what has happened to the Hua Hin ferry?

[whatawonderfulday]

29 minutes ago, SidJames said:

I saw it this morning but strangely it appears to be coming back as I type this.

Either there are now two boats running & one left Hua Hin at 8.30am this morning or there might be a problem.

 

sure it is not the same boat, just going round in circles ?

[YaiJung]

40 minutes ago, SidJames said:

I saw it this morning but strangely it appears to be coming back as I type this.

Either there are now two boats running & one left Hua Hin at 8.30am this morning or there might be a problem.

 

I noticed that also.  Left at 10am and headed more south than usual, then turned and came back. 

[johng]

Maybe the waves where too big ?

[The Dark Lord]

20 hours ago, Asiantravel said:

well there is at least considerably less chance of being involved in a collision

Are you absolutely sure of that? What about all the ships going to and from Bangkok  and all the ports up the Chao Praya?

 

throw in a few fishing boats, untrained and unlicensed pleasure boat clowns and you have started to create  some pretty scary conditions. I mean if a US Destroyer with the highly trained crew get clobbered by an unmanned container ship can we honestly be sure that the captain of the ferry is at least as well trained as those on the warship.........

 

in my time at at sea I saw plenty of idiots completely ignoring the rules of the road ( anti collision rules)  it is just that it seems to be a bit slower..

[The Dark Lord]

5 hours ago, eeyang wah said:

Muppets couldn't organise an orgy in a whorehouse.

Or get pissed in a brewery

[Sydebolle]

They keep changing the timetable daily; so recheck on the day of departure by phone ;-) 

[fforest1]

35 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

They keep changing the timetable daily; so recheck on the day of departure by phone ;-) 

I think they are trying every thing to increase ridership,

except acknowledging the elephant in the room (the price).

Edited June 26, 2017 by fforest1

[tropo]

12 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

I think they are trying every thing to increase ridership,

except acknowledging the elephant in the room (the price).

I wonder if low ridership is only about price. To me, it seems like an oddball run, one the majority of people wouldn't be interested in. I'm sure most Hua Hinn residents wouldn't be interested in visiting Pattaya and vice versa. From one beach town to another. 

[impulse]

On 6/25/2017 at 3:26 PM, hobobo said:

So you'd prefer a death trap ferry?

 

Knowing how to swim and having no fear of jumping over the side, I have a good chance of surviving a ferry disaster.  

 

There is no skill I can master that would allow me to survive a fiery wreck in an overcrowded minivan with a kamikaze driver.

 

So, yes.  In fact, I wish they'd run a Friday night ferry from anywhere on the river in BKK to Koh Chang, with a return on Sunday afternoon.  I'd be a regular, even at a much higher fare.

 

Edit:  That said, if I had kids with me, I'd pop for proper fitting $10 life jackets for each of them, and keep them close at hand.  Because I have no confidence that the ferry's mandatory life jackets would be calmly distributed (or even fit) while the boat was sinking.

 

 

Edited June 27, 2017 by impulse

[Minnehaha]

On 6/25/2017 at 2:33 PM, tropo said:

Are you just considering the cost of petrol? There's a lot more to the cost of traveling in a car than just that. I don't drive a car here but I'll bet it's cheaper to go by boat if you factor all the costs of driving a car - depreciation, maintenance etc.

yes. only the cost of petrol. I drive here. 

and why add in the other costs when the cost of petrol is already more expensive than the 1250 Baht ferry ticket?

the point of the post is that it is more expensive to drive a car. adding other costs is accurate but only makes is MORE expensive to drive a car. point already made.

 

the cheapest cost of transport in the world is water. why Thailand has so few decent ferries or boats for transport is a mystery. 

there should be a shuttle boat from Bkk to Hua Hin and I argue it would be full of folks going down for the weekend or getaways. So many foreigners who work here would love to get on a nice boat at a pier just minutes from the office in Sathorn, sit down with wife and kids and have a cold beer and some dinner while sailing down to their little place in HH for weekend. it is a no-brainer

[fforest1]

1 hour ago, Minnehaha said:

yes. only the cost of petrol. I drive here. 

and why add in the other costs when the cost of petrol is already more expensive than the 1250 Baht ferry ticket?

the point of the post is that it is more expensive to drive a car. adding other costs is accurate but only makes is MORE expensive to drive a car. point already made.

 

the cheapest cost of transport in the world is water. why Thailand has so few decent ferries or boats for transport is a mystery. 

there should be a shuttle boat from Bkk to Hua Hin and I argue it would be full of folks going down for the weekend or getaways. So many foreigners who work here would love to get on a nice boat at a pier just minutes from the office in Sathorn, sit down with wife and kids and have a cold beer and some dinner while sailing down to their little place in HH for weekend. it is a no-brainer

I depends on how many people you have in the car...

If only one person is driving to Hua Hin the ferry might

be cheaper....2 people and more it would be cheaper

to drive...

5-6 people in the car and driving might be cheaper than

taking the bus....

[tropo]

2 hours ago, Minnehaha said:

yes. only the cost of petrol. I drive here. 

and why add in the other costs when the cost of petrol is already more expensive than the 1250 Baht ferry ticket?

the point of the post is that it is more expensive to drive a car. adding other costs is accurate but only makes is MORE expensive to drive a car. point already made.

 

 

 

Sorry, I misread your post - thought you said driving was cheaper.

 

Of course, it would also depend on how many are in a car. I'm 2, so perhaps driving would be cheaper.

[Bastos60]

 

On 6/25/2017 at 6:42 AM, Minnehaha said:

Agree. 

