ferry possibility from pattaya to hua hin?

[capcase]

as title

[richard_smith237]

Yes... they will start a new service after next monsoon season... 

And when that doesn’t happen, they will start a new service after next monsoon season... 

And...   

 

... I think you may see the cycle there...   Lots of announcements of this Pattaya to Hua Hin service which never seems to take off... 

[StayinThailand2much]

With less tourists but higher costs not likely in the near future.

[Woof999]

With no vehicular traffic of any kind, it was a waste of time for me.

[pjmorton]

The previous ferry service that ceased a couple of years ago was extremely comfortable and safe but I never saw it anywhere close to full. Maybe the problem is that a boat that is not so impressive would fail to inspire confidence among a clientele base who often can't swim.

[fredjaidee]

The service went bankrupt due to covid.  Someone needs to buy back the boat and restart it.

[theoldgit]

4 hours ago, fredjaidee said:

The service went bankrupt due to covid.  Someone needs to buy back the boat and restart it.

 

They'll also need to build new facilities at the Hua Hin Ferry Terminal, they were all demolished after the firm went bust.

[KhunLA]

25 minutes ago, fredjaidee said:

The service went bankrupt due to covid.  Someone needs to buy back the boat and restart it.

Can't blame everything on covid, as it was operating, and I'm being generous, but in business, poorly, 2 years prior to covid.

 

Extreme mixed reviews.

[LALes]

I took it once on a round trip.  Neither way was anyways near full capacity.  This was early 2019, long before Covid.

Just not enough customers to make it work.

[thairookie]

The service didn't last long because the tickets were relatively expensive.

[Hamus Yaigh]

7 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

.. I think you may see the cycle there...  

Anyone remember the hovercraft ferry service Pattaya - HuaHin back in the 80's? I got on it once, and we only traveled about a kilometer out of Pattaya bay before engine trouble. Towed back to beach and offered a full refund. Dodged a bullet there. Caught the bus after that.

[KhunLA]

17 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Anyone remember the hovercraft ferry service Pattaya - HuaHin back in the 80's? I got on it once, and we only traveled about a kilometer out of Pattaya bay before engine trouble. Towed back to beach and offered a full refund. Dodged a bullet there. Caught the bus after that.

That was part of the last ferry failure, as I understand it, they didn't offer refunds for cancelled trips, simply a credit.  The service was very iffy, and lots of cancellations.  Some suspect simply for low sales, and always seemed to be rough seas an excuse.

 

Price and total, all-in travel time, drive to/from pier, or taxis to/from, check in time, and hope it actually departs, and not having own transport at either end, relying on taxi service from piers and getting around, especially HH, along with the always possible, cancelled return trip, didn't inspire much confidence in the service.  2 hr on boat, so at best, 3ish hr vs 4-5 hr drive, if all operating on time.

 

Great of goes as plan ... but .... TIT

Along with weather dependent ????

[capcase]

thailand should build a cross sea bridge. the transportation time can be reduced to less than 1 hour. 

[petermik]

4 minutes ago, capcase said:

thailand should build a cross sea bridge. the transportation time can be reduced to less than 1 hour. 

the government has a couple of submarines on order....making the trip to HH much more exciting ????

[Fips82]

No an afraid not the company closed it down.

[PETERTHEEATER]

3 hours ago, petermik said:

the government has a couple of submarines on order....making the trip to HH much more exciting ????

But passengers will be required to row like galley slaves. First class gets to beat the cadence drum....????

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 7/6/2022 at 2:22 AM, capcase said:

as title

Nope 

[JayClay]

On 7/6/2022 at 9:41 AM, thairookie said:

The service didn't last long because the tickets were relatively expensive.

Relatively? A two way trip would cost 2500... That's just not viable.

 

But there are other reasons it failed.

 

In the off-season boats were cancelled at short notice due to low tides or poor weather conditions. The problem with this, on the Hua Hin side at least, was that the timing of the boats made it impossible to use the bus as a backup plan; the boat left Hua Hin after the bus so if the boat was cancelled your only other choice would be a taxi.

 

Plus the boat left Hua Hin late in the afternoon, and went back quite early the following day, meaning a day trip was impossible, and it wasn't really very practical for a 1 night stay, either.

 

To make it a useful service they need to be able to run two crossings per day in each direction, one early and one later, and need to be able to price it more reasonably. 1,500bt for a return journey might just about work (they could keep the one-way ticket at 1,200bt I suppose, so long as the return option is available). Then the price of the ticket needs to include a backup option (bus or minivan) should the boat not be able to travel on a given date.

 

However I doubt there's enough demand to make such a service viable.

[Lancashirelad]

On 7/6/2022 at 1:53 AM, fredjaidee said:

The service went bankrupt due to covid.  Someone needs to buy back the boat and restart it.

Not that boat, needs a bigger boat that can carry motor vehicles and handle rough seas.

[fredjaidee]

16 hours ago, Lancashirelad said:

Not that boat, needs a bigger boat that can carry motor vehicles and handle rough seas.

There was an article a year back about putting in a car ferry but the waters around Hua Hin are too shallow, it would need to go from Pranburi.