The Thai Marine Department is set to propose to the Cabinet to establish the country’s first large-scale international yacht/cruise ship port in Pattaya, worth over 7.4 billion baht.

 

The mega-project, which will be located near the Bali Hai pier if approved, aims to benefit from the growing popularity of yacht tourism, with over 31.5 million tourists travelling by yachts and cruise ships globally this year and is expected to reach 36 million by 2024, according to Mr. Wannachai Butthongdee, Director of Engineering Division of the Marine Department.

 

The construction will expectedly begin in 2026 and finish in 2029 if approved by the Cabinet.

 

By Tanakorn Panyadee

Caption: PHOTO: Khaosod Online

 

#news

Full Story: https://thepattayanews.com/2023/06/30/plan-to-build-7-4-billion-baht-high-class-cruise-ship-port-in-pattaya-to-be-proposed-to-thai-cabinet/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2023-06-30

 

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AFAIR the caretaker cabinet CANNOT approve ANY expenditure committing the next government to pay for it.

 

If Pattaya want to go ahead, then pay for it themselves and DON'T use ANY government funds.

 

It will do NOTHING for the rest of Thailand.

You can't make a silk purse out of a pigs ear.

This story and the monorail are stories that simply will not die.....You think they are dead and buried.....Then someone digs up the old chestnunts and run these stories again and again.....

 

 

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

to establish the country’s first large-scale international yacht/cruise ship port

Isn't there one forty kilometres down the road?

How  about using some of this endless amount of money they seem to have cleaning up that dirty city

There is no infrastructure around Bali Hai to support such an idea!

8 minutes ago, actonion said:

How  about using some of this endless amount of money they seem to have cleaning up that dirty city

Or planting some shade trees and having seatting on the beach again...

A cruise port for pattaya would be a very good investment...many cruise ships are now 3000 to 5000 passengers plus crew who usually are in a port for about 12 hours.  The passengers do every local tour in the book as well as a lot of shopping.  The crew also spends quite a bit on shopping. 

 

  For Pattaya local businesses it would be a massive boom of baht every time a ship docks.  

 

Currently several ships do stops in ko samui and phuket.  But in ko samui tender boats are required as no proper port...in phuket the port is an industrial port in a bad location though some smaller ones do get in better locations but again have to tender guests ashore which is not ideal.

 

The problem now and for years and years is that laem chabang  the only real major port in Thailand is one of the worst mafia controlled ports i have seen in over 75 cruises i have done.  It is ahuge ugly industrial port and too far to walk to the highway for most people.

 

  There is a HORRIBLE taxi mafia there charging $350 ++ to go to bangkok or $200 to pattaya and openly advertises the price on big signs.  They control the port and no other taxis are permitted to enter the port to pick up or even to drop off under threats of violence.

Many passengers get frustrated and end up just staying on the ship and spend zero. 

 

Corruption at it's best and obviously Mr Big there is well connected and rakes in thousands upon thousands from every ship that stops there..... and it is all done in open view so govt officials seem for sure in on the rip offs.  Customers give it negative remarks which results in few cruise ships wanting to make port calls there.  
 

I went on a cruise from Laem Chabang years ago when Star Cruise was operating from there. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had. Used as a port to leave was fine, but I couldn’t imagine coming there as a stop to visit Pattaya or Bangkok. It’s just too far away from anything and looks pretty bad. Certainly not what people would expect if they were to visit Thailand. 

3 minutes ago, pomchop said:

A cruise port for pattaya would be a very good investment...many cruise ships are now 3000 to 5000 passengers plus crew who usually are in a port for about 12 hours.  The passengers do every local tour in the book as well as a lot of shopping.  The crew also spends quite a bit on shopping. 

 

  For Pattaya local businesses it would be a massive boom of baht every time a ship docks.  

 

Currently several ships do stops in ko samui and phuket.  But in ko samui tender boats are required as no proper port...in phuket the port is an industrial port in a bad location though some smaller ones do get in better locations but again have to tender guests ashore which is not ideal.

 

The problem now and for years and years is that laem chabang  the only real major port in Thailand is one of the worst mafia controlled ports i have seen in over 75 cruises i have done.  It is ahuge ugly industrial port and too far to walk to the highway for most people.

 

  There is a HORRIBLE taxi mafia there charging $350 ++ to go to bangkok or $200 to pattaya and openly advertises the price on big signs.  They control the port and no other taxis are permitted to enter the port to pick up or even to drop off under threats of violence.

Many passengers get frustrated and end up just staying on the ship and spend zero. 

 

Corruption at it's best and obviously Mr Big there is well connected and rakes in thousands upon thousands from every ship that stops there..... and it is all done in open view so govt officials seem for sure in on the rip offs.  Customers give it negative remarks which results in few cruise ships wanting to make port calls there.  
 

