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

[BSJ]

It should be located down at the Laem Chabang container port at the Pattaya end, that way the trucks can pick-up containers and drive straight on to the ferry.

We are talking about a fleet of these.....aren't we?

[smutcakes]

I wonder who owns a nice strip of beach front land on Puek tian beach, or a nice resort there?

Personally i cannot see many of Pattaya regular holiday goers wanting to make the trip across. So far Petchburi, Chaam and Hua Hin are still predominantly Thai tourist destinations. There will be some who would make the journey, probably more those living in Pattaya looking to have a different option to driving their, but not sure there would be enough continual demand to make it viable long term.

[Ricardo]

If there was any real demand for this, wouldn't one of the low-cost airlines already have identified it, and be flying between Utapao & Hua Hin ?

In this case, I think government ought to leave it to private-industry to decide, as they planned to with Yingluck's high-speed passenger-only trains from Phitsanulok to Chiang Mai.

[smutcakes]

If there was any real demand for this, wouldn't one of the low-cost airlines already have identified it, and be flying between Utapao & Hua Hin ?

In this case, I think government ought to leave it to private-industry to decide, as they planned to with Yingluck's high-speed passenger-only trains from Phitsanulok to Chiang Mai.

The low cost airlines would have to ask the military EXTREMELY convincingly to use their air bases though for it to happen.....

Perhaps there would not be enough demand to make the route profitable after costs.

[lapd]

I wonder who owns a nice strip of beach front land on Puek tian beach, or a nice resort there?

Personally i cannot see many of Pattaya regular holiday goers wanting to make the trip across. So far Petchburi, Chaam and Hua Hin are still predominantly Thai tourist destinations. There will be some who would make the journey, probably more those living in Pattaya looking to have a different option to driving their, but not sure there would be enough continual demand to make it viable long term.

Never been but I think there are a good number of expats living there. Supposedly a lot quieter and laid back compared to Pattaya which may suit some people. Sounds like the basic idea is to get expats/tourists in Pattaya to spread some of that sweet foreign currency love on Hua Hin. The Thai economy depends on tourism so I can see the motivation behind this.

Edited April 18, 2015 by lapd

[smutcakes]

I wonder who owns a nice strip of beach front land on Puek tian beach, or a nice resort there?

Personally i cannot see many of Pattaya regular holiday goers wanting to make the trip across. So far Petchburi, Chaam and Hua Hin are still predominantly Thai tourist destinations. There will be some who would make the journey, probably more those living in Pattaya looking to have a different option to driving their, but not sure there would be enough continual demand to make it viable long term.

Never been but I think there are a good number of expats living there. Supposedly a lot quieter and laid back compared to Pattaya which may suit some people. Sounds like the basic idea is to get expats in Pattaya to spread some of that sweet foreign currency love on Hua Hin. So I can see the motivation.

There are a good number but nowhere near the concentrations of Pattaya. Chaam and Hua Hin are all fairly well spread out and stretch over a decent area, and back inland.

As someone alluded to earlier in the thread, the last thing Hua Hin needs is it to go the way of Pattaya, which it certainly already is in the sois around the Hilton and Centara. When i say Hua Hin needs, i am speaking for people who enjoy a quiet beach side holiday without all that is associated with Pattaya nightlife, Thai and foreigners alike. I am sure there are many landowners, bar owners, police, military who would be all to happy to welcome that scene.

[lapd]

I wonder who owns a nice strip of beach front land on Puek tian beach, or a nice resort there?

Personally i cannot see many of Pattaya regular holiday goers wanting to make the trip across. So far Petchburi, Chaam and Hua Hin are still predominantly Thai tourist destinations. There will be some who would make the journey, probably more those living in Pattaya looking to have a different option to driving their, but not sure there would be enough continual demand to make it viable long term.

Never been but I think there are a good number of expats living there. Supposedly a lot quieter and laid back compared to Pattaya which may suit some people. Sounds like the basic idea is to get expats in Pattaya to spread some of that sweet foreign currency love on Hua Hin. So I can see the motivation.

There are a good number but nowhere near the concentrations of Pattaya. Chaam and Hua Hin are all fairly well spread out and stretch over a decent area, and back inland.

