Pattaya-Hua Hin Ferry Service At Last !

[f0xxee]

Ah that sounds familiar Pentire...

On the Vung-Tau -HCMC ferry you walk past a wee opening for air beside the masters leg. A bottle of Hanoi Vodka was squeezed in that little space.

All the ferry operators have failed for three years to forward Emergency response plans to the Dept of Marine Serivces in HCMC.

And I doubt they are better in LOS either.

How people that are such inept swimmers can be so casual about sea safety has me perplexed.

[Mister Ree]

(Mister Ree @ Jul. 23 2009,09:14)

(jonstroud @ Jul. 23 2009,08:01) Right in front of Tops, at the corner of 2nd Road and Central Pattaya Road.
Never used the service myself.

Anyone know where the service picks up in Hua Hin?

To clarify, does anyone know where (and when) the supposed minivan service between Hua Hin and Pattaya picks up on the Hua Hin?

'Nothing hard was ever easy"

[Rocket J. Squirrel]

(pentire @ Jul. 23 2009,17:21) my worst experience was between Phnom Penh & Siem Reap (250km) across the massive Tonle Sap Lake, it took five hours.
We were jammed in that boat like sardines and there must have been a hundred of us on board with every seat taken.
I finished up travelling the last two hours sat on the roof, then it started to rain  
My journey back to PP was in a taxi cab  

Did the same route by bus last year (to get a feel for the countryside   ).  Not so great either.

Taxi or plane next time for me as well  


Seems like I've seen a lot of Thais get sick on my few boat excursions in and around Thailand     

[marshal]

Few years back in hua hin i sat on the beach thinking to myself why the fuck do they not have a ferry service to patts! Reading some of the responses, i'm not so sure i want to ride a ferry between patts and hh. You just know that its going to be bad! Done a few ferries down south in bad weather, and they were bad enough!

[Changnam]

How much, I didn't see?..why don't they do a ferry from Samui to Pattaya ...makes more sense and they could make more money......

[Snick]

(Changnam @ Jul. 24 2009,11:12) How much, I didn't see?..why don't they do a ferry from Samui to Pattaya ...makes more sense and they could make more money......

Look at a map

[BAM]

Well these guys can fit 200 people in their ferry!

[Joshua69]

[PigDogg]

Ship ahoy matey! Looks like service begins on November 19th.

http://thailivingferry.com/

[Foggy]

Thats excellent news for me being in Samui as I can get there for 2500 Baht.

BKK airways from samui to u-tapao is 4000 baht +

[reflections]

how long does it take?

[rxpharm]

(Road Runner @ Jul. 23 2009,10:49) I have - shall we say? - a little practice operating ferries.  Though normally a little larger than this one.

So far as it's possible to work out design and construction from two photographs it looks OK to me.
Though I do have  serious  doubts about it's ability to carry 100 passengers.

As I have seen no dimensions I can only work out the heights, count the windows and guesstimate.
Inside I would say it has 6 or at most 8 rows of seats and probably 6-8 wide so maximum of 64 seats.
My bet would be it's actually 6 rows long and 7 wide = 42 seats inside.

Don't know how they work in Thailand  -  but in Europe you have to have a seat for every passenger.
You really want to stand for 3 hours in a rough sea?  Or more probably 4 as I also doubt it will make 20 knots in the short steep seas in the Gulf of Thailand.

It could be commercially viable with a capacity of 42 but they will have to keep the crossings to no more than about 3 hours and the ticket prices will have to be similar to the total cost of the road trip.

In this sort of operation you are selling comfort and convenience, but when it comes to transport people also look carefully at ticket prices.


RR.

while we haven't had any reports yet from someone who has used the service, Roadrunner has given an estimate based on his sea going experience see above his estimates of 3-4 hours.

[EyeMahk]

The direct distance from Hua Hin to Pattaya pier is approx 105 km.  Not sure of the cruising speed of that boat, my guess in looking at it would be about 40 km/hour. That is just a guess.

At certain times of the year, with waves in the gulf, this would NOT be a pleasant trip. In calm seas, it would be great.

[f0xxee]

Gents,

I suspect this service is doomed to failure:

The boat is very small: I have recently seen 1m seas onshore at Kao Tao that lasted for the best part of 4 weeks and removed all the sand from HH, Khao Takiab and Kao Tao beaches. Being on a catarmeran in seas that would be over 2m offshore would be vomit inducing to all those who are not regular seafarers. (Cats are not known for being comfortable in choppy seas.)

2. Next trip November 26th? Bad luck if you booked your ticket for the week before then. A problem with capital?

3. Pak Nam Pran is NOT Hua Hin by any stretch of the immagination. It takes me 35-40 minutes to get to PNP from the HH post office via Ducati, and I can pretty much overtake anythting on the road. 45 minutes minimum by bus, and more likely an hour given pit stops at other hotels.

4. "Special Promotional" Price of 2400B return, or 2950B regular. Hmmmm.
I would find someone else and split a car for the same price and arrive in HH dry, alive and faster.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but as one who has lived on or worked at sea all his life this idea just doesn't float my boat.

[EyeMahk]

(f0xxee @ Nov. 25 2010,08:53) 3. Pak Nam Pran is NOT Hua Hin by any stretch of the immagination. It takes me 35-40 minutes to get to PNP from the HH post office via Ducati, and I can pretty much overtake anythting on the road. 45 minutes minimum by bus, and more likely an hour given pit stops at other hotels.

Not only this, but the boat does not even go from Pattaya, it goes from the marina in Na Jomtien, which is south of Jomtien. FFS, who would take a minibus 30 minutes to a marina to cross the Gulf to then take a minibus 45 minutes to Hua Hin? An overpriced "Pattaya to Hua Hin" boat that doesn't go to/from Pattaya OR Hua Hin. Only in Thailand.

I reported earlier on the very comfortable VIP bus that goes one time per day, and also there are minivans that ply the route. These are far better alternatives.