Panorama of Pattaya Bay from Phra Tamnak Hill, in 2010, Chonburi Province, Thailand.
I will never forget my first trips down to Chonburi province and onto Pattaya. They were building the new roads down to there around 10 years ago ( 2004 ). The traffic jams were terrible, even driving along the banks of the roads on the left to gain another few more metres of roadway. The journey at its longest took me 5 hours and I am sure some will say it took even longer. Now the new highway and dual carriageways have reduced all the congestion and the trip to Pattaya is now around 1 ½ hours to about 2 hours. You can never be certain though on your trip to Pattaya, they still have traffic jams and hold ups caused by accidents and road works.
Chonburi province borders Chachoengsao province and Rayong province in the south. Now the new roads down to Pattaya have been finished Chonburi boast it is the only province outside of Bangkok Metropolitan area to have an eight lane motorway through to Bangkok. It is also home to Thailands largest seaport at Laem Chabang, which is about 25 kilometres north of Pattaya, and just south of Chon Buri city. This seaport is massive and was started in 1988, it was a major development to encourage trade and development outside Bangkok and take advantage of the Gulf of Thailand. Laem Chabang container port was completed in 1991. It is reported that it is the 22nd busiest container port in the world, this was in 2011. Much of the international shipping reaching Thailand goes through Laem Chabang.
Chonburi also has the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate consisting of 4,120 hectares ( 25,000 rai or 10,400 acres ) the company’s flagship estate is located on a prime plot adjacent to the Bangna - Trat elevated Expressway and the Bangkok – Chonburi Motorway near a place called Bowin. My friend works in the famous tyre making factory on this estate. Factories set up here benefit from their location in the heart of the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Region and its supporting infrastructure because Bangkok is only 57 Kilometres away with Suvarnabhumi International Airport 42 kilometres and Laem Chabang Deep Sea Port 46 Kilometres.
Bowin is now becoming a very popular area due to the building of this Industrial Estate along with a Tesco Lotus shopping mall which can be found at Bowin / Chonburi Branch 117 46 Pakruam Huayprab rd. Sri Racha , having been to this mall it has the usual big name shops inside the vast floor space. They have a great selection of items on sale here which is why it’s so popular. Home Pro, a new furniture store / garden centre / and pretty much everything else you need all under one roof now is sited on the traffic light junction where you turn down to Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate.
Chonburi province has many of the best Golf courses around Thailand and has the world class golf course the Laem Chabang International Country Club designed by Jack Nicklaus. It also has a vast refinery the Exxon/ Mobil refinery at Laem Chabang. There are many ways you can get to Chonburi province from Bangkok.
By Car ~ There are several routes from Bangkok to Chonburi:
Take Highway 34 the Bang Na - Trat to Chonburi road.
Take Highway 304 the Bangkok - Min Buri roadway, passing Chachoengsao Provinc and then -Bang Pakong into Chonburi.
Or take the old route of Sukhumvit Road then join highway 3, passing through Samut Prakan Province to the intersection of Bang Pakong district then take the highway 34 to Chonburi.
Or now you can take the motorway, Bangkok - Chonburi-Pattaya.
By Train
From Hua Lamphong Railway Station, there is only one daily train running to Phlu Ta Luang Railway Station in Chonburi.
By Bus
From the Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekkamai), there are many air conditioned buses to Chonburi from 05:30 - 21:00 they are every 40 minutes. Also the second - class air conditioned buses are provided from 05:30 - 21:00 run every 30 minutes. Non air-conditioned buses leave Ekkamai every 30 minutes from 05:00 - 21:00. Otherwise, there are also air-conditioned buses leaving the Bangkok Bus Terminal ( Mo Chit 2 ). Air conditioned buses take the motorway from 06:30 - 18:30.
Additionally, there are private buses departing from the Southern Bus Terminal. Air conditioned buses to Pattaya run daily along the Bang Na - Trat route and stop at the Rot Rungrueng Company air-conditioned bus terminal on Pattaya Nuea rd. They leave from 05:30 – 18:30 every 2 hours.