As someone alluded to earlier in the thread, the last thing Hua Hin needs is it to go the way of Pattaya, which it certainly already is in the sois around the Hilton and Centara. When i say Hua Hin needs, i am speaking for people who enjoy a quiet beach side holiday without all that is associated with Pattaya nightlife, Thai and foreigners alike. I am sure there are many landowners, bar owners, police, military who would be all to happy to welcome that scene.

I don't see anywhere in Thailand rushing to build up a girly scene if that is what you mean. From what I can tell they are tolerant of what exists for now but don't want to see any more of it anywhere else. Never heard of much of that going on in Hua Hin. Will probably stay that way.

Edited April 18, 2015 by lapd

[smutcakes]

I wonder who owns a nice strip of beach front land on Puek tian beach, or a nice resort there?

Personally i cannot see many of Pattaya regular holiday goers wanting to make the trip across. So far Petchburi, Chaam and Hua Hin are still predominantly Thai tourist destinations. There will be some who would make the journey, probably more those living in Pattaya looking to have a different option to driving their, but not sure there would be enough continual demand to make it viable long term.

Never been but I think there are a good number of expats living there. Supposedly a lot quieter and laid back compared to Pattaya which may suit some people. Sounds like the basic idea is to get expats in Pattaya to spread some of that sweet foreign currency love on Hua Hin. So I can see the motivation.

There are a good number but nowhere near the concentrations of Pattaya. Chaam and Hua Hin are all fairly well spread out and stretch over a decent area, and back inland.

As someone alluded to earlier in the thread, the last thing Hua Hin needs is it to go the way of Pattaya, which it certainly already is in the sois around the Hilton and Centara. When i say Hua Hin needs, i am speaking for people who enjoy a quiet beach side holiday without all that is associated with Pattaya nightlife, Thai and foreigners alike. I am sure there are many landowners, bar owners, police, military who would be all to happy to welcome that scene.

I don't see anywhere in Thailand rushing to build up a girly scene if that is what you mean. From what I can tell they are tolerant of what exists for now but don't want to see any more of it anywhere else. Never heard of much of that going on in Hua Hin. Will probably stay that way.

It has grown massively in Hua Hin in the past 2-4 years. There is a whole block of the center taken up by girly bars, massage shops now.... and that's not to mention the ones on the other side of Sukhumvit which cater to more local tastes.

[wabothai]

A car ferry with several stops, a bar with a restaurant seems like a great idea to me. However who is going to pay for it all? New costly highways, new railways, new submarines and other warmaterials, huge statue of mr. general who made it all possible.

[MikeOwen]

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

What a SAD statement to make !

[Jersey Jim]

Why not use Leam Chabang port as the ferry terminal instead of Bali Hi pier.

I would think it much easier & less expensive to build a Ro Ro terminal in an existing port.

Just a thought .

JJ

[harrry]

It should be located down at the Laem Chabang container port at the Pattaya end, that way the trucks can pick-up containers and drive straight on to the ferry.

We are talking about a fleet of these.....aren't we?

ferry boat.JPG

With the new high speed train to south of Pattaya and freight distribution that pic might not be too far fetched...but they would not think like that.

[willyumiii]

Just make sure you are a good swimmer.

The water is warm and visibility is good.

Your odds of holding on until rescue are pretty darn good!

No worries mate!

[kkup]

It would be nice to jump on a boat and travel over the coast. Cha-am & Hua Hin always needed more drunks, drug dealers, russians, bar girls, thieves and perverts. Apologies for the normal tourists living in Pattaya, I'm just generalizing.

[willyumiii]

I do not see where the article mentions a ferry for cars or shipping cargo.

I think the plan is to transfer tourist from one tourist area to the other.

Most tourist are foreigners without their own vehicles.

Let's not bog things down for the sake of a few locals with cars!

High speed passenger ferries rock!

[chrissables]

A car ferry with several stops, a bar with a restaurant seems like a great idea to me.

However who is going to pay for it all? New costly highways, new railways, new submarines and other warmaterials, huge statue of mr. general who made it all possible.

I was on the ferry to Koh Chang a few weeks ago, no bar and no way to buy a beer. I read somewhere there is no alcohol allowed on public transport, which is rather stupid in my opinion.

[canuckamuck]

A car ferry with several stops, a bar with a restaurant seems like a great idea to me.

However who is going to pay for it all? New costly highways, new railways, new submarines and other warmaterials, huge statue of mr. general who made it all possible.

