Ferry from Hua Hin to Pattaya

[barrys]

We have been looking at the feasibility of such an operation for the last 3 years and have unfortunately come to the conclusion that it's a non-starter for the following reasons.

1. The ever increasing fuel costs - subsidised diesel for commercial boats (about 3 baht per litre below normal pump prices) was discontinued a year ago. Our fuel costs have more than doubled in 2 years.

2. Lack of demand - we are convinced that the number of people that might use such a service would not be sufficient to sustain a profitable operation.

3. Weather and reliability of service - the worst sea conditions in this part of the Gulf are from November to January (the highest part of the high season!!) when we get the tail end of the hurricanes coming in from the Philippines and South China Sea. People would soon get fed up with the frequent cancellation of crossings that would be necessary on the part of a responsible operator.
Our 70 ft passenger ship has only been able to go out once this month, for example, and of the 4 return trips we have made to Pattaya at various times of the year, only one of the crossings could be described as calm.
A smaller tour boat (not ours) has been out a few times on tours this month but 3 times in the last fortnight the passengers have either demanded to disembark half way through the journey or the boat was not able to return to dock or it had to combat very high seas causing major passenger discomfort - and this was in coastal waters!!
The only way round this is to have a vessel so large that it can cope with such sea conditions.
However, this is prohibitive because of the investment and running costs combined with the lack of high-volume business.

3. Cost - when Guess says that "Personally I would rather pay 1000 BHT for the sea crossing even if it may take an hour or so longer", I'm afraid he's being unrealistic.
To provide a reasonably quick service, i.e. a crossing time of not more than 5 hours (requiring an average speed of approx. 11 knots), the fuel costs alone for a return journey would amount to around 12-15 k.
Once you add the costs for shuttle transport, crew, lunch, insurance, depreciation, agent commissions, marketing on both sides, etc. and a profit margin, it becomes evident that the individual fare would have to be substantially more than 1 k - again deterring potential passengers.

Having said all that, we believe there could be a niche market for special private charters across the Gulf - however these would not be cheap and could not be offered as a scheduled service for the reasons set out above.
We are in the final stages of building a 30ft electrically driven motor yacht, which we hope will be able to do the crossing in 3-4 hours with a max. of 8-10 people on board.

We're hoping to commence sea trials next month, with the maiden voyage being the first ever crossing of the Gulf of Thailand by a vessel propelled solely by electrical power.

[Big Boy]

barrys,

Thank you, a good, well balanced response that certainly answers any questions I may have had regarding the possibility.

Good luck with your new 'electric' venture.

[BaaBaa.]

It looks like an ideal trip for the punters as opposesd to a viable one for a business Barry, Unfortunately.

[norm]

Barry

That was an excelllent post very informative and makes it easy to understand the logic. Need more posters like you.

[john falconer]

hi,in Jomtien a Scandinavian group of business men have put together a plan for a large catermaran to sail Pattaya-Hua Hin as featured in the Pattaya mail recently, due to start some time in 2008?

[JimmyGreaves]

How long would you thing a trip like that would take?

[STEVE G]

In theory it would only take a couple of hours, but if they want to start this year they had better start building a harbour for such a craft.

[Sabai Jai]

A company did run a hydrofoil as I re-call some years ago, probably late 80,s

I think they stopped mainly due to not being allowed to use the pier and generally having agro with the fishermen.

I did see it a few times, they had to stand off and ferry people ashore in a dinghy

The amount of visitors is so much higher now that I'm sure it would be feasible during high season at least - if there was a jetty you couls use?

Regards SJ

[The understudy]

H there Y'all!

If this Scandinavian group is going ahead with this Project as planned they would need a Highspeed catamaran similar to this shown of this Picture. It has all the amenities for long as well as short trips. At it's highest speed it could 37 knotts = 49Ml/h or 69.2109 Km/h. I'm by no means a Boat or Maritine expert, as I would estimate the Journey on a high speed Catamaran would take three and a half to four hours max.

[img]http://www.catalinaexpress.com/images/p ... -cat02.jpg[/img] (alt+p)

[img]http://www.catalinaexpress.com/images/p ... -cat03.jpg[/img] (alt+p)

Your's The understudy!!!

[barrys]

We drove a boat across the Gulf a couple of weeks ago.

From Pattaya to Hua Hin is approx. 106 km or 57 nautical miles, so at an average of 20 knots it would take around 3 hours, always depending on the sea conditions, of course.

Good luck to the Scandinavian gentlemen, but rather their money than mine!

[tarakandi]

Yes I remember the Hydrofoil used it 3 or 4 times in 88/89, seem to remember the trip took about 3 hours.

The landing rights, mechanical failures and a lack of passengers would seem to have been the reason for failure of this particular enterprise.

I am sure I have got photos some where, will try and dig them out when I get back to HH

I have discussed this with Thai and Farang friends a number of times over the years and the general consensus is that it would be a good thing for HH, but it is unlikely to be any more successful now for probably similar reasons as to why the first attempt failed.

Saying that I do wish anybody the very best of luck if they do decide to set up this service.

[edwinadanish]

I think te ferry woudl be very good as I like t go to the Koh Samed and Koh Chnang islands. Is there recommendation for nice baches like that here?

[johnnyk]

If this Scandinavian group is going ahead with this Project as planned they would need a Highspeed catamaran similar to this shown of this Picture. It has all the amenities for long as well as short trips. At it's highest speed it could 37 knotts = 49Ml/h or 69.2109 Km/h.
I wouldn't want to see the fuel costs!

[fft100]

holding a drink could be interesting as well. let alone just walking....

just how much discomfort would people put up with for a potential 2 hour crossing.

added on edit. just looked at the specs and it cruises at 37 knots (tops is 41 knots). impressive - but not sure what sea states it can handle.

[The understudy]

Hi there Y'all

I had taken trips on such Highspeed catermarans as soon on my Pics before a few Times from Long beach port to Catalina Isalnd (trip time 1 hour) and the Macau Kowloon stretch (Trip time 1:25 Hour.) on relatively good sea conditions. The ride was smooth and good. exept on the Macau Kowloon I got some Headace cause of the Highspeed.

Let's hopre for the best and the Scandinavian Group is fortunate about this!!!

Your's the understudy!!!