Hua Hin to Pattaya ferry suspended for low season from today

[observer90210]

When flying over to Thailand from Dubai recently the DXB-BKK flight was in a smaller aircraft with many seats empty...never saw this in years.

 

Even the taxi driver in BKK was admitting that tourists from the west were on a sharp drop and the new spenders/visitors in Thailand were the Indians and Chinese.

 

Many BKK small time hotels that used to cater farang touristsave have closed , as the owners were not properly welcoming the Chinese or the Indians....so they ended up in loosing it all.

 

The clever Thai's have quickly adapted and are welcoming now the Chinese and Indians, and those refusing to cater these newspenders have plainly fallen into foreclosure for their hotels and other premises.

[kwilco]

On 9/22/2018 at 5:12 PM, johng said:

They did shutdown and startup for various reasons before...so maybe "they'll be back"

"various reasons"?

 

One still wonders if those Various reasons were to get further financial backing?

 

It looks like one of those companies that can't actually go into liquidation and has top fail for other reasons.

 

[geriatrickid]

Many of the negative comments made on this thread are idiotic and dishonest.

 

Why do people expect Thailand to have a different approach to the seasonality of travel demand? There is indeed a relationship between the time of year,  route loads and service frequency. Why criticize the ferry company for doing what other transport companies do?

 

In the days leading up to and  following the conclusion of Songkran, as much  passenger capacity as is possible is made available. In peak season, the airlines boost their capacity  to the most popular destinations. It is not unreasonable for a transport company to reduce service during a period when there is low demand. We are in monsoon season and people do not want to  travel. Pattaya has flooding and Hua Hin is inundated. The seas are choppy. Why then is it the ferry operator's fault or TAT's fault if demand for the service is reduced during this short period?

 

What possesses anyone to demand that the ferry operate in unsafe conditions?

These same people will be the first to characterize the ferry as unsafe and irresponsible if there is an incident at sea during a storm.

 

 

 

And as for the cheap charlies whinging about the   cost of a ticket @ 1250 baht, boo hoo. 33 Euro/ 53 AUD / 50 CAD / 38 USD  and you are complaining?  Some people place a value on their time.  2 hours by ferry or 5-7 hours by bus depending upon the time of day and traffic/weather conditions. The ferry cost is neither unreasonable nor expensive when compared to similar services. Get over it. It is now 2018, not 1975 when you could get a patpong hooker to love you long time for a pack of chiclets, 100 baht and the associated costs of  a sexually transmitted disease.  The ferry is a valued asset during much of the tourist season.

 

 

[gk10002000]

On 9/20/2018 at 2:28 AM, prakhonchai nick said:

I wonder when low season will really end.

yeah.  the older definitions of high and low season just won't quite apply anymore.  While the weather cycles of course are the same, the so called high season tourists have much different styles than the previous ones.  So many tourists are now groups as stated by the TAT (chinese for example).  Unless they start booking arranged ferry trips, the fact there are millions of chinese tourists during high season won't matter

[JAS21]

On 9/20/2018 at 10:19 AM, johng said:

There was talk of a car ferry service Sattahip to Hua Hin by the same company,maybe that would get more use ...though I would have thought Pattaya Bali Hai to Hua Hin

(Pattaya- Bangkok and other ports too) passengers/car ferry would be the more lucrative routes.

 

 

Would you trust your prized possession on a Thai boat ... it's not easy to fit a life jacket on a car..

Edited October 14, 2018 by JAS21

[Golden Triangle]

I'm glad the service is resuming on 1st Nov, my daughter is arriving that week and will be using the ferry to Hua Hin as they make their way south rather than risk their lives in a coffin on wheels.

Edited October 14, 2018 by Golden Triangle

[JAS21]

1 hour ago, Golden Triangle said:

I'm glad the service is resuming on 1st Nov, my daughter is arriving that week and will be using the ferry to Hua Hin as they make their way south rather than risk their lives in a coffin on wheels.

So they walk the rest of the way or train it ...????

[blackhorse]

But we've recently been lead to believe by TAT and City Hall that tourist numbers are up in Pattaya. This revelation should get their low-season denier panties in a bunch.

 

Maybe they've overlooked the simple demographics of this self-proclaimed new wave of year-round, better-quality tourists? It looks like most Indians and East Asians just aren't interested in a weekend on the sunrise side of the Gulf.

Nothing to do with it. It's the PRICE. It was dead even in high season

 

Instead of dropping the price they cancel the ferry instead putting people out of jobs

 

[Golden Triangle]

3 hours ago, JAS21 said:

So they walk the rest of the way or train it ...????

Train & local transport, they have been here many times and know the ropes on the minibuses