I was on the ferry to Koh Chang a few weeks ago, no bar and no way to buy a beer. I read somewhere there is no alcohol allowed on public transport, which is rather stupid in my opinion.

Lucky to survive mate, you must have had some alcohol in your system before you boarded.

[chrissables]

A car ferry with several stops, a bar with a restaurant seems like a great idea to me.

However who is going to pay for it all? New costly highways, new railways, new submarines and other warmaterials, huge statue of mr. general who made it all possible.

I was on the ferry to Koh Chang a few weeks ago, no bar and no way to buy a beer. I read somewhere there is no alcohol allowed on public transport, which is rather stupid in my opinion.

Lucky to survive mate, you must have had some alcohol in your system before you boarded.

It was rather harrowing, but i steadied my nerves with a large Leo beer prior to the trip!

[josephbloggs]

Ferries will capsize here for sure. They will not stop just because of rough seas. They are greedy and only care about money and not safety.

You're absolutely right!! We can use the examples of other ferries here to see just how correct you are. On the Surat Thani (Donsak) - Koh Samui route there is at least one sinking per WEEK!!! The Trat to Koh Chang car ferry sinks every time there is a rough sea because THEY DON'T STOP!! This is due to GREED. The annual cancellations due to rough seas are a figment of your imagination if you think they occur - they don't. Thais are greedy.

Hundreds of thousands of people drown every year on these two routes alone, but it doesn't make the press. So you can rest assured that any ferry service between Pattaya and Hua Hin will capsize regularly too.

Thank you Diehard, thank you. You might just have saved a few lives, what a hero!

[harrry]

I do not see where the article mentions a ferry for cars or shipping cargo.

I think the plan is to transfer tourist from one tourist area to the other.

Most tourist are foreigners without their own vehicles.

Let's not bog things down for the sake of a few locals with cars!

High speed passenger ferries rock!

spirit of victoria.jpg

That is he trouble....they make people sick.

[wobblyjohn]

It should be located down at the Laem Chabang container port at the Pattaya end, that way the trucks can pick-up containers and drive straight on to the ferry.

We are talking about a fleet of these.....aren't we?

ferry boat.JPG

We have too much traffic in Pattaya already, Laem Chabang is more suited to ships of this size

[petermik]

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????

You ever seen a pig fly

[ableguy]

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

It went a long time ago, lived there for five years now moved out, traffic, crowds, expense, double pricing, and one ugly town centre drowned in advertising, plus thousands of cheap condos going up twist Cha Am and HH. Developers greed has ruined what was a lovely town. However after describing how HH is now strikes me it would be a great partner for that sleazy town Pattaya, one dump linked to another.

[jaywalker]

I just checked Google Earth & it approx. 70 miles/112 km between the Pattaya & Hua Hin.

To make the trip in 3 hours, the ferry will need to be going 23.3 mph/37.3 kph.

That's pretty fast for a large ferry I would think, unless it's some kind of high speed hovercraft (which I somehow doubt it will be).

[maimeephom]

There was indeed a fast very sea worthy wave-piecer service ,operating on this route in the mid 80s.

It operated a triangular route out of Bangkok.

Hua Hin was mainly a pre-bar weekend Thai resort then, so the route was not really viable.

The vessel was transferred to Phuket to operate to Penang and Lankawi.

[Equalizer]

http://www.seaboats.net/new-build-48m-catamaran-ro-pax-ferry-xidp394897.html

[Chicog]

I don't know why no-one has suggested a tunnel instead.

Far more money to be made that way.

[Ricardo]

Didn't one former-PM plan a barrage across there, with all the low-lying land enclosed to be reclaimed, and sold-off to foreigners ?

[richard peters]

A huge "White Elephant" that is probably designed to make someone very wealthy via subsidies. The very fast and extremely well managed, high speed catarmaran passenger service running from Oceon Marina to Hua Hin a few years ago, became uneconomical during the low season, so it is doubtful that any other passenger service would do any better. A 'roll on-roll off' ferry for vehicles may do better, but could only run one way every day, so vehicle owners may still elect to drive the distance. Sounds like there could be some big bucks in goverment (or other) assistance could be involved here somewhere?

[richard peters]

82 Km / hour sounds a bit too optimistic and half of this may not even be achievable in adverse ses conditions. The last "fast ferry" ran at around 18 knots even though it was capable of around 30 knots. These 82 Km / hour estimates are obviously from the "Book of Bull."