Govt orders speeding up of Pattaya-Cha-am-Hua Hin ferry project

Bangkok: Transport Minister ACM Prajin Juntong has instructed the Harbor Department to speed up the design and study of a project to build ferry piers to link three seaside towns of Pattaya, Cha-am and Hua Hin.

Prajin gave the order in his capacity as the economic division chief of the National Council for Peace and Order.

Prajin said he wants the study to be done as soon as possible because the ferry piers would link the two sides of the sea and thus boosting tourism and the economy and trades in Pattaya, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan.

The minister said the ferry boats would cut time of travelling between Pattaya to Cha-am and Hua Hin from around six and seven hours to just three hours.

“The Harbor Department has studied it in 2012 so it has a development plan in line with the NCPO’s policy to develop ferry piers to link the upper Gulf of Thailand to the eastern and western coasts,” Prajin said.

He said the Bali Hai pier and Ocean Marina might be chosen as the site for the ferry pier in Pattaya and the Puektian Beach in Petchaburi might be selected for the ferry pier for Cha-am and Hua Hin.

Prajin said the Harbor Department will this week hire a private firm to study and design the piers and select proper sites for the project.

The study would be sped up to be completed in 12 months instead of 18 months as initially planned.

He said so far Siam Eastern Logistic Terminal has expressed its interest to invest Bt4 billion for the project.

Related: Govt floats plans for new ferry service between Pattaya and Cha Am

On paper this sounds like a great idea.

However, several years ago, a similar project was deemed to not be commercially viable.

What makes the govt think that this latest Cha-Am/Pattaya ferry link will be a commercial success?

Also, the area of Puktien near Cha Am is very small, with not much development. It would be need to undergo a serious upgrade to the current infrastructure, which is virtually non-existent at present.

That said, this would of course potentially be great for the area IF it is a success.

Lets float this one and see if it sinks? From the Ideas Team.

At least its a good idea to organise a lunch or a few days in Hua Hin then over to Pattaya to discuss?

A super fast train maybe a better and safer idea?

Speed it up. Don't waste so much time thinking about trivialities like safety, economics, environment or practicality. Need to get it done and make some good tourism brochures to attract more visitors.

Linking 3 cities with a pier in 2 or them (and I guess the road that already exists between Cha-am and Hua Hin )

i agree that Puktien is not ideal, if the idea is to serve Hua Hin and Cha Am with one port then ideally it should be somewhere between the two,

I believe that a ferry could be a great success if done properly with a well organised roll-on roll-off car/truck ferry, but it has to be big enough to run even in bad weather. Initially it may be quiet, but I believe it would ultimately be a great success and a great service.

Just make sure you are a good swimmer.

You all seem worried about the safety of this venture , on my first trip to Thailand 7 years ago I had the misfortune to be driven from Hua Hin to Pattaya in a mini bus , my first and last mini bus ride I may add , I've been on some pretty ropey ferries in this country but I don't think they're any more scary than that mini bus !

"Prajin said the Harbor Department will this week hire a private firm to study and design the piers and select proper sites for the project."

This "private firm" might have some credibility if it is not affiliated with ANY Thai business or official. I can see a bunch of opportunists licking their chops in anticipation of lining their pockets with this project.

Bali Hai pier is a bastard to get to now with all the foot traffic to and from ferries to Koh Larn. Why not use a Naval port like Sattahip that surely has decent berthing and loading facilities.

good idea but will it float!

There goes the neighbourhood (Hua Hin).....

What a great idea

A better idea would be to use the aircraft carrier as a roll on roll off ferry

Or better still use the submarines the navy wants

The last 2 ideas would give these vessels some sort of use

Bali Hai pier is a bastard to get to now with all the foot traffic to and from ferries to Koh Larn. Why not use a Naval port like Sattahip that surely has decent berthing and loading facilities.

theres a good idea and and and just use the permanently docked no aircraft aircraft carrier as the vehicle transporter

edit

damm beaten to the punch

New sea routes to boost tourism planned



BANGKOK: -- The Transport Ministry is now escalating a ferry project to cut short travel time from the east to the west coasts by half with the direct sea link between Pattaya and Hua Hin to boost tourism.

It expects the project to take off by mid next year, and service to commence in 2017.

This was revealed by Transport Minister ACM Prajin Juntong at a meeting to develop the sea transport system of the country through a ferry project to link sea communication of the east and west coasts of the Gulf of Thailand.

ACM Prajin, as head of the National Council for Peace and Order in charge of economic affairs, said after the meeting that the Marine Department was designated to speedily conduct feasibility study of a ferry project to link sea travel from Pattaya to Hua Hin and Cha-am by mid next year.

The project, he said, was aimed at boosting tourism, economy and trade of the two coastal areas, and at facilitating travel between the two coasts.

He said at present the travel time of the two coasts is 6-7 hours, but if the ferry project is completed, travel time will be shortened to just three hours.

He recalled that the ferry project had been studied by the Marine Department since 2012, but revived after the NCPO has made clear its police to link sea travel between the two coasts to boost tourism.

He said the private sector has shown interest to invest with proposal to invest four billion baht in a four-year investment plan from 2016-2019.

The private sector forecast to accommodate over 3 million tourists, businessmen and travellers, and more than 220,000 vehicles a year.

He said the first two years will involve the building of ferries, port facilities, and office buildings.

