Daytripping to Rayong

[sssteve]

I have a friend living in Rayong whom I would like to visit while I am in Bangkok (next january). We won"t have a car. Is it reasonable to do a day trip to Rayong from Bangkok? What's the best way to get to there and back.

Thanks, Steve

[Betti]

you can take a bus from Bangkok's Ekamai (Eastern) bus station, accessible by skytrain. the ride is about 4 hours, depending on the time it takes to get out of Bangkok. Rayong / Ban Phe are the drop-off points for Ko Samet, so I would guess there are buses frequently. (I don't know if the Ban Phe buses actually stop in Rayong or not.)

[Richard Barrow]

As Betti says, Rayong is a long way and it is not worth doing as a day trip. Pattaya is closer and some people do that as a day trip but I think they are crazy. The only beach that you can really call a day trip from Bangkok is Bangsaen. But, the water and beach is not as clean there as Rayong.

As a side note for people with cars who might be reading this, we actually found it was quicker driving to Rayong than Pattaya! This is because there is a major road to Rayong all the way. Also, Pattaya is so big and has so many cars it takes time to cross the town to get to the beach area! We managed to drive back from Rayong in just over two hours! Though we did get stopped by the police who said we were speeding. But, we weren't honestly. So, we ended up having to bribe him. It was a scam anyway because they were stopping most of the cars.

[Betti]

some of the buses to Rayong go the long way, via Pattaya, I could never figure out the logic, and of course if you (I) don't speak Thai, you cannot get them to admit to the longer route because they just want to put you on their bus and not that of the competitor.

[sssteve]

Thanks for the quick replies. As I noted in the original post, I'm not interested in going to Rayong to see the beach. I have a friend who lives there.
Now that I see how long the ride is (4 hours), it doesn't look worth the effort. Is there some quicker way than by bus, or is there some interesting place in the middle where we could meet?

[Betti]

you can always rent a helicopter I guess ;-)

maybe the Tiger Zoo in Sri Racha? it's kind of halfway. I'm told it's an interesting place - if one likes cuddling baby tigers.

[sssteve]

Helicopter?? Tigers???

I think I'll tell my friend to come to Bangkok if he wants to see us!