If the price were cut down to ... about 500 Baht adult and children at 100 Baht they could attract families. 

 I was thinking along the same lines.

Cheapest travel option to hua hin is by bus at 465 Baht/person (travel time +5 hours).

Taxi is about 3600-4650 Baht (compact car - minivan, travel time +4 hours)

 

So you would want to situate your price for the ferry to compete with the two other options, even though the ferry provides the fastest service (2 hour one way), its price per seat
might deter people as too high. Airplane tickets can even be cheaper than bus fare.

If they were to sell the tickets with progressive discounts according the number of people travelling together you could end up with an average price of 750 baht per seat for large groups. 

 

1 pax - 1250 baht

2 - 3 pax/group - 900 Baht each

4 - 6 pax/group -  800 Baht each

7 - 10 pax/group - 750 baht each

Children below 12 free - but can only occupy a seat when unsold seat available.

 

I made the comparison with ferry trip from Calais to Dover (90 minutes)which comes to +- 1800 baht (car + up to 9 people)

 

 

[tropo]

16 minutes ago, Bastos60 said:

 I made the comparison with ferry trip from Calais to Dover (90 minutes)which comes to +- 1800 baht (car + up to 9 people)

 

 

 

Here's a better comparison from SE Asia. Cebu City to Ormoc City in the Philippines. About 500 baht/person - 2 hours on fast "supercats", and cheaper on slower boats.

 

The thing is, these are very busy commuting corridors and large vessels.

[Minnehaha]

11 minutes ago, tropo said:

Here's a better comparison from SE Asia. Cebu City to Ormoc City in the Philippines. About 500 baht/person - 2 hours on fast "supercats", and cheaper on slower boats.

 

The thing is, these are very busy commuting corridors and large vessels.

Again this begs the question why Thai infrastructure is so lame. With the price of a submarine or such they could run a boat to HH. 

 

It is done in other countries but here they overlook the cheapest form of transport. And in this case the fastest. 

[Bastos60]

5 minutes ago, tropo said:

Here's a better comparison from SE Asia. Cebu City to Ormoc City in the Philippines. About 500 baht/person - 2 hours on fast "supercats", and cheaper on slower boats.

 

The thing is, these are very busy commuting corridors and large vessels.

True, but you will need to build a business. If your initial price setting is to high it will never take off. 

[bangkokairportlink]

If you didn't have a large family you wouldn't have to pay for anybody else but you or maybe your girlfriend !

I am happy every time I can see how much I can save by not having a useless family to feed !

 

 

[impulse]

1 hour ago, Bastos60 said:

True, but you will need to build a business. If your initial price setting is to high it will never take off. 

 

Give them time and they'll offer a 75% discount to locals.  Which, IMO would be a good decision all around.  But I can just hear the howling.

 

Better yet would be to sell season passes at a rate that would keep the boats slightly less than full.  Then sell proactively to businesses for award travel and weekend team building getaways.

 

Then they'll figure out how to make money on concessions onboard and at the waiting areas on each end.  Let travel agent set up kiosks onboard to hawk their activities and book cars and vans and hotel rooms.  These boats could be cash cows once they get it all dialed in- and word gets out.

[Bastos60]

14 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Give them time and they'll offer a 75% discount to locals.  Which, IMO would be a good decision all around.  But I can just hear the howling.

 

Better yet would be to sell season passes at a rate that would keep the boats slightly less than full.  Then sell proactively to businesses for award travel and weekend team building getaways.

 

Then they'll figure out how to make money on concessions onboard and at the waiting areas on each end.  Let travel agent set up kiosks onboard to hawk their activities and book cars and vans and hotel rooms.  These boats could be cash cows once they get it all dialed in- and word gets out.

The problem is they should not discriminate between tourists and locals. Thai and farang pricing only pisses off tourists.  There are no 2 different pricings for bus travel, nor is there
a dual pricing system for airplanes. You need to embrace the possibility that tourists will be repeat customers of this service. Nothing better than to bring your barfine to a nice resort town like Hua Hin and beyond. 
But they will need an attractive pricing to allow locals from Hua Hin to travel to Pattaya for onward travel to any of the other cities, even have locals from that side of the bay to travel to rayong for work, not that these people will be commuting all the time but it would give them a far shorter travel back home. 

Edited June 27, 2017 by Bastos60

[Ace of Pop]

I think many have done it once like me , and that's it. Can't even buy a Tin of Leo and enjoy the trip , expensive for 2,and then be told what to do .Never again , it's an easy drive midweek.?


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[Asiantravel]

The Marine Department have announced the ferry service between Sattahip and Koh Chang will be launched next month (September). It will depart from Chuk Samet pier and arrive in Bang Bao pier which I think it fabulous news ! They are now just setting the fares

Because I stay in  Bai Lan which is the next village from Bang Bao this will also mean I can avoid taking the rip off white songthaews and cut out one hour's road  journey from the north to the south of the island.

 

And whilst I’m excited at this alternative way to travel to Koh Chang now that there are no big buses from Pattaya I will be less excited if they don’t provide a cost-effective way to reach Chuk Samet pier in the first place.Does anyone know what means of public transport there is to Chuk Samet pier?

 

I will not use a taxi to go there just like I won’t use a taxi to go to Utapao airport because they try to charge what is often the same amount as the air fare.

Edited August 12, 2017 by Asiantravel

[mlmcleod]

Ridership s a function of supply and demand!  In a true capitalistic sense, when demand is low the prices drop.  Alas, this is Thailand where reverse capitalism is practiced.  The prices remain stable or rise during seasons of low demand!  It applies to real estate here too! 5555