Pattaya Ferry Port Project Finally Gets the Go-Ahead
I always find that Thailand enjoys some excellent infrastructure for a country that is supposedly third-world, which makes living and investing in the Thailand condos for sale market for Western people an excellent choice. So it’s great news that Transport Minister, Prajin Juntong, has given the go-ahead and green light so the Harbour Department can get started on developing a Gulf of Thailand Ferry Project that will link both the east and west coasts in the upper part of the Gulf.
The locations that can expect to enjoy the link include Pattaya and Puektian Beach in Pechaburi, which will service both Cha-am and Hua Hin; and also at Bang Pu in Samut Prakarn which will more than likely link to Bangkok.
Promising to invest 4 million THB, the SEP (Siam Eastern Industrial Park Co.), will be the ones to run the service, which will be spread over 3 terminals. SEP have surmised that 15 billion THB will be needed to construct the project.
The cost for passengers is expected to be 1,000 THB for passengers on foot and 3,000 THB per car. There are expected to be 2.8 million passengers each year to use the new ferry terminals, across 16 trips daily via 4x catamaran ferries, with an estimated time of 90 minutes for each journey, which is approximately 6 hours taking the road-route.
The ferries will be able to carry 400 people, 12 motorbikes and a total