By train: Pattaya – Bangkok (future)
Now that I have fully recovered from the “jet lag” caused by the 4 hours and 34 minutes train journey from Pattaya to Bangkok (see my report of November 23), it is interesting to organize some thoughts.
During such a long train journey through a monotonous landscape, past small villages, endless rice fields and finally the grimy inner city of Bangkok, you can think carefully.
It will come as no surprise to most of you that my main conclusion is: taking the train from Pattaya to Bangkok or vice versa is not an alternative to the other means of transport. Let's take a closer look at that.
Current passenger offer
The train was hardly occupied from Pattaya to Chasoengsao, I estimate 30 to 40 passengers at the most. After that it gradually became busier with schoolchildren, students and later also office workers. From Chasoengsao to the terminal station, the train was therefore well occupied. If you look at the timetable, it is striking that the route to Chasoengsao takes “only” one and a half hours, while you are already close to Bangkok. The total duration is therefore mainly determined by the last part. Bangkok – Chasoengsao fills a need, morning passengers to school, college or office, who return later in the afternoon. It is therefore not surprising that the train does not run on Saturdays and Sundays.
Future passenger offering
In the future, we will let this train only go to Chasoengsao, because whoever wants to go to Pattaya journey by train, you will soon do so with the high-speed train “the bullit train”, which will take you to your destination in 30 to 40 minutes. This has been discussed for several years now, because that train is the solution for people who live here and will give a huge boost to tourist traffic to Pattaya. Yes, right? Or, like me, do you still see some problems?
Transport Bangkok – Pattaya vv
If that HSL is the future, then you wonder how we do it now. Why and how does someone go to Bangkok? Perhaps to the airport, or you need to be somewhere in the city or you are traveling on to another destination. Leaving our own car aside for a moment, we take a taxi or go by bus. Pattaya has an excellent bus connection with Ekamai for when you need to be in Bangkok itself, with Mo Chit for a further bus journey to the North or the Isaan and with Southwest for a bus connection to the West and the South. I estimate that more than 600 people use that bus connection every day. Buses from both Jomtien and Pattaya also go to the airport at regular intervals, but the times I have seen that bus, there were few passengers.
Tourist traffic with Pattaya
Several hundred thousand tourists come to Pattaya every year, for a weekend, a week or longer. So do they all come with that HSL of course? Well, not so, because the vast majority of those tourists come on group holidays and are transported in and out of tour buses. The vast majority of the remaining tourists take a taxi from the airport, which is reasonably affordable and the advantage is that it will drop you off at the door of your holiday accommodation and pick you up there later.
commuter traffic
I have heard it said that many residents of Bangkok would like to live permanently in Pattaya in their second home, which they now only use on weekends. If the HSL comes, then they can make good use of it for commuter traffic. But that's only in the morning and evening, what else does the HSL do that day other than occasionally transport a bunch of people?
To dream
It's a nice idea, that high-speed train, but I have my doubts whether it can be operated profitably. That's hot Thailand again not always the criterion, because there are also people and companies who have every interest in the fact that the project is actually carried out.
For us, residents or tourists in Pattaya, it remains a dream, but if you watch the video below, it is a beautiful dream again.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/rDCIMTMEN7M[/youtube]