I wished they also bought new river expressboats with good seats and silent engines.

But do the boats who connect to the BTS only stop at piers who are connected to the BTS? Or will they stop everywhere? Would be nice to have a fast boat between the BTS-piers.

There will be a Chao Phraya Express pier connected to Phra Nang Khlao station on the purple line.

I can see that the station has been designed with that in mind but I haven't noticed the actual pier. Maybe I just haven't looked properly.

I'm wondering if that pier will be used and if the expressboat will be improved. It's always overloaded and i bet they don't even have enough lifevests onboard.

But the boat isn't fast and stops a lot, would be nice to get a highspeed boat as well between the bts-piers and maybe the most used piers. Also it's no fun to stand jampacked in that boat for long time.

I like the boats much more then the skytrain though and it's time to improve them. New and better piers is a start but i hope they really upgrade the whole system. Nice clean air on the river and great views. I even saw a huge lizzard last time i was on the boat. He was about 150 cm long.

there are not many BTS piers, having a boat service between BTS piers would porobably not pay off

the Express is doing about 15 knots full speed, that is not slow for a boat that size

I don't think that a 20 or 25 knots passenger service on the river would be suitable, too many other boats around, i.e. traffic

I don't know much about boats but something like this looks good to me..and this is an old one from 1995.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNI9TY7YFdY

Edited February 14, 201610 yr by Thian

I wished they also bought new river expressboats with good seats and silent engines.

But do the boats who connect to the BTS only stop at piers who are connected to the BTS? Or will they stop everywhere? Would be nice to have a fast boat between the BTS-piers.

There will be a Chao Phraya Express pier connected to Phra Nang Khlao station on the purple line.

I can see that the station has been designed with that in mind but I haven't noticed the actual pier. Maybe I just haven't looked properly.

I'm wondering if that pier will be used and if the expressboat will be improved. It's always overloaded and i bet they don't even have enough lifevests onboard.

But the boat isn't fast and stops a lot, would be nice to get a highspeed boat as well between the bts-piers and maybe the most used piers. Also it's no fun to stand jampacked in that boat for long time.

I like the boats much more then the skytrain though and it's time to improve them. New and better piers is a start but i hope they really upgrade the whole system. Nice clean air on the river and great views. I even saw a huge lizzard last time i was on the boat. He was about 150 cm long.

there are not many BTS piers, having a boat service between BTS piers would porobably not pay off

the Express is doing about 15 knots full speed, that is not slow for a boat that size

I don't think that a 20 or 25 knots passenger service on the river would be suitable, too many other boats around, i.e. traffic

can add that the Express has a somewhat faster than the usual service available,

those are the boats that sports a green flag, rather than yellow or orange.

That service runs north --> south during the morning rush hours Monday-Friday

and south --> north during the evening rush hours Monday-Friday

The green flagged boats don't stop at as many piers as the yellow flagged boats, but the saving in time is not very big

Also, these boats run to/from Pak Kred

as to noisy engines;

yes, clearly the Express is more noisy than BTS and/or MRT, Thais like noise

joke aside; Many of the Express boats use Volvo turbo diesel engines, these are not very noisy engines

However, they are not insulated-

Some simple carpentry can be done to build a wooden box around the engine,

with fire proof and sound insulating material on the inside, this would do the trick for a reasonable amount of THB

(and also some electrical fans must be added so the engine can breath)

back to topic; Purple line

I read above that the Tao Pun <-> Bang Sue link would first open in 2017?

How do people go between Tao Pun and Bang Sue then? Walk? Taxi?

Not sure I see much use for the Purple service south of Tha Naam Non if you cannot easily get to the underground at Bang Sue.

........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNI9TY7YFdY

They had something like that in Albany, New York. It wasn't a full coach bus, but it was a open air vehicle that could drive onto the water to do part of the tour on the Hudson River. I think it was called Aqua ducks. Like a large elevated pickup truck. You drive it on a ramp that goes into the water.

That coach bus in Rotterdam looks more scary because it seems like it would capsize for uneven weight distribution. You have to be much more careful on entry into the water. The Aqua-duck had more of a traditional truck shape and if capsizing occurred, you could quickly get out.

The tour ended in 2012, but here is a link with a full article: http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2012/07/05/farewell-albany-aqua-ducks

Edited February 15, 201610 yr by 4evermaat

Okay more offtopic but even India has one and it drives full speed into the water....

Why Bangkok doesn't have one to Ayuttaha or so? Tourists will love it!

They had one in Liverpool a few years ago.

It sank.

btw, which BTS/MRT/Pier station is closest to Sai Dai or Sai Mai Southern Bus Station? That seems to be the only major transportation hub that is 'unconnected' so to speak with the rest of bangkok without having to take a taxi.

Edited February 15, 201610 yr by 4evermaat

Bang yai or anywhere around Pinklao is definitely the place to invest at the moment. For good or for bad the whole damn area seems to be under redevelopment. Once there is decent transport links across the river I can see it shooting up in price.

btw, which BTS/MRT/Pier station is closest to Sai Dai or Sai Mai Southern Bus Station? That seems to be the only major transportation hub that is 'unconnected' so to speak with the rest of bangkok without having to take a taxi.

BTS - Bang Wa would be an OK choice I think.

Mor Chit Bus terminal is also fairly unconnected, so is Don Muang airport.

I feel safer using Bangkok's river transport than London's.

Okay more offtopic but even India has one and it drives full speed into the water....

Why Bangkok doesn't have one to Ayuttaha or so? Tourists will love it!

How long do you think it would take to get there ? Those things are SLOW !

There are a few in Australia, Singapore has one.....all they are good for is a slow cruise around a harbour.