Airport-to-Patong speedboat shuttle service passes EIA

[Pakaty]

It would be only useful 4 or 5 months a year.

The rest of the year its basically too dangerous and rough ride to Patong.

Pure genius idea.

I agree. Submarines would provide a much better ride.

[Shot]

Something like this would work in most conditions and is currently being used in Thailand. Luggage would be a b!tch.

Sheltered off loading in Patong will also half of the year not be possible.

Why wouldn't something like this on each end work year round? BTW that is Ranong/Andaman pier. Granted this pier is in somewhat protected water, but I think it can be done with the right engineering, which might be impossible here.

[LivinginKata]

Why wouldn't something like this on each end work year round? BTW that is Ranong/Andaman pier. Granted this pier is in somewhat protected water, but I think it can be done with the right engineering, which might be impossible here.

Ranong/Andaman run is really inland protected waters.

Airport to Patong is fully unprotected open ocean.

[billythehat]

Complete nonsense. A rail or tram system would be much more practical.

And this gem - "The budget for the project was tabled in 2013 by then-Phuket Marine Office Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut. Mr Phuripat was transferred off the island to Nonthaburi Province last week."

I wonder how much Phuripat planned to 'take' from this nonsense project ...

More practical? You’ll have to go with me on this one and I hope it helps you to grasp some basic engineering principles.

First, note the topography of the island where said proposed rail is proposed to run. Maximum grade for trucks/bogies, say 2.2% reducing to 0.4% less where curves are in the range of 500m. It can therefore be noted that unless the system is elevated and tunnels bored through the mountains (above mean water level) your argument for practicalities may need revising. I normally charge a fee for this but I'm in a generous mood today.

Edited March 3, 2016 by billythehat

[Old Croc]

I just can't see this as a financially viable transportation system. It will be expensive,

and underutilized. If you walk out the airport door walk to the taxi stand you do get

door to door service for a very reasonable fixed rate. I have used it dozens of times.

Less than half the price of the shills at the arrivals gate. With this system you will be

at the mercy of the Patong tuk tuk mafia when you arrive at the yet to be built Patong

pier. It will cost double the shill rate to get from the airport to your hotel and four times

the taxi stand rate. It is ridiculous.

I'm only hearing one shill here.

[Old Croc]

Continuing the discussion.

The article did state the service wouldn't run in monsoon season so marine safety should not be a big issue.

The only real alternatives to this proposal to get tourists from the airport to Patong, are taxis or the airport bus. Rail is not an option as there are some ruddy great hills in the way, over which a line cannot be built.

The bus, for whatever reason, is not well patronised, and it too has only one stop, in a shopping centre, in Patong, which leaves the tourists, carrying luggage, with no option but to walk to their hotels or fall prey to the tuk tuks. This is the same argument some use against the boat service, while ignoring the fact that the bus is in the same boat(!).

Taking taxis (or minibuses) at the airport means that the hapless tourist is in the hands of the mafia as soon as they exit the terminal. Then, if they are not shanghaied in an attempt to steer them towards a mafia hotel, they get to sit in smelly traffic jams for long periods, interspersed with bouts of terror as the driver flies through traffic at dangerous speeds.

I would much rather a relaxing and scenic boat trip to the town pier and get to my hotel from there. If protected by law, I'm sure hotels would be happy to collect their guests from the wharf with courtesy vehicles.

As someone who has owned small boats most of my adult life and who frequently fished out of sight of land in much more dangerous and wilder parts of the Indian Ocean than the Andaman Sea, I don't share the fears of the water many here apparently have. The western coast of Phuket is not the Bering Sea, many vessels ply these waters daily without incident.

Of course, the spectre of unsuitable and shoddily built craft, captained by morons, is always of concern here. Hopefully with the sacking of the chief marine crook, the tender process will be professional with an emphasis on safety.

[2fishin2]

Its obvious from their spouts (pun intended) the naysayers have no clue about the ocean, marine operations or sometimes even common sense. I doubt many of them live in Phuket. The idea is good but, like everything in Thailand will be half-azzed. A plan like this would break the back of the transpo mafia and would be a welcome change

[chercheur888]

Continuing the discussion.

The article did state the service wouldn't run in monsoon season so marine safety should not be a big issue.

The only real alternatives to this proposal to get tourists from the airport to Patong, are taxis or the airport bus. Rail is not an option as there are some ruddy great hills in the way, over which a line cannot be built.

The bus, for whatever reason, is not well patronised, and it too has only one stop, in a shopping centre, in Patong, which leaves the tourists, carrying luggage, with no option but to walk to their hotels or fall prey to the tuk tuks. This is the same argument some use against the boat service, while ignoring the fact that the bus is in the same boat(!).

Taking taxis (or minibuses) at the airport means that the hapless tourist is in the hands of the mafia as soon as they exit the terminal. Then, if they are not shanghaied in an attempt to steer them towards a mafia hotel, they get to sit in smelly traffic jams for long periods, interspersed with bouts of terror as the driver flies through traffic at dangerous speeds.

I would much rather a relaxing and scenic boat trip to the town pier and get to my hotel from there. If protected by law, I'm sure hotels would be happy to collect their guests from the wharf with courtesy vehicles.

As someone who has owned small boats most of my adult life and who frequently fished out of sight of land in much more dangerous and wilder parts of the Indian Ocean than the Andaman Sea, I don't share the fears of the water many here apparently have. The western coast of Phuket is not the Bering Sea, many vessels ply these waters daily without incident.

Of course, the spectre of unsuitable and shoddily built craft, captained by morons, is always of concern here. Hopefully with the sacking of the chief marine crook, the tender process will be professional with an emphasis on safety.

Here is a solution that will be in service in Hamburg Germany and even NKM would be very pleased, or maybe not, as he will have to find another topic. Ooops forgot, he found already billing.

[fester the benevolent]

It can't really hurt to give the boat option a go.

Either it works or it doesn't and if it helps to relieve some of the traffic going to Patong either via Cherng Talay (which is where I am and is getting more congested by the day it seems) or over that blood-soaked hill from Kathu into Patong proper then great.

If they can use the boat to ferry the large busloads of Chinese tourists into Patong it'll probably help those people who live at the Patong end of the hill sleep a little better as it'll reduce the chances of their houses being obliterated by yet another 'brake failure' as a home-made bus plows everything before it out of the way on its descent.

If it does work then build honking great piers out of every area down the West coast and have the boats running up and down between them all day long, open them up to small operators too. As long as the local govt seems happy to throw bucketloads of cash at underpasses that leak before they are opened and create havoc during their construction let a bit of it get diverted to piers which can also provide a place for recreation and a stroll IF (yeah, yeah, I know) they were managed properly.

As has been pointed out the coast is too hilly for anything but funicular railways and the vans and taxis cause quite a lot of angst so perhaps taking to the water is a way to sidestep those issues and provide a solution of sorts.