BusTalk

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Last weekend I also visited the Eastern Bus Terminal. This bus terminal is located on Sukhumvit road opposite Soi 63. It can be accessed via the BTS station at Ekkamai. Or by Bus Routes 511, 508, 40, 2, 23, 72, 48, 25, 38, 501. This bus terminal is sometimes called Ekkamai Bus Terminal.

A little background on the Eastern Bus Terminal.

This bus terminal is the smallest of Bangkok’s intercity bus terminals. It is also the only bus terminal in Bangkok with direct BTS access. It is located on prime development land in a very congested part of inner city Bangkok.

The layout of the eastern bus terminal is rather simple when compared to other Bangkok bus terminals. Basically it consists of a small ticketing hall at the front and a large island bus platform behind the ticket office with space for about 25 buses. The right hand side of the Island platform is for 1st class buses and the left hand side of the Island platform is for 2nd class buses.

Outside of the bus platform there is a bus refueling point provided by PTT and a bus wash and holding areas for the buses. But it is of limited capacity and many buses are stored off site. They are normally stored at Bangna where some commuter services to Chonburi/Pattaya depart in addition to the normal services from the Eastern bus terminal.

This lack of bus terminal holding space for buses does lead to delays on departing buses at peak times due to extremely heavy traffic on Sukhumvit road. During off peak times buses seem to be able to depart close to the correct time.

The Eastern Bus Terminal services the following intercity destinations:

Pattaya, Rayong, Sattahip, Sriracha, Chonburi, Bangkala, Chachoengsao, Trat, Chanthaburi, Banphe, Kleang and Sakaew. Plus a few other minor locations.

For Pattaya buses depart every 15 mins from 05.00 to 23.00. (3 hours)
For Sriracha buses depart every 25 mins from 05.30 to 21.00. (2 hours)
For Chachoengsao buses depart every 30 mins from 05.00 to 21.00. (1 hour)
For Chonburi bus depart every 20 mins from 05.00 to 21.30. (90 mins)

Other intercity destinations are once every 60 to 120mins.

If you are traveling to any of these listed destinations directly after arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Please travel to the main bus terminal at Suvarnabhumi airport and check if there is a bus travelling to these eastern seaboard destinations before traveling into Bangkok to use the eastern bus terminal. If there is a bus to Pattaya at a suitable time it will save you over 2 hours travelling by boarding the intercity bus at Suvarnabhumi Airport instead of Eastern bus terminal.

For the above destinations additional buses depart regularly from Mochit 2 and New Southern Bus terminal. So if you are traveling via these bus terminals check for a Pattaya service before travelling to Eastern bus terminal.

3. This is a general view of the ticketing hall at the front of the Eastern bus terminal. Each destination and class of service has its own ticket counter.



8. This is a general view of the bus departure island platform inside the Eastern bus terminal. Like most Thai mass transport terminals food and drinks are sold on the platforms.



10. This is a short movie of a walk though the Eastern bus terminal. Note the different kinds of intercity buses and the layout of the ticketing hall. This was filmed as a walk from the bus platforms into the ticketing hall to give people an idea of the layout of the Eastern bus terminal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKeWbvnbQkw

Now its time for some shots of the buses that operate from the eastern bus terminal.

13. This is a shot of a 2nd class intercity bus being repaired in the bus departure platform. This bus runs on CNG which has been retrofitted into the luggage area. Bus type Merc intercity.



15. This is a shot of two fairly new 1st class intercity buses waiting in the bus holding area. Both buses are used on the Bangkok – Pattaya bus services. Bus numbers 155 and 156. Bus type Scania (intercity).



17. This is a shot of a large number of 2nd class intercity buses waiting to depart from Eastern bus terminal. Bus number 35 – 2 is operated by NCA Thailand’s best bus company.



19. This is an image of a great line up of mostly 1st class intercity buses waiting to depart from Eastern bus terminal. A Pattaya bus can be seen arriving.



27. This is a shot of a 2nd class Route 53: Bangkok - Chachoengsao bus. Bus number 53 – 1. Bus type Golden Dragon (intercity). Taken as it was leaving Eastern bus terminal.



28. This is an image of a 2nd class Route 48: Bangkok – Laemchabang - Pattaya bus. Bus number 2nd class 48 – 18. Taken as it was arriving at Eastern bus terminal. Bus type Merc intercity.



30. This is an image of a 1st class Route 48: Bangkok – Pattaya bus. Bus number 1st class 48 – 33. Taken on approach to Eastern bus terminal. Bus type Merc intercity.



32. This is a shot of a 1st class Route 37: Bangkok – Sriracha bus. Bus number 1st class 37 – 5. Taken as it was departing Eastern bus terminal. Bus type unknown.



If you would like to see more pictures and information about the Eastern Bus Terminal please visit:

http://thaitransit.blogspot.com/2008/11/eastern-bus-terminal.html

I hope you find the pictures and vehicles shown to be of interest if you view this please post some comments and feelings about the pictures.