Pattaya-Hua Hin ferry to begin on New Year's Day

[Smiles]

I've been scooped!
Mr Alex on Gaybutton has posted that the very first sailing of the new ferry ... yes the boat which is purported to be big enough that most weather should not be an issue: "Cancelled because of weather".

[Nirish guy]

lol I cant believe that after all these weeks and the big build up and countdown to does it exist and will it sail or not that you slept in Smiles and on the big launch day too no less, as you say out scooped by Gaybuttons board - you've brought shame on the lot of us with your drunken hangover it seems ! :-) ( Mind you I wonder just who's bright idea it was to launch that service at 8am on New years day anyway - I'm sure the crew weren't too happy about having to ease off on their own new years eve celebrations - unlike Smiles it seems !!!!

Re safety and staying beside lifejackets etc, to be fair that's seems like a sturdy enough vessel and is the same model used on the Hong Kong to Macau route etc and they've proved themselves there to be (fairly) safe as I think the last major incident involving one was where it had simply crashed into another vessel perhaps rather than it having any mechanical or general safety issues. Although it's interesting to see they're offering all sailings free until the 12th - thus obviously quietly testing everything out with their free riding passengers who can't then complain much if things go awry ( or it bloody SINKS as some tired Thai sailor forgot to put the sink plug in the bottom of it again before they leave the dock some day ! )

[Smiles]

There is lots of info regarding the latest news on the Hua Hin/Pattaya ferry on the Hua Hin message board ('HuaHinAfterDark')

http://www.huahinforum.com/viewtopic...9428&start=240

It's a 17-page topic, so the best idea is to go straight to the last page and start there. Lots of interesting comments, and lots of cynicism as well . Right now the posts are pretty well in sync regarding the clearly amateurish planning which has been going on.

[christianpfc]

On Jan 1st, I went to the pier (just south of Khao Takiap, about 7 km by air south of Hua Hin railway station), and asked people there who confirmed that will be the place where the ferry will dock. On the picture, the ferry looks too big to dock there; or the pier too small, whichever way you see it; or rather the distance between pier and land (Khao Takiap) to narrow.

If it had been running, I would even have taken the ferry to cross over to Pattaya, but with all these delays, I'm out for now (until my next trip to HH or Pattaya, but by then the ferry service might have stopped because they found the water is too wet).

[christianpfc]

On Jan 1st, I went to the pier (just south of Khao Takiap, about 7 km by air south of Hua Hin railway station; information by a Thai friend who lives in HH), and asked people there who confirmed that will be the place where the ferry will dock. On the picture, the ferry looks too big to dock there; or the pier too small, whichever way you see it; or rather the distance between pier and land (Khao Takiap) to narrow.

No signage at all at the pier, and without google maps I wouldn't have found the pier.

But there are pictures of a sign and a building on a pier, which is neither Bali Hai nor the pier I went to. (Will read the HH forum thread to find out more.)

If it had been running, I would even have taken the ferry to cross over to Pattaya, but with all these delays, I'm out for now (until my next trip to HH or Pattaya, but by then the ferry service might have stopped because they found the water is too wet).

[christianpfc]

There have been multiple requests to increase editing time from 15 min. My second post is edited of first after that time passed.

[Smiles]

Come on Surfcrest, put it back to an hour, or more. Most folks here want a change from this silly 15 minutes (or whatever it is).

[fountainhall]

Agree 100% with christianpfc and Smiles. 15 minutes is FAR TOO SHORT! I know that it was introduced to prevent overlapping of responses. I'd be happy with 30 minutes but will go with the flow. Whatever, please increase the edit time!

[fountainhall]

Back on topic. Looking at that long thread Smiles posted, seems there were quite high winds and a big swell on the first day - hence the cancellation. But one earlier post is interesting -

The biggest problem, as ever, will be the fact that the worst weather in the gulf, high winds and waves, falls in the high season, i.e. January and February. Some cancellations will be inevitable - how they go about this in organisational terms will be a crucial factor.

So why did they even consider starting on January 1st? TIT!

[Smiles]

Whoa Nellie . . . the Member of the Year (MOTY) is pissed and spitting out red ink, and hoping to make this board great again.
Let's start of with a half hour, couldn't we?

Signed,

'NOT MOTY''