So instead of get the taxis under control...Its better to spend $$$$$$$$$$ and build a new port?.........lol

Do it already.  

Usually these cruise ships, although the vessel itself may be on location for around 12 hours, the actual time for passengers to spend onshore is circa 8 hours.   What tours or excursions could Pattaya offer within that kind of time frame, other than trips to malls and a daytime visit to Walking Street?   Remember, these vessels will almost certainly have come from Singapore, so shopping other than topping  up with essentials, is very low on the list of things to do.   In the couple of years pre Covid, on two occasions friends of mine were on cruises that included Phuket on the itinerary, and I collected them from their coming ashore at Patong and spent the few hours that they had with them, so I'm reasonably familiar with what takes place.

14 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

So instead of get the taxis under control...Its better to spend $$$$$$$$$$ and build a new port?.........lol

The topic is the idea of building a simple jetty cruise dock to handle two ships in Pattaya.  Based on my first hand experience in visits to hundreds of cruise ports I am saying that a Pattaya cruise port at bali high would be a big $$ maker for local pattaya biz....unlike laem chabang visitors could walk to shopping or take baht buses or do optional shore excursions to local attractions and they would spend a ton of $$ in pattaya. 

 

Laem Chabang is likely beyond fixing as it is too far for passengers to even walk to the gate to escape the taxi mafia that rules with an iron fist.  Just because Laem Chabang is a mess does not mean that Pattaya would have be the same.  Laem chabang literally is able to hold the passengers captive and extort them to get transport out. And of course even if you walked the 2 miles to the gate and got out there is nothing worth seeing in Laem Chabang area.

 

 I suspect pattaya would get pretty decent ratings from the passengers as they most likely would be there from about 8 am to 8 pm and not necessarily see much of the raunchy nightlife...

9 minutes ago, pagallim said:

Usually these cruise ships, although the vessel itself may be on location for around 12 hours, the actual time for passengers to spend onshore is circa 8 hours.   What tours or excursions could Pattaya offer within that kind of time frame, other than trips to malls and a daytime visit to Walking Street?   Remember, these vessels will almost certainly have come from Singapore, so shopping other than topping  up with essentials, is very low on the list of things to do.   In the couple of years pre Covid, on two occasions friends of mine were on cruises that included Phuket on the itinerary, and I collected them from their coming ashore at Patong and spent the few hours that they had with them, so I'm reasonably familiar with what takes place.

The local tour companies would have a variety of sightseeing or excursions  to gardens, temples, zip lines, golf, seafood lunches, as well as likely arrange daytime shows at places like Tiffany....shopping in Singapore is WAY WAY more expensive than in Pattaya and most cruise passengers are looking for a lot of tee shirts and local types souveniors more than some expensive designer products like Singapore offers.  Having been on over 75 cruises i too am pretty familiar with what takes place.

This takes "pie in the sky" to another level.

3 hours ago, pagallim said:

What tours or excursions could Pattaya offer within that kind of time frame

Oh use  a bit of imagination..... 6 hours in TQ maybe,

They should open up Sattahip Navy harbor for cruise ships.

Everything's already there. Sattahip is clean, safe and beautiful area.

Nobody's going to invade Sattahip & Thailand by military means but cash rich tourists will if they let them in.

18 hours ago, billd766 said:

AFAIR the caretaker cabinet CANNOT approve ANY expenditure committing the next government to pay for it.

 

If Pattaya want to go ahead, then pay for it themselves and DON'T use ANY government funds.

 

It will do NOTHING for the rest of Thailand.

Who would get the contract for the 24/7 dredging operation to ensure a deep water channel up to the jetty? Will the dredged sand be taken back to Pattaya beach and relayed before washing away again. So many questions, so few answers.

7 hours ago, actonion said:

How  about using some of this endless amount of money they seem to have cleaning up that dirty city

That would cost more than 7.4 billion baht!!

7 hours ago, actonion said:

How  about using some of this endless amount of money they seem to have cleaning up that dirty city

A good idea but I'm sure this would cost more than 7.4 billion baht!!

21 hours ago, GypsyT said:

They should open up Sattahip Navy harbor for cruise ships.

Everything's already there. Sattahip is clean, safe and beautiful area.

Nobody's going to invade Sattahip & Thailand by military means but cash rich tourists will if they let them in.

How far is that from pattaya?  Never been there...

Thailand trails most of the developing world, when it comes to marinas of any sort. Not a bad idea. Considering the amount of coastline Thailand has, there is a huge shortage of both marinas, and places to get a boat serviced, refueled, etc.