All aboard the Royal 1 as free trips on new Pattaya to Hua Hin ferry begins Jan 1st

[scorecard]

58 minutes ago, George Graham said:

Just across the bay (gulf), and have you calculated the speed required to achieve this?

 

A slant, I know nothing about these waters, do these have rough seas at certain months or during storms etc.

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, Asiantravel said:

 

I'm aware of that because I was once one of those passengers who received a call at the very last minute to say my flight to Chiang Mai been cancelled which evidently was because they hadn't received the proper approvals beforehand.

 but of far more relevance is to compare a proposed fare of 490 baht to fly with 1200 baht by sea.

 

 

And as stated in the article the flights never eventuated / never started. Seems strange, surely there would be a strong market for such a flight. Maybe the operator just can't get their act together?

[ratcatcher]

43 minutes ago, bangrak said:

Let's hope we won't soon read: 'Ferry between Pattaya and Hua Hin sinks presumably with about 500 passengers on board instead of the 330 allowed. The captain captured short after fleeing told he and his staff could not withstand the massive flow of aggressive people boarding his ship because of the free fare...'!

The captain captured short after fleeing ...."    his vessel...

(I appreciate your attempt at humour but),

The ship supposedly sinks in mid gulf between Pattaya and Hua Hin, can you enlighten us as to where you think the captain may flee? Assuming he cannot run or walk on water.

[bangrak]

1 hour ago, George Graham said:

Just across the bay (gulf), and have you calculated the speed required to achieve this?

'George Graham': Catamarans can do it! ...Providing they are not heavily overloaded (and with the bulk of baggage and freight loaded at the front), well maintained, and use the fuel quality their engines are built for. So ...

[bangrak]

3 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

The captain captured short after fleeing ...."    his vessel...

(I appreciate your attempt at humour but),

The ship supposedly sinks in mid gulf between Pattaya and Hua Hin, can you enlighten us as to where you think the captain may flee? Assuming he cannot run or walk on water.

'ratcatcher': Pff, when you need to know all the details then: imagine, on board of the first nice motorised raft successfully launched...?

[bangrak]

28 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

A slant, I know nothing about these waters, do these have rough seas at certain months or during storms etc.

A-ha 'scorecard', so, you contradict yourself, you know about these waters, when you write '...have rough seas at certain months or during storms etc.', yes, indeed, and some hard to predict currents too!

[tukkytuktuk]

 

[tukkytuktuk]

Found these pictures and video of the ferry.

[tukkytuktuk]

The next phase they (the government) will build a new port at Pak Nam Pran. Pranburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan. The route extends from Pattaya - Hua Hin.

[anotheruser]

They should just subsidize the route. Check for proof of residency in Thailand and if it is found you live here, you are not allowed on board. They have produced a catamaran not some hunk of junk let's see what happens.


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[George Graham]

46 minutes ago, bangrak said:

'George Graham': Catamarans can do it! ...Providing they are not heavily overloaded (and with the bulk of baggage and freight loaded at the front), well maintained, and use the fuel quality their engines are built for. So ...

Yes, catamarans can travel at the required speed - I know. But, that's like saying humans can run a 4-minute mile or cross Antarctica. Need I remind you - TiT. 

[sotonowl]

7 hours ago, oldgent said:

take a good look at it now, could be upside down next time you see it

That made me chuckle

[striderman]

3 hours ago, fruitman said:

 

And do they have a coastguard who is able to rescue the passengers when needed? Are there also helicopters standing by?

 

They can charge western prices but do they also deliver western safety?

 

When i was on the boat to Samui i tried to figure out how to operate the rescueboats which were onboard. After 30 minutes examining the instructions i gave up, didn't understand anything from it..

today it did not move.

yesterday it had an escort vessel.....

 

[mortenaa]

13 hours ago, George Graham said:

Yes, catamarans can travel at the required speed - I know. But, that's like saying humans can run a 4-minute mile or cross Antarctica. Need I remind you - TiT. 

It's not rocket science. They have a similar boat service in place between Chumphon, Koh Tao, Phanghan, Samui. It's been running for years without major problems. 

[smutcakes]

Would like to know who is behind the company who has been awarded or won this concession.

 

The boat looks semi decent, but there us no way in hell they are doing it in 2 hours. I would guess closer to 3 or 3.5 hours. Lomprayhr on the islands is a pretty decent boat which runs at a decent speed and that still takes the fat end of 2 hours especially if the seas are up, this is another 1/3 distance again and i doubt the boat would be quicker than Lomprayhr even if they do run it at 27 knots, which they won't.

 

Where in Hua Hin does it arrive?

 

Would not fancy being on that boat in 2 metre plus seas. 

[Lupatria]

I'm just waiting for the first collusion with speed or fishing boats and which will sink the fastest. They must already have a plan how to explain the typical brake failure and how the captain could have fled the scene at sea.  

[sharecropper]

Would like to know who is behind the company who has been awarded or won this concession.

 

I'm guessing the army and the Navy, given all the free publicity they've drummed up for a sow's ear.

[bangon04]

" has been declared fit for service and will now be tested "

 

yep that is the Thai way....

[George Graham]

2 hours ago, mortenaa said:

It's not rocket science. They have a similar boat service in place between Chumphon, Koh Tao, Phanghan, Samui. It's been running for years without major problems. 

Wrong. With the top performing catamarans in the world it IS quite literally rocket science.

[smutcakes]

First trip cancelled due to high seas.

[whimsy]

If this is one of the piers for the service, then that may be a common problem. Even tied up, the boat is still rolling quite a bit at the end of this video.

https://youtu.be/LLqbwXW1zxQ

[DoctorG]

3 minutes ago, whimsy said:

If this is one of the piers for the service, then that may be a common problem. Even tied up, the boat is still rolling quite a bit at the end of this video.

https://youtu.be/LLqbwXW1zxQ

 

Feeling a bit seasick just watching that video. Does not bode well for my big ship cruise next week.

[Krataiboy]

• All aboard the Royal 1 as free trips on new Pattaya to Hua Hin ferry begins Jan 1st
• Thais usher in New Year with prayers . . . 

Hopefully, not a prophetic juxtaposition of ThaiVisa headlines

[jvs]

Well all you negatives,i am going tomorrow to see what it is like!

Will try to get a free ticket and make the two way trip.

 

[whimsy]

Please report back.  Genuinely interested.

[hannor453]

Where can I reserve tickets?

[tompelli]

48 minutes ago, jvs said:

Well all you negatives,i am going tomorrow to see what it is like!

Will try to get a free ticket and make the two way trip.

 

 

[jvs]

5 minutes ago, tompelli said:

 

yes i just saw that,no problem i will still go.I used to be a sailor at one time,seen some really big waves.Love it!

[tompelli]

5 minutes ago, jvs said:

yes i just saw that,no problem i will still go.I used to be a sailor at one time,seen some really big waves.Love it!

Done some sea time myself. Problem with a cat doing 27 knots through choppy waters is that you will lose some fillings. Either that or bits will fall of the boat. They are still sticking to 100 minutes to Pattaya, which is madness without qualifying it with dependent on prevailing conditions. Think about mini buses doing 120kph+ to keep to schedule & you should see where this is going to end.

[currynamnam]

Well, even Titanic started out on a maiden Journey.... Can you see Leo and Kate "flying"  on the bow.....