside the terminal building, on your left hand side, you will see ticket window of the government bus. The fare is on the ticket window (You can see that round trip is a little bit cheaper).
The rest windows are from private company.
About the bus, there are three main types of bus running around Thailand.
- VIP: it is the most expensive and comfortable type. There are about 24 seats on the bus.
- First class: This type is cheaper than VIP. The seat is assigned when booking.
- Second class: This type has no assigned seat, and it stops to pickup passenger along the route.
I recommend you to choose either VIP bus or First class bus. Second class is, of course, the cheapest one, but it will take you much longer to reach the destination.
About booking, for the popular places such as Koh Chang and Pattaya, the bus leaves several times a day. Read about when to book a bus ticket here.
For the bus schedule board, it is useless not only for tourist, but also local. Information is provided in Thai only and it is not updated; The information such as fares and departure times is not available on the board! So, if you want to know the fares or departure times, just ask people at the ticket window.
If you want to check timetable/ schedule for Rayong, Pattaya, or Koh Chang, you can check it here.
You can leave your baggage at the shop which is open from 6.00am to 18.00 pm
And here is a waiting area in the terminal.
Food stall is available in front of the terminal. So, no worry about the food, if you are hungry and do not have much time before the bus leaves.
Enjoy traveling Thailand!
About Author
Wannee
I am Wannee. I am just an ordinary woman with an ordinary life living in Bangkok, Thailand.
VIP buses are worth the money as they are quicker. The first class is ok too just not as nice. Second class makes stops all along the way which is why it takes so long.
I once took an orange bus (orange crush) from Phuket (Phuket was nothing like it is today back then) to Surat Thani back in 1983. Open windows and no A/C. It was an adventure and although it wasn’t that convenient, it was fun as I wasn’t in a hurry. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you had the time and wanted to experience a more local type of transportation.
For me, I won’t go with second class. VIP or first class only. 🙂