A little background on Pathum Thani.
Pathum Thani is the administration centre for the city of Pathum Thani that includes the much larger Rangsit area. The offices and the seat of local government are located in this some what more rural town of Pathum Thani..
In the past Pathum Thani was an important river trade town with a large network of transport grade khlongs covering the entire surrounding area. These khlongs used to transport people and cargo to the Chao Phraya River and Pathum Thani. However today the river trade in Pathum Thani has mostly died out and been replaced with trucks and buses. Over the last 30 years the amount of farming activities in the Pathum Thani area has been slowly reducing as the land is turned over to residential condo complexes and industrial estates.
Pathum Thani today still is a trading centre for the local region with a large riverside wet market but it is mostly retail and local trade. A major wholesale wet market is located north of Rangsit. Over the last 30 years as Rangsit’s size and importance has grown, Pathum Thani has been in decline. However this is a blessing as it gives Pathum Thani a rural feel despite how close it is to the urban area of Bangkok.
Like Rangsit the bus system in Pathum Thani is broken up into 3 sections with no central terminal. However as Pathum Thani is much smaller it is much easier to find your bus. Behind the shop houses on the main road is a small bus terminal and food market. A few bus routes depart from this terminal. Just like in Rangsit there is zero passenger information at the bus stops and terminal as to which bus to take.
1. This is a video of the departure of a Route 1138 aircon bus from Rangsit metro bus terminal on a trip to Pathum Thani town. Note: how the bus departs with the doors open as the bus exits the terminal and then picks up a few people on the exit road before heading onto the main road.
2. This is a shot of a Route 960: Bangkok – Sena – Phak Hai bus. Bus number 960 – 21. Bus type unknown. Appears to be a refurbished metro bus. Taken as it was doing a U turn at Pathum Thani.
3. This is a shot of a Route 1111 bus. Bus number 1111 – 24. Bus type unknown. As I didn’t get a shot of the front of this bus I don’t know the destination. Taken as it was passing the Pathum Thani wet market.
4. This is a general view of the Pathum Thani wet market and bus area. Taken looking north.
5. This is an image of a motorbike Taxi stand just across the road from the Pathum Thani Market. These motor bikes provide a door to door service for between 5 and 40 baht a trip depending on the distance.
6. This is a shot of a Route 646: Nonthaburi – Pathum Thani - Ban Pan bus. Bus number 646 – 44. Bus type unknown. Taken as it was doing a U Turn in front of Pathum Thani market.
7. This is a shot of a Route 1005: Pathum Thani – Sam Khok truck – bus. Truck number 1005 – 28. Truck type unknown. Taken as it was heading for the food market bus terminal.
8. This is a shot of a Route 1147: Pathum Thani – Pu Pho truck – bus. Truck number 1147 – 7. Truck type Isuzu. Taken as it was doing a U turn at Pathum Thani market.
9. This is an image of the Samlor stand outside Pathum Thani market. These provide a slower but greener way for getting form the bus stop to your door. They cost between 10 and 50 baht a trip depending on the distance. These more popular with older Thais.
10. This is a shot of a Route 367: Nonthaburi – Pathum Thani - Rangsit bus. Bus number 367 – 3. Bus type Higer KLQ 6608C. Taken as it was passing through the Pathum Thani bus terminal.
11. This is an image of a Route 188: Pathum Thani – Bang Len bus. Bus number 188 – 29. Bus type unknown. Taken after it had U turned and was passing the row of banks in Pathum Thani town. Note how the doors are always open even when operating.
12. This is an image of a Route 1138: Rangsit – Pathum Thani bus. Bus number 1138 – 38. Bus type unknown. Note this service operates every 5 mins off peak. This is an all aircon bus route.
13. This is another image of a Route 188 bus. Bus number 188 – 39. Bus type unknown. Taken as it was passing through Pathum Thani market on its way to the food market bus terminal.
14. This is a shot of a Route 33: Sanam Luang – Pathum Thani bus. Bus number 33 – 9. Bus type unknown. Note this route is over 2 hours long and operates from 4am to 12am 7 days a week.
15. This is a shot of a Route 337: Pathum Thani – Bang Yai – Ngam Wong Wan bus. Bus number 337 – 4. Bus type unknown. Taken as it was approaching the Pathum Thani bus terminal.
16. This is a general view of the Route 359 bus terminal outside Wat Chang just south of Pathum Thani Market. This route does not operate via the main road in front of the market.
