From Central Pattaya to Pattaya 13 Alley

The route, in the direction the traffic goes

The single fact that makes this trip cheap and quick: through the centre of Pattaya, Beach Road is one-way heading south and Second Road is one-way heading north. Since the shop is to the south, everything about your journey should be happening on Beach Road, not on Second Road.

1. 1. Get to Beach Road, on the sea side

   From Central Festival or anywhere along Central Road, walk down to the beachfront rather than trying to catch something heading south on Second Road. A baht bus on Second Road is going north, away from where you want to be, and it will take you on a long tour of the city before it comes back.

2. 2. Ride or walk south along the beachfront

   Baht buses run continuously south along Beach Road with the sea on your right. Flag one, sit at the back, and stay on it past Walking Street. If you are walking instead, the beachfront has shade on the inland side for much of the way and a breeze that the inland roads do not get.

3. 3. Turn inland at the south end

   At the southern end of the beachfront, where Walking Street begins, the route turns inland along South Pattaya Road, signposted as Pattaya Tai. This is where the sea stops being useful as a reference: from here you are heading away from it and into the block of numbered alleys.

4. 4. Into Pattaya 13 Alley

   The address is 32 Pattaya 13 Alley. It is a side street off the main road, so nothing is visible until you are in it, and the phone route matters more than the signage for the last part. The LABS DISPENSARY board is inside the alley itself.

The one-way loop is the whole trick

Almost every complaint about baht buses in Pattaya comes down to the loop. The fixed route runs south along Beach Road and north along Second Road, so a bus that looks like it is heading the wrong way usually is — and staying on it means a full circuit of the centre.

Once you know this, the system is genuinely convenient and the fare is fixed for anywhere along the route. Get on going the way you want to go, press the buzzer on the ceiling before your turning, and pay at the window after you step off.

Walking it, and when that is a good idea

The beachfront walk south from Central Pattaya is one of the better walks in the city in the early evening: it is flat, it is shaded on one side, and the sea air makes a real difference compared with the inland roads. In the middle of the day it is a long stretch of direct sun and most people take the bus.

The last part, inland from the beachfront, is the least pleasant regardless of the hour — traffic, no sea breeze, little shade. Plenty of people ride the beachfront leg and walk only that final stretch, which is a reasonable compromise.

By taxi or ride-hailing app

For a booked car the loop does not apply, but the alley still does: give the driver Pattaya 13 Alley and let the pin do the rest. A shop name will not be recognised, and describing a landmark instead usually results in being dropped on the main road rather than at the alley mouth.

One local detail worth knowing: traffic through the centre backs up badly in the late afternoon, and the beachfront is often slower than walking at that hour. If a route estimate looks implausibly long, that is why.

What to bring

Passport and the original prescription document, on every visit. The counter checks both before anything else happens, and from Central Pattaya that is a long way to come back for a document left in a hotel safe.

There is nothing to arrange in advance: no orders, no reservations and no payment through this website or by message. The trip ends at a counter, with a conversation.

Central Pattaya to the shop: questions