Seatrans Ferry Reservations System

[taxexile]

having spent 4 hours queuing up at donsak waiting to get to samui , we thought we would make life easier for ourselves when leaving the island by booking a ferry ticket in advance , as we have done in the past.

we went to the booking office at the new jetty , stood in line for 10 minutes and when we reached the front of the queue asked one of the many staff there for a reservation on the 11am ferry the following day.

yes you can book , but you cant book here , even though we are a booking office.

we were given a leaflet explaining the procedure.

first we had to phone the seatran ticket centre and talk to a seatran representative.

10 minutes and 4 attempts later we managed to speak to a human , we then told her that we would like to book a car and one passenger on the 11am tomorrow.

"yes we can do that , here is your reference number , take it along to any branch of the bank of ayuddhaya and pay"

we walked into town until we found the bank , its near enough opposite the police station , queued up again , were given a seatran booking form form to fill out , went back and queued again and paid , but you can only pay for the car , passengers have to pay separately at the booking office just before departure.

15b service charge to the bank.

half an hour before departure we queued up at the booking office to exchange the bank receipt for the ticket and then pay for a passenger. another 10 minutes and this time a 35 baht service charge to the company.

a total 50 baht service charge on a 490 baht fare , represents a 10% top up of the fare , payable by the customer for the priviledge of running around and jumping through hoops.

indian bureaucrats at the height of the raj would have been hard pressed to come up with a more time consuming , annoying and logic free process of purchasing a ticket , to a thai company on that poxy little island it's second nature.

after 2 koh samui free years , we had to make a trip down there this week. the place certainly has its charm , but that charm is harder to find now , and is being pushed further and further inland.

we had some great food and friendly service ,( especially antica locando , the italian restaurant in bang rak and at one or two no name lunchtime curry shops ) , although indifferent staff and owners appear to be the norm. ( e.g. angelas bakery in maenam , always good for drinks and cakes , now cant be bothered to to serve customers after 3.40pm , even though the closing time is posted as 4pm. )

the island must have the worst roads in the country , driving was a nightmare down there , even for thailand the driving is exceptionally bad and after a 10 minute afternoon rainshower the main ring road through maenam and bophut was flooded for half an hour ........ and diesel was 44 baht a litre at one garage on the island , and no we didnt fill up there.

its not a very relaxing place to visit anymore.

[goldfish]

Once you use them a couple of times it becomes easier. Phone, give car and phone details, receive booking number then pay direct at atm. Arrive half hour before

[MengWan]

Hi,

I am surprised that one can't anymore book at a counter !

Is it the same on the other way, i.e from Donsak to Samui ?

NB: The "ATM" thing is good only if you have a BAY ATM card, no ?

[ClaudeFeller]

The advance booking is very easy and effective, the "fee"-system is normal in Thailand.

Have membership cards too, fee is 200 THB, preload is 1.000 THB. But the price for every trip is the same like booking with call-center and ATM!! Membership cards can only be issued at Don Sak, just need passport copy. Previously they issued at Nathon pier too, but the staff in Nathon have "lost" too many cards ....

[taxexile]

The advance booking is very easy and effective,

no it isn't , its an orwellian nightmare.

the advance booking cannot under any circumstances be called easy and effective , it took me 55 minutes , and involved phones , call centre queues , a trip to a bank , bank queues , form filling , more bank queues , voucher purchase , and i still had to turn up at the ticket office half an hour before departure to exchange a voucher for a ticket and then buy another ticket for the passenger.

why on earth should a visitor to samui have to go through all this rigmarole just to get an advance ticket ( for a run down and filthy boat).

three other couples ( thai) were going through the same purchasing procedure whilst we were there and even they were surprised by its complexity and illogicality.

the service charges are just a rip off , nothing else. much the same as booking fees for concert and cinema tickets. less work and service by the staff and increased profits for the company and costs to the customer.

to the poor folk living on samui for whom hassle and poor service is a normal part of everyday life , this procedure might be comparatively simple and seem like a breath of fresh air, but for the occasional visitor from the mainland , who doesn't want to buy membership cards and doesn't know where the banks are in nathon (just like the staff in the booking office at the pier) its a stupid system.

Edited May 26, 2008 by taxexile

[Gatorade]

I agree, it is easy once you have gone through the sytem once. But the whole thing seems so utterly pointless and totally

irrational. Apart from generating paperwork and extra employment I wonder what the reason (as if there was any) was to introduce this system. The booking offices are still there, why not use them?

[limbos]

Just picked up my Members card at nathon pier, applied in January and was waiting for a call to pick it up, a call that never came. Was many times in Nathon but forget my receipt!

Anyways, Claude, there was a whole big box full of cards waiting for their owners. Don't quite get the concept of 'losing' cards when you have a receipt!

[ClaudeFeller]

Every card is worth 1.200 THB and can be sold under the table.

The fees-system is everywhere in Thailand, bank offices, accounting, car ferry - fees are mostly ridicolous high.

Why they have invented this pre-booking service? Because it is sure, if you book in advance you get a receipt and you can use a car ferry in the right time. If they would have an easy pre-booking service at the counter: Doors are open for bribes. Even now truck drivers pay bribes and come first in the waiting queue.

But I agree that Samui stuff knows an exceptional nothing.

Edited May 26, 2008 by ClaudeFeller

[happylarry]

Great system if you dont live near Nathon, simply one phone call to book then when you go out just pay at an ATM and its done with no worries.

When I drive from Isaan and not sure of time of arriving at Donsak, I simply ring and book while on the road and stop at next town to pay. Couldnt be simpler....could it????

HL

[mattias33]

The advance booking is very easy and effective, the "fee"-system is normal in Thailand.

Have membership cards too, fee is 200 THB, preload is 1.000 THB. But the price for every trip is the same like booking with call-center and ATM!! Membership cards can only be issued at Don Sak, just need passport copy. Previously they issued at Nathon pier too, but the staff in Nathon have "lost" too many cards ....

Well, I am a seatran memeber and i have to say they cn take that membership and shove it....

Every single time we call on our trips from bangkok to samui the answer has been "all bookings sold out, you have to go wait stand by".

There has been alot of stories with this membership and i will not bore you with all of them but in general i have top say it is a joke.

Last storie two days ago. Heading for bangkok my wife book a 2 o clock ferry with her phone and our membership card. Coming there 1:31 they told us that we have to be 30 minuites early (missed by 1 minuite) and the best we can do is 4 o clock ferry. The 2 o clock ferry had not yet started bording cars but we where not aloud to bord!!! I got angry and left for lipa noi and the raja ferry 3 o clock with no booking and i swear i will never ever use seatran again. Bullshit company and bullshit membership. Not once have i been able to use the 1000 baht deposit. Everytime i ask "how?". In samui they say "in donsak", in donsak they always have somekind of bullshit reason and i cant even start to go in to all crazy explains i got not to use the deposit. Sorry guys, You say it becomes easier every time. For me after 15 times its so difficult i prefer never to use seatran again...

Long live raja.

[Kan Win]

I travel from here:

via

to here

and yes, photos are a bit pished

Kan Win

P.S. Raja rules the waves