Ferry service is scheduled to begin in 2017 on three routes in the first service year. They are from Pattaya-Hua Hin-Pranburi, Bang Poo-Hua Hin-Pranburi, and Bang Poo-Pattaya.

The next step will extend the service to more destinations such as Bang Poo-Koh Charng (146 miles), Bang Poo-Koh Samui (240 miles), and Bang Poo-Songkhla (380 miles).

The private sector plans to introduce catamaran ferries to transport both passengers and vehicles.

The ship can travel up to 82 kilometres an hour and can accommodate up to 450 passengers and 33 cars.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/new-sea-routes-to-boost-tourism-planned


-- Thai PBS 2015-04-17

On paper this sounds like a great idea.

However, several years ago, a similar project was deemed to not be commercially viable.

What makes the govt think that this latest Cha-Am/Pattaya ferry link will be a commercial success?

Also, the area of Puktien near Cha Am is very small, with not much development. It would be need to undergo a serious upgrade to the current infrastructure, which is virtually non-existent at present.

That said, this would of course potentially be great for the area IF it is a success.

And that is exactly why privatisation is in MANY instances totally wrong for the well being of a nation and its people.

This should be a very desirable state run operation if no decent capable non rip-off private enterprises come forward. Any privatise service should be under thoroughly well controlled licence terms for stringent safety to avoid the usual profit motivated organisations cutting corners and putting money before peoples' lives and safety, as we so often see with privatised public transport.

All public transport is always better when properly state run. Of course that is once we are pretty sure Thailand will have decent far less corrupt democratically elected Governments to follow on from the what I sincerely feel are a current good and truly well meaning caretaker Government. This will I hope all happen once this new excellent proposed constitutional charter is put in place based fully on the truest form of democracy ever devised, yes Proportional Representation. PR will always return a Government with percentage seats based very closely to the percentage of the popular vote for each party, after all that is what democracy is all about surely. Sorry for slight thread drift but it is actually very relevant with such a proposed project.

All things being equal I would certainly use such a ferry service for my big motorbike and that is a lot because of the what I feel is a silly law prohibiting ALL motorbikes from using the Thai motorways, thus making the otherwise attractive journey by motorbike from say Pattaya to Hua Hin or all the way to South Thailand, a convoluted nightmare just to get around the Bangkok leg. High time this more sensible caretaker Government we currently have made it legal for bigger motorbikes, say over 200cc or even 400cc or thereabouts, to be able to sensibly use the motorways.

Oh, good! Now we can all look forward to the weekly ferryboat accidents and start a new stat sheet for drowning victims.

well some farang spent millions before and never made a success of it

so I suggest building a bridge - that would create many jobs, use lots of steel and cement (read what you like into that)

people could ride for hours on it and stop to go fishing off the side - even throw in a few mats for a pic nic by the side of the road

NOT

If the two piers were long enough you wouldn't need a boat...

Ah, but I just thought about the road safety record........Mmmm perhaps a boat would be safer.

Govt orders speeding up of Pattaya-Cha-am-Hua Hin ferry project

Why?

All other ferry transits in the region have been deserted ages ago for the cheaper bus option.

Must be just a "wank" from from some newly appointed sub section of the "Govt"

I think it would be great. It's a long drive to Hua Hin from here, with lots of traffic. If it was priced right, it would be fantastic and take a lot of bus traffic off the roads.

The last one was a commercial firm that couldn't make it work. Maybe, with financial backing from the government, it could be viable????

Look forwards to it sinking soon.

If the two piers were long enough you wouldn't need a boat...

Ah, but I just thought about the road safety record........Mmmm perhaps a boat would be safer.

But you need to think about the boat safety record too?????????

viable?

From past experience ... I'd say no.

But it looks GOOD on paper for some wannabe in the new "dynasty'

What genius came up with the terminal points?

Ferry from Pattaya to Hua Hin ............ but it does not to Hua Hin and instead goes to Patchaburi

I can see the taxis and tuk tuk already lining up to rip of travellers

What a great idea

A better idea would be to use the aircraft carrier as a roll on roll off ferry

Or better still use the submarines the navy wants

The last 2 ideas would give these vessels some sort of use

Many roll on roll off ferries (faeries/fairys?) in Pattaya already!

A submarine? Planning on sending people as deck cargo?

There are existing piers in Cham Am and Hua Hin.

Why not include Samui in a triangular run,

one ferry goes one way and the other goes the inverse.

It would greatly increase the potential customer base.

Getting from Samui to Pattaya is impossible with any kind of baggage

except via the long, long land route through Bangkok.

Bang Poo-Hua Hin-Pranburi, and Bang Poo-Pattaya. Those are lesser known ports. Docking is at the rear.

Also, the area of Puktien near Cha Am is very small, with not much development. It would be need to undergo a serious upgrade to the current infrastructure, which is virtually non-existent at present.

Very sorry for Hat Peuktian (I speak of the beach just south, much room for a pier ) ( which is not at all at Cha am , at least 10-15 kms , 40 kms from Hua Hin ) , it's a nice beach , no tourists like Cha am , old Thailand .

I go often there and the site will be completely destructed with the infrastructures to receive these enormous boats

well some farang spent millions before and never made a success of it

so I suggest building a bridge - that would create many jobs, use lots of steel and cement (read what you like into that)

people could ride for hours on it and stop to go fishing off the side - even throw in a few mats for a pic nic by the side of the road

NOT

and, this is the kicker....................it would be No1 in the world for length