Panorama of Pattaya Bay from Phra Tamnak Hill, in 2010, Chonburi Province, Thailand.
I will never forget my first trips down to Chonburi province and onto Pattaya. They were building the new roads down to there around 10 years ago ( 2004 ). The traffic jams were terrible, even driving along the banks of the roads on the left to gain another few more metres of roadway. The journey at its longest took me 5 hours and I am sure some will say it took even longer. Now the new highway and dual carriageways have reduced all the congestion and the trip to Pattaya is now around 1 ½ hours to about 2 hours. You can never be certain though on your trip to Pattaya, they still have traffic jams and hold ups caused by accidents and road works.
Chonburi province borders Chachoengsao province and Rayong province in the south. Now the new roads down to Pattaya have been finished Chonburi boast it is the only province outside of Bangkok Metropolitan area to have an eight lane motorway through to Bangkok. It is also home to Thailands largest seaport at Laem Chabang, which is about 25 kilometres north of Pattaya, and just south of Chon Buri city. This seaport is massive and was started in 1988, it was a major development to encourage trade and development outside Bangkok and take advantage of the Gulf of Thailand. Laem Chabang container port was completed in 1991. It is reported that it is the 22nd busiest container port in the world, this was in 2011. Much of the international shipping reaching Thailand goes through Laem Chabang.
Chonburi also has the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate consisting of 4,120 hectares ( 25,000 rai or 10,400 acres ) the company’s flagship estate is located on a prime plot adjacent to the Bangna - Trat elevated Expressway and the Bangkok – Chonburi Motorway near a place called Bowin. My friend works in the famous tyre making factory on this estate. Factories set up here benefit from their location in the heart of the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Region and its supporting infrastructure because Bangkok is only 57 Kilometres away with Suvarnabhumi International Airport 42 kilometres and Laem Chabang Deep Sea Port 46 Kilometres.
Bowin is now becoming a very popular area due to the building of this Industrial Estate along with a Tesco Lotus shopping mall which can be found at Bowin / Chonburi Branch 117 46 Pakruam Huayprab rd. Sri Racha , having been to this mall it has the usual big name shops inside the vast floor space. They have a great selection of items on sale here which is why it’s so popular. Home Pro, a new furniture store / garden centre / and pretty much everything else you need all under one roof now is sited on the traffic light junction where you turn down to Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate.
Chonburi province has many of the best Golf courses around Thailand and has the world class golf course the Laem Chabang International Country Club designed by Jack Nicklaus. It also has a vast refinery the Exxon/ Mobil refinery at Laem Chabang. There are many ways you can get to Chonburi province from Bangkok.
By Car ~ There are several routes from Bangkok to Chonburi:
Take Highway 34 the Bang Na - Trat to Chonburi road.
Take Highway 304 the Bangkok - Min Buri roadway, passing Chachoengsao Provinc and then -Bang Pakong into Chonburi.
Or take the old route of Sukhumvit Road then join highway 3, passing through Samut Prakan Province to the intersection of Bang Pakong district then take the highway 34 to Chonburi.
Or now you can take the motorway, Bangkok - Chonburi-Pattaya.
By Train
From Hua Lamphong Railway Station, there is only one daily train running to Phlu Ta Luang Railway Station in Chonburi.
By Bus
From the Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekkamai), there are many air conditioned buses to Chonburi from 05:30 - 21:00 they are every 40 minutes. Also the second - class air conditioned buses are provided from 05:30 - 21:00 run every 30 minutes. Non air-conditioned buses leave Ekkamai every 30 minutes from 05:00 - 21:00. Otherwise, there are also air-conditioned buses leaving the Bangkok Bus Terminal ( Mo Chit 2 ). Air conditioned buses take the motorway from 06:30 - 18:30.
Additionally, there are private buses departing from the Southern Bus Terminal. Air conditioned buses to Pattaya run daily along the Bang Na - Trat route and stop at the Rot Rungrueng Company air-conditioned bus terminal on Pattaya Nuea rd. They leave from 05:30 – 18:30 every 2 hours.