Phuket to Pattaya

Bangkok Airways flies Phuket to U-Tapao once a day, departing at 15:10 and landing at 16:50. It flew every day through October 2026, and 12Go sells it on every November and December date I checked. The fare includes a 20 kg checked bag, a meal and seat selection, and Thai Airways and Etihad sell codeshare seats on the same plane. On 12Go it came to about ฿4,800–6,600 for dates in late November, three to five times a Phuket to Bangkok ticket booked a few weeks out, which is the price of skipping Bangkok altogether.

Phuket airport is at the island's northern tip, so work back from the 15:10. It's about 50 minutes from Patong, 55–60 from Kata and 65–75 from Rawai or Nai Harn in normal traffic, with 20–30 minutes more in peak-season traffic, and you want to be at the airport 90 minutes to two hours before a domestic flight. From Patong that means leaving at about 12:30, and from Kata or Rawai by about noon. The ฿100 Smart Bus takes 1h20–1h30 from Patong, fine with light bags and time to spare, and a taxi or Grab is about ฿700–900. Staying at Mai Khao, Nai Yang or Bang Tao, you can leave much later, since the airport is on your doorstep.

If 15:10 doesn't suit or the fare is too high, fly to Bangkok. About 50 flights a day leave Phuket for Bangkok in 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 35, with fares from about ฿1,000 booked a few weeks out. Pick one that lands at Suvarnabhumi. Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways and Thai VietJet fly there, and Thai AirAsia flies some departures there too. Roong Reuang's counter on Level 1 near Gate 8 sells two coaches straight to Pattaya, ฿158 to Jomtien hourly from 06:00 to 22:00, stopping along Sukhumvit Road, and ฿135 to the North Pattaya terminal seven times a day from 07:30 to 18:30. Both take about two hours. Beside the same counter, Bell Travel takes you to your Pattaya hotel for ฿300–450, six a day from 08:30 to 18:00.

The 22:00 Jomtien coach is the last bus of the day, so land by about 21:00 to make it with your bag. After that, a fixed-fare car from the Pattaya transfer firms is about ฿1,000 for a sedan, Bolt shows about ฿930–1,080, and 12Go's pre-booked sedans run mostly ฿1,600–1,750, about 90 minutes to Pattaya. Don Mueang, where Thai AirAsia, Nok Air and Thai Lion Air land, has only Transport Co.'s bus 999 to Pattaya, six a day for ฿167, so it's the harder airport for this trip. Door to door from a Patong hotel to a Pattaya one, plan on about seven hours this way, against about five and a half for the nonstop.

On the days Sawasdee doesn't run, take any evening coach to Bangkok and change. Coaches leave Phuket Bus Terminal 2 between about 15:00 and 19:30 and reach Bangkok's Southern Terminal or Mo Chit between about 05:00 and 07:00, for ฿715–1,200. Phuket Travel's VIP 24, for one, leaves at 17:40 and pulls into Mo Chit at about 05:30. At Mo Chit 2, Roong Reuang's buses to Pattaya leave hourly from 05:00 to 18:00 for ฿155 and take about two and a half hours, so you're in North Pattaya by late morning. It's the cheapest way, about ฿870–1,360 for both legs.

12Go also sells through tickets that change on Khao San Road, 13:00 from Terminal 2 with a van on to your Pattaya hotel at about 10:45 the next morning (about ฿1,720), or 11:00 with a van to Terminal 21 in Pattaya at about 12:30 (about ฿1,810). They take longer than doing it yourself and cost more, so I'd only book one to avoid making the change alone.

12Go's drivers quote 13 to 17 hours and about ฿12,000–20,000 per vehicle for the 970 km, from an economy car to a nine-seat van. It only beats flying for a group of six or more. There's no railway in Phuket and no ferry to Pattaya, which is on the other side of the peninsula on the Gulf of Thailand. Train timetables that show 'Phuket to Pattaya' are a bus to Surat Thani, a train to Bangkok and a bus on, more than a day.

U-Tapao is 30 km south of Pattaya, about 40 minutes into town by taxi or a pre-booked car and a little less to Jomtien, and 12Go's pre-booked cars from the airport run about ฿900–1,150 for a sedan. Sawasdee's bus ends at its own office in central Pattaya, a short ride from Beach Road.

The Suvarnabhumi coaches end in two places. The North Pattaya one finishes at the terminal on Pattaya Nuea Road, near Sukhumvit Road, where songthaew drivers charge a flat ฿50 to Beach Road. The Jomtien one stops along Sukhumvit Road on the way and ends in Jomtien, the better pick for Pratumnak, Jomtien and the beaches south. Bell Travel's service drops you at your hotel.

Southbound, the nonstop leaves U-Tapao at 13:00 and lands in Phuket at 14:40, and Sawasdee's bus leaves its Pattaya office at 15:00 for Terminal 2 at about 08:00. The Pattaya to Phuket guide has both, the airport coaches to Suvarnabhumi and the daily bus through Bangkok.