Why Can't You Catch A Plane/Bus/Train/Ferry Between ...

[Ricardo]

New Routes for a New Year !

As I sit planning my travels for the new year, my thoughts turn to wonder about routes I would want or expect, but which don't yet exist !

So I thought it might make an interesting thread, for people to post what routes they think ought to exist, linked by bus or plane or whatever, but which aren't properly served yet, or even which don't exist at all ?

Until fairly recently, and being extremely parochial, I would have wondered why I could fly direct from CNX to HKT, but have to route via Bangkok when coming back, or why there was no direct-link to Krabi for Ao Nang & Koh Lanta & Koh Lipe, even during the high-tourist-season. But these 'missing-links' have now been filled-in !

To kick things off, I'll throw up three examples, and see what else we (usually creative) TV-posters can come up with, along with the inevitable brickbats ?

1. Hourly Buses between Don Muang Airport & Pattaya !

The old airport is now Bangkok's, or even Thailand's, Low-Cost Carrier hub. Yet it seems to me to be poorly-served with bus-routes, for anything other-than in/out of the centre of town. Why isn't there a Bus-Connection point, so that all the long-distance buses passing-by the terminals, on the main road to the North-West & North-East & Central-Thailand, can stop to drop-off or pick-up passengers ?

And especially why is there no direct hourly (or whatever) bus-service direct to Pattaya-Tai bus-station.

There surely are plenty of passengers flying in/out, who aren't going into the city itself, but are heading down to the beach & nightlife & whatever-else of Thailand's top resort-town ?

So why do they have to catch a shuttle or a taxi to Mor-Chit, before they can get on the frequent shuttle-bus to Patters, or blag their way onto the free-shuttle to Swampy to reach the Bell Bus or cheaper direct-buses down to toll-ways to get there ?

Are the bus-operators merely slow to respond, to the rapid build-up of passengers through DMK, or is there simply not enough traffic, or what ?

2. Direct-Flights between India & Phuket !

Phuket is a very popular beach-holiday destination, where Indian-nationals can get a 15-day visa-on-arrival, and India has 1.2 billion people who are increasingly able to afford to go on budget-holidays to Thailand, with their families or on-honeymoon or with their friends.

They're already coming in noticeably higher numbers to Pattaya (& Bangkok ?), their airline-industry is equipped with plenty of smaller 150-180 seat narrow-bodied jets, so why aren't they using them for flying holiday-charters or scheduled-routes overnight between HKT & India, as they do into Bangkok ?

It might be a source of extra visitors for the local hotels and tourist-attractions, it would generate extra overnight flying-time for the airlines (and there are several of them) to use their planes more-efficiently, it's a mystery to me why this hasn't already happened !

3. Day-time VIP Buses between Chiang Mai and Pattaya !

When I want to save money, and travel by long-distance bus between Chiang Mai & Pattaya/Ban Phe (for Koh Samet), I have a choice of several-to-ten overnight buses for what is often only a 10-hour journey (on the VIP-bus, not the slower stopping-route First-Class one).

But I dislike (who wouldn't) having to spend a night trying (and failing) to sleep in a bus seat, rather than my hotel-bed or at-home !

So why isn't there a single VIP/Express bus timed to run during the day, so that (even allowing for the heavier traffic) I can leave one city on an early-start at 08.00, and reach my destination at a fairly-friendly mid-evening hour, to head for my hotel/guesthouse before reception closes.

OK, so that's my idea for a New Year thread, let's see what others can come up with ?

Oh, and a Very Happy Travelling New Year, to all of us !

[phuketrichard]

Phuket has flights into Chennai india and has had them for awhile

There are also new bus's going from Phuket to Nong khai, Chaing Mai, Chaing Rai an Mukdahan with only a 1 hour stop in Bangkok

I am waiting for the flights to Bali from Phuket to be resumed

also how about a link up to Phnom Pehn??

[UbonOz]

Answer to #1.

Arrive DMK, show boarding pass to get free shuttle to BKK, transfer to Bell's Bus Service, BKK to Pattaya. Half hourly from DMK, hourly from BKK. Do the reverse on your return if needed.

Did the trip in both directions in the last couple of weeks.

[dddave]

BELL did have a scheduled bus from DMK to Pattaya but their website says it has been "suspended temporarily"

The website also says that all drop off services in the city will be temporarily suspended during the demonstrations.

[Tomtomtom69]

I thought THAI Smile already flies from Phuket to Mumbai and Phuket to Delhi twice weekly for each route. However, that frequency is low considering how many Indians would be interested in flying directly into Phuket. I agree that more flights should go to regional Thai cities. This stupid obsession with the Bangkok primate city hub needs to end. For starters all the demonstrations are focused on Bangkok and yet luckily, many visitors are still visiting THailand but want to travel directly to Phuket, Chiang Mai etc. I don't see why everyone should be forced to transit in Bangkok first. Bangkok is not the only city in Thailand and nowadays more and more visitors want to travel directly to other places like Samui, Phuket, Pattaya etc. as they should. Bangkok is a good place for shopping and to bang your c*ck but not everyone wants to come to Bangkok. Also, most other cities in Thailand offer equally good shopping as Bangkok does.

For example, it's not like foreign visitors wanting to visit New York all have to transit in Los Angeles first...there are even direct flights to cities like Philadelphia, Orlando, Dallas and dozens upon dozens of other cities in the States from overseas, just as an example...there is no policy to funnel every visitor to one city before travelling onto other cities like in Thailand. Sure the USA is a much bigger country than Thailand, but the same example works with Australia...if you are going to Perth why would you first fly to Sydney (unless you are coming from somewhere which only has flights to Sydney not Perth).

Edited January 10, 2014 by Tomtomtom69