17. This is a shot of a Route 359: Pathum Thani – Pak Kret bus. Bus number 359 – 15. Bus type Merc. Taken as it was exiting the bus holding area at Pathum Thani.
18. This is a shot of the driver’s seat inside one of the Route 359 buses. Note how much more basic the driver’s area on this bus is compared to the aircon buses.
19. This is an inside shot of the same Route 359 bus. Note how the rear door is missing. On these buses never sit in the back row if you want a comfortable ride. As you tend to get bounced of the seat at every khlong bridge.
20. This is an image of the Pathum Thani cross river ferry. I was going to use it but it had run out of fuel and the staff where refilling it from black fuel containers and it was taking far too long.
21. This is a shot of the Pathum Thani cross river ferry pier. This pier allows direct access to the Pathum Thani market from the Route 90 bus on the other side. It costs 5 baht per trip. This is 2 baht more than most other cross river ferries.
22. This is a shot of a Route 1005 truck bus. Truck number 1005 – 30. Truck type Isuzu. Taken as it was waiting for passengers at the rear Pathum Thani bus terminal. Inside the terminal is a food market.
23. This is a shot of a Route 6045: Pathum Thani – Wat Chedi Thong truck bus. Truck number 6045 – 5. Truck type Toyota Mighty X. Taken as it was waiting for passengers at the rear Pathum Thani Bus terminal.
24. This is a shot of a Route 33 bus waiting at the rear Pathum Thani bus terminal. Bus number 33 – 46. Bus type Unknown. Note this bus was in rather poor condition as it was about to start its 2 hour plus long trip to Sanam Luang in the inner city of Bangkok.
25. This is an image of a Route 359 bus as it was passing through the rear Pathum Thani bus terminal. Bus number 359 – 3. Bus type Merc. Note this bus has no closeable doors.
26. This is an image of the Route 337 bus I used to head back to Rama 2. Bus number 337 – 7. Taken as it waited at Pathum Thani bus terminal. For its age this bus was in very good condition.
27. This is an inside shot of the seating on bus number 337 – 7. As it was a Saturday this bus did not attract a huge load for its semi rural trip to Bang Yai.
28. This is another inside shot of bus number 337 – 7. Taken looking towards the front after it had departed from Pathum Thani on its way to Bang Yai.
29. This is a short movie of a ride on the semi rural Bus route 337. Note the short stop to let down passengers and the low numbers of passengers on this bus. Also a mixture of farms and factories can be seen along the route. Not long after this was filmed a group of 15 people got on the bus at a factory.
30. This is a short movie of a ride on Route 337 as it enters Kanchanaphisek road in Pathum Thani. The bus had just let off a number of the factory workers on the onramp. Note how the doors are always left open on this bus. The doors have to be manually closed and thus are left open. Kanchanaphisek road in this section is only 4 lanes wide but in Thonburi its 14 lanes wide.
This section of Photographs was taken after getting off bus route 337 at Bang Yai. This area is home to number of large shopping centres on Kanchanaphisek road. Also there is large night market about 1 km south of Bang Yai. That night market may replace the tourist night market at Lumpini if the land is taken over for development.
31. This is an image of a Route 1024: Nonthaburi – Bang Yai bus. Bus number 1024 – 2. Bus type Merc. Taken as it was approaching the bus stop at Bang Yai. This service appears to use the Rama 5 bridge.
32. This is a shot of a Route 127: Bang Bua Thong – Arun Amarin Bridge bus. Bus number 127 – 1. Bus type Unknown. Taken as it was approaching the bus stop at Bang Yai.
33. This is a shot of a Route 388: Salaya – Pak Kret bus. Bus number 3rd class 388 – 4. Bus type Hino. Taken as it was approaching the bus stop at Bang Yai.
34. This is a shot of a Route 680: Rangsit – Bang Yai bus. Bus number 680 – 15. Bus type unknown. Taken as it was approaching the bus stop at Bang Yai.
35. This is a shot of one of many van services that operate in the Bang Yai area. This Van is heading to Ngam Wong Wan. These vans depart from a shophouse about 200 meters north of the main bus stop at Bang Yai.
36. This is an image of a Route 177: Victory Monument – Bang Bua Thong (Loop service) Bus number 177 – 10. Bus type unknown. Taken as it was approaching the bus stop at Bang Yai.
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.
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