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Anyone know anything about motor boats in Thailand?


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I'm looking at going into partnership to buy a smallish motor boat. Never owned one before, and neither have the other partners. To say we are amateurs is probably Quite accurate.

 

Looking at a 22-25ft craft and doing all of this for less than 300k THB, to be stored in dry storage, probably Krabi.

 

Would like to hear opinions on

 

  • inboard/stern drive vs outboard,
  • service experiences on engines,
  • dry storage experience
  • infrequent marine boat use/reliability issues

 

thanks in advance.

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First thing to buy is a large sign to hang on your wall at home. It says.

A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.

Look at it every day for a fortnight before you decide to go ahead.

Depends what you're looking for, mate has one on the market with outboard 5/6 seater around that price. Fun boat, quite quick with trailer.

PM me if you want more details.

Edited by overherebc
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On 28/03/2017 at 8:43 AM, madmax2 said:

Do not expect western standards of construction, water tight compartments/ flotation etc

That's why when they get one wave over the stern in rough weather locally made boats sink like a rock

Garbage.

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On ‎28‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 8:43 AM, madmax2 said:

Do not expect western standards of construction, water tight compartments/ flotation etc

That's why when they get one wave over the stern in rough weather locally made boats sink like a rock

Not true. There are ship builders here that build world class boats. As in any country you get what you pay for.

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On 3/27/2017 at 6:53 PM, bangkokpoppys said:

I'm looking at going into partnership to buy a smallish motor boat. Never owned one before, and neither have the other partners. To say we are amateurs is probably Quite accurate.

 

Looking at a 22-25ft craft and doing all of this for less than 300k THB, to be stored in dry storage, probably Krabi.

 

Would like to hear opinions on

 

  • inboard/stern drive vs outboard,
  • service experiences on engines,
  • dry storage experience
  • infrequent marine boat use/reliability issues

 

thanks in advance.

Do you already live in/near Krabi?  Can you find someone with some experience to help you inspect prospects etc for a fee maybe.  There are plenty of knowledgable skippers at my local yacht club.  I would start there if I needed some advice.  If you have no experience get some expert advice.  Its not like buying a car.  You don't drown driving a car.  Not usually at least.  Good luck, I wish I had a dink to island hop around Rawai but I haven't grown those balls yet. 

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42 minutes ago, SOUTHERNSTAR said:

Not true. There are ship builders here that build world class boats. As in any country you get what you pay for.

There probably are, but if you look at the speed boats used to carry paying passengers in Phuket, the majority or all the ones i have looked at and ridden in have no watertight compartments or noticeable flotation and are built with what i call a half cabin open at the stern, privately built and used boats are normally of a better building standard

This is in Phuket i am talking about and anyone who lives here can check for themselves to see if what i say is true or not

Edited by madmax2
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I'm not sure what your expectation is for that budget. I know a bit. I currently have an aluminium boat for sale with a 4 stroke Suzuki outboard. It is closer to 18 ft than your spec. It is built from Australian plans. I want 700k baht for the boat, motor and galvanized trailer. What you get for that is reliability and a relatively low maintenance package. I'm only selling as I'm needed for family issues "back home". As far as I'm concerned the Thai made fiberglass boats are not made well enough to last a reasonable amount of time. Also the condition of the motor is a big topic on a 2nd hand boat. For 300k all you can consider is 2nd hand. The longtail boats are pretty well made. Some of them get converted to inboard diesel sometimes or a farang will fit them with an outboard. Again, you have a very small budget and will not get much quality for that. If you skimp on quality you will regret it, I promise.

 

 

stbd_aft.jpg

Edited by captnhoy
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32 minutes ago, BsBs said:

Hello,

 

Is there any authority that often check people on boat ? Or can I do anything I want and will never be disturbed on a boat ?

 

Thank you.

Can you ride your motorbike without a helmet and get away with it? Same with a boat. Most days you can get away with it. There is however a gov't branch called The Marine Police. Kind of like a Coast Guard on sedatives. They WILL help you in a pinch and pinch you if they catch you. Let us not forget there are reasons for safety rules and that "you cannot fix stupid". Carry on.

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There probably are, but if you look at the speed boats used to carry paying passengers in Phuket, the majority or all the ones i have looked at and ridden in have no watertight compartments or noticeable flotation and are built with what i call a half cabin open at the stern, privately built and used boats are normally of a better building standard
This is in Phuket i am talking about and anyone who lives here can check for themselves to see if what i say is true or not

What you say about the speedboats is true, but that does not justify your statement about boat building capabilities.

sent using Tapatalk

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15 hours ago, overherebc said:

First thing to buy is a large sign to hang on your wall at home. It says.

A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.

Look at it every day for a fortnight before you decide to go ahead.

Depends what you're looking for, mate has one on the market with outboard 5/6 seater around that price. Fun boat, quite quick with trailer.

PM me if you want more details.

