Grand Opening of Ripley’s Sky Rider at Royal Garden Plaza Pattaya

PATTAYA:--Wednesday saw the grand opening of a new and unique attraction at Ripley’s: Believe It Or Not!

Located on the roof top of the Royal Garden Plaza in South Pattaya is Ripley’s Sky Rider which has been operating in test mode since December 2012.

Khun Somporn, Deputy Managing Director of the Royal Garden Plaza presided over the event where the Sky Rider, which claims to be Thailand’s first helium balloon and has been imported from France, takes customers high into the sky to witness Pattaya from above.

Full story:http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/81668/grand-opening-ripleys-sky-rider-royal-garden-plaza-pattaya/

-- Pattaya One 2013-04-04

Might give it a try...

... when it has completed 1,000,000 flights without any fatalities.

Maybe the Thai Army should sent some observers to Pattaya to see a balloon that actually works. Maybe they can borrow it for surveillance work in the South

Can see this from my apartment 200 meter away,been going up and down since desember and wondered what the use was....and no way I will go for a ride in it.

Might give it a try...

... when it has completed 1,000,000 flights without any fatalities.

1,000,000 flights??? Guess the cables holding it attached to the ground probably will snap then....

I remember a couple of months ago there was a pickup loaded with cylinders of hydrogen crashed in Pattaya. Fortunately this balloon is filled with helium!

I wonder how a balloon like this will fare in the approaching thunderstorm season.

Can see this from my apartment 200 meter away,been going up and down since desember and wondered what the use was....and no way I will go for a ride in it.

Well think of it this way... it will give the balcony divers so prevelant in Pattaya another option, jumping off a balcony so old hat...go out in style and jump out of Ripleys balloon....

Personally think will give one a miss

I am tempted to try it and bring my camera.

Heard this it's only 300 bath.

With the prevailing wind coming from the sea it should go inland if the wire snaps

I am tempted to try it and bring my camera.

Heard this it's only 300 bath.

With the prevailing wind coming from the sea it should go inland if the wire snaps

More importantly, it will continue to go up, hope it is not operated by Egyptians.

Does it actually go anywhere, or just up and down? Seems like a very dangerous game.

has anyone been up in it yet? Tempted to take the kids.

:-)

Go before 11am: it's half-price.

Personally I wouldn't go in it if they paid me. I can get a similar view for free from the roof of my condo.

Go before 11am: it's half-price.

Personally I wouldn't go in it if they paid me. I can get a similar view for free from the roof of my condo.

Yeah...get a view twice as high by going to the 27th floor rooftop restaurant of the Markland condo for FREE.

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

I went on one of these in Siem Reap, looking over Angkor Wat, have to say it was well organised and an impressive view. But somehow the rooftops of Pattaya have not the same appeal.

Goods news there are more attractions opening. Personally though, I won't be using it. Firstly, Pattaya does not have a good safety culture and secondly, the city scape is not very beautiful is it? At least in the Hilton, you just look out towards the sea and can ignore everything east of beach road. Sorry to be blunt, Pattaya has many plusses but being a pretty city isn't one of them...at ground level or from the sky.

From that balloon about half of the view should be towards the bay, and presumably quite nice. Still not worth paying for though.

I am tempted to try it and bring my camera.

Heard this it's only 300 bath.

With the prevailing wind coming from the sea it should go inland if the wire snaps

I don't have enough baths.. do you reckon they would accept 250 bath and 50 showers ?

totster

Go before 11am: it's half-price.

Personally I wouldn't go in it if they paid me. I can get a similar view for free from the roof of my condo.

Yeah...get a view twice as high by going to the 27th floor rooftop restaurant of the Markland condo for FREE.

Get a view from four times as high by going to the Saigon restaurant on th 23rd floor of Pattaya Hill Resort, on the hill. Pattaya, and Jomtien all the way down to the end of the Bay of Bangkok. Or from Pattaya tower, 180m up if memory serves right. Costs a few Baht to go up there, but less than the balloon.

Yeah, big surprise here... the kids still vote balloon ride over elevator ride up to any of our various condo units. See you on the news if it doesn't go well.

:-)

Does it actually go anywhere, or just up and down? Seems like a very dangerous game.

I saw it "in the air" for the first time a few days ago. It seemed to move very close to various buildings around, it seemed dangerous. I would like to say "they must have that under control", but given Thai safety standards I wouldn't dare.

It could also be a visual effect from where I was seeing it, driving on 2nd road from the traffic light at South Pattaya (that is an extra danger, not directly the balloon's fault, but it may distract drivers watching it).

Hope you and your kids have fun Heng. Let us know how it goes.

Someone has said that it has cost 80 Million Baht to have this balloon imported

from France.

can anyone confirm this please ? 80 Million Baht sounds a bit steep.

Someone has said that it has cost 80 Million Baht to have this balloon imported

from France.

can anyone confirm this please ? 80 Million Baht sounds a bit steep.

Maybe the price has been inflated.

Someone has said that it has cost 80 Million Baht to have this balloon imported

from France.

can anyone confirm this please ? 80 Million Baht sounds a bit steep.

It's not cheap to fill the thing either. A cubic foot of Helium costs nowadays $0.73, assuming the balloon is 30 metres in diameter, it costs about 11 million Baht.

Well, we're still alive. The kids enjoyed it enough... certainly not the same thing as sitting in one of our condos sipping at a beverage and looking out at the bay (the buildings don't sway around for several meters in each direction for one thing). The 'captain'... basically a poor 500 Baht a day soul whose job it is to sit in this thing all day... mentioned that it has an expected 'life expectancy' of 5 years. The steel mooring cable already looks kind of frayed even after just a few months of use. Used the Ensogo/Living Social coupon for 290 Baht each so for 10 of us was around US$100.

That said, one would think that they know that it's a 'loss on paper' type of business in its current form. There have been a few of these businesses around the world in better economies with none 'ending' well. Presumably they are hoping that they are 'gaining' on advertising or perhaps will one day convert it into an advertising platform. Hopefully this isn't the same balloon that crashed at Ocean Park HK that was bought at a discount.

If helium is so expensive, im sure they will find something cheaper to put in it