Smart Ferry on the Chao Phraya - a new era for "safe - clean - economical" travel on the "River of Kings" - tourists to benefit too

[webfact]

Picture: Daily News

 

Cooperation between the government, private sector and the harbor department is seeing ever greater options for safe, clean, economical and environmentally friendly transport on the Chai Phraya - Bangkok's River of Kings.

 

Not to mention the Thai capital's klongs.

 

One such service is the Phra Nang Klao to Sathorn service that is run in cooperation with E-Smart Transport.

 

It's name is "MINE Smart Ferry".

 

Picture: Daily News

 

At present it will run the rush hours Monday to Friday with extra schedules on weekends and public holidays. 

 

Schedules are set to increase in the next year with 23 boats in service.

 

The Urban line from Phra Nang Klao to Sathorn started on Wednesday with Rama 7 to Sathorn (the Metro Line) and Pin Klao to Sathorn (the City Line) lined up for next year, reported Daily News.

 

Other boats are also in the wings.

 

The harbor department are also developing piers and landing points for the ferry. 

 

The moves are part of a big push to go green and encourage commuters and tourists to switch from road to electric river and klong transport. 

 

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[Callmeishmael]

I see only one small door toward the stern of the boat.  How long will it take people to exit and enter the ferry?

[Geoffggi]

One thing the tourism department together with other radical changes through out the country appear to forget is some features are in fact what draw tourists to come to Thailand, for example riding in a tuk-tuk, sitting in a long-tail boat on one of the canals, eating authentic Thai food, seeing wild monkeys in Lopburi etc. The problem with the modern world is every city is becoming the same which is sad for me and I suppose many others who want to experience the different cultures as part and parcel of their holidays, which is why the major cities like Bangkok are for business only not tourism if someone really want to see and experience Thailand they need to get as far away from Bangkok as possible IMO.

[Pedrogaz]

The hub of rivers?

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, Callmeishmael said:

I see only one small door toward the stern of the boat.  How long will it take people to exit and enter the ferry?

Safety... "spit" it looks good that's all that matters.

[PETERTHEEATER]

5 hours ago, Callmeishmael said:

I see only one small door toward the stern of the boat.  How long will it take people to exit and enter the ferry?

In an emergency? Er....all day?

[josephbloggs]

13 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

In an emergency? Er....all day?

There are two fairly wide doors (one one either side) plus four emergency exits.  Do you really expect everyone to file out one tiny door?

(Yes of course you do)

[Burma Bill]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

It's name is "MINE Smart Ferry".

Oh dear, I certainly would not use this name:-

 

 

[PETERTHEEATER]

1 hour ago, josephbloggs said:

There are two fairly wide doors (one one either side) plus four emergency exits.  Do you really expect everyone to file out one tiny door?

(Yes of course you do)

This video shows the interior. They claim an 80km on-water range with a 20 minute recharge.....

[VocalNeal]

23 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

They claim an 80km on-water range

Up or down stream? With or against the tide? It is a gimmick for the benefit of a few. 

[josephbloggs]

2 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

This video shows the interior. They claim an 80km on-water range with a 20 minute recharge.....

Yes, and?

[Golden Triangle]

2 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

This video shows the interior. They claim an 80km on-water range with a 20 minute recharge.....

What video ?, I can't see it.

[josephbloggs]

3 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Up or down stream? With or against the tide? It is a gimmick for the benefit of a few. 

Actually they give a range of, erm, ranges.  They say a charge can last between 2-4 hours "on the water" which obviously depends on tides.  So what are you talking about?  No one is trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, they are just giving some average facts and figures about the boat.

Really not sure why everyone is getting their knickers in a twist and picking holes in sentences.  There is a large fleet of these boats that will be introduced and over one billion baht invested in this project already.  The same company is also investing $3 billion dollars in battery factories (their 800kwh lithium-ion battery packs are designed in house) and will introduce electric buses, trucks, taxis.  The company has been around since 2006 by the way so it is not an overnight pop up.  It is publicly listed and has foreign investors, being 20% owned by UBS Switzerland - the second largest single shareholder (we know foreigners are smarter than Thais so maybe they sorted out the doors).

But TVF geezers know better - small doors, they haven't thought about going against the tide, emergency evacuation will take an entire day, Somchai will run out of charge in the middle of the river, brake failure (ooooh this one is a hilarious TVF favourite) blah blah blah.  So boring and predictable, really small minded gripes by small minded people, whilst other people are investing the money in future technologies and actually making it happen.  This is to be applauded.  The negativity and snide remarks in this thread are pathetic.

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by josephbloggs

[Damrongsak]

Two doors on each side of the ferry.  Also 2 emergency doors at each end leading to the decks.

 

Video here:

 

[josephbloggs]

12 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

Two doors on each side of the ferry.  Also 2 emergency doors at each end leading to the decks.

 

Video here:

 

Nice one, looks amazing.

I really hope the people who made the ridiculous comments about a single door and no emergency exits mean an evacuation would take an entire day will watch this and see how wrong they were (but we know they won't - they bash and run).

Edited December 3, 2021 by josephbloggs

[Bohemianfish]

10 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

One thing the tourism department together with other radical changes through out the country appear to forget is some features are in fact what draw tourists to come to Thailand, for example riding in a tuk-tuk, sitting in a long-tail boat on one of the canals, eating authentic Thai food, seeing wild monkeys in Lopburi etc. The problem with the modern world is every city is becoming the same which is sad for me and I suppose many others who want to experience the different cultures as part and parcel of their holidays, which is why the major cities like Bangkok are for business only not tourism if someone really want to see and experience Thailand they need to get as far away from Bangkok as possible IMO.

Yes, the world is becoming homogenized. Uniqueness is falling by the wayside. 

[it is what it is]

11 hours ago, Callmeishmael said:

I see only one small door toward the stern of the boat.  How long will it take people to exit and enter the ferry?

that's exactly the problem with the existing ferries, entrance and exit only via the rear, resulting in wasted time at piers, congestion on the boat as people congregate around the entrance/exit, and occasional tempers - usually from the crew... these issues should/could have been resolved with some forethought and by simple attention to detail in the specification/design of the new ferries.

 

they are also pretty ugly.

[Stargeezr]

Damrongsak,  Thanks for the 20 min video , about the Mine Smart  electric ferry,  I have always enjoyed traveling on the river while I stay in Bangkok

and will try to take it next Winter when I go to Thailand.  I only get up earlier than 7 am, when my Thai family want to take me

somewhere out of the city. Usually about a 5:30 AM departure for road trips. 

[Damrongsak]

8 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Nice one, looks amazing.   ...

Being a catamaran, it should be fairly stable.  Inside looks like an extra wide bus or rail car. In the video it looked to me like the rear doors were the primary means of ingress/egress (because of marking signs), though fairly wide.  Time will tell.