B break, O out, A another, T thousand. (That is dollars, not baht)

Great fun but expensive to operate and maintain. Enjoy with eyes wide open.

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Don't go near the 3 F's. If it flies, floats or eF's, steer well clear. It is not a dream ride, but a ride into hell. I speak from experience.
 



Oops wrong quote or rent it!![emoji38][emoji38][emoji28][emoji28]
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21 hours ago, captnhoy said:

I'm not sure what your expectation is for that budget. I know a bit. I currently have an aluminium boat for sale with a 4 stroke Suzuki outboard. It is closer to 18 ft than your spec. It is built from Australian plans. I want 700k baht for the boat, motor and galvanized trailer. What you get for that is reliability and a relatively low maintenance package. I'm only selling as I'm needed for family issues "back home". As far as I'm concerned the Thai made fiberglass boats are not made well enough to last a reasonable amount of time. Also the condition of the motor is a big topic on a 2nd hand boat. For 300k all you can consider is 2nd hand. The longtail boats are pretty well made. Some of them get converted to inboard diesel sometimes or a farang will fit them with an outboard. Again, you have a very small budget and will not get much quality for that. If you skimp on quality you will regret it, I promise.

 

 

stbd_aft.jpg

Thanks for the offer! Looks like a great boat there. I think you're right, will def. be pot luck with the motor at my budget, unfortunately can't extend it.

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22 hours ago, csabo said:

Do you already live in/near Krabi?  Can you find someone with some experience to help you inspect prospects etc for a fee maybe.  There are plenty of knowledgable skippers at my local yacht club.  I would start there if I needed some advice.  If you have no experience get some expert advice.  Its not like buying a car.  You don't drown driving a car.  Not usually at least.  Good luck, I wish I had a dink to island hop around Rawai but I haven't grown those balls yet. 

Hi, no don't live in a Krabi - BKK. Where your YC?

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On 29/03/2017 at 8:12 AM, overherebc said:

First thing to buy is a large sign to hang on your wall at home. It says.

A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.

Look at it every day for a fortnight before you decide to go ahead.

Depends what you're looking for, mate has one on the market with outboard 5/6 seater around that price. Fun boat, quite quick with trailer.

PM me if you want more details.

Haha yes I think you're right. pM sent.

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We welded up the doors and tailgates on some old, ex- MOD Landies about 20 years ago doing some oil exploration work in the Nile delta in Egypt. Hung some mil spec flotation around the body also beefed up the tailgate to make a transom for the outboard motor.

 

Pretty much a disaster but a couple of them survived till the end of the job. Then we scrapped the lot.

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On 3/29/2017 at 7:33 PM, captnhoy said:

Can you ride your motorbike without a helmet and get away with it? Same with a boat. Most days you can get away with it. There is however a gov't branch called The Marine Police. Kind of like a Coast Guard on sedatives. They WILL help you in a pinch and pinch you if they catch you. Let us not forget there are reasons for safety rules and that "you cannot fix stupid". Carry on.

 

 

People on boats almost EVERYWHERE in the world are hardly check, maybe 1 time within 5 or 10 years.

 

I guess it's worst here, but maybe you don't know, sorry.

 

 

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, BsBs said:

 

 

People on boats almost EVERYWHERE in the world are hardly check, maybe 1 time within 5 or 10 years.

 

I guess it's worst here, but maybe you don't know, sorry.

 

 

 

 

 

No I do know actually. I lived on my previous boat full time for 5 years. I was only checked once during that time and that was at anchor in Ao Chalong. Another time the Police Patrol Boat was at anchor in the harbor channel. He hailed me as I motored by. I thought I would get the grand inspection. It turns out they had wrapped a line around the prop shaft and wanted to know if I had dive gear on board. I could not help them and they sent me on with a smile. On the other side of that coin I was checked numerous times in my years of boating in the US by numerous law enforcement agencies, from the Coast Guard to the Sheriff's Patrol and a few others from time to time. I'm curious, what do plan to get away with? No Captain's paper? No boat numbers? No lights? No life jackets? Where ever you have been checked in the past, you will be checked less here.

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I would not get a inboard outboard stern drive, I had one and did not like the fact that the stern drive did not come  totally out of the water  when the boat was tide up. With an outboard the motor comes totally out of the water (no barnacles and zincs ware, ),  Also with an older motor, easier to swap with a new motor when finances allow.

I had a 26 ft caddy cabin,  except for the porta-potty for the ladies,  the cabin was useless and wasted space.When I get a other boat I will go for an 18 ft center console with a Bimini top  rather than a larger cabin boat, The smaller boat is much easier to handle, burns a lot less fuel, comes up to plane faster, .and is a lot easier to put in and take out of the water,  , especially when you are by your self or only with the wife. 

If you are going to get a boat with an older motor, buy a small kicker motor to mount on a bracket next to the main motor, nothing worst than getting stuck miles from shore with a motor problems, also good for trolling ( no not the TVF kind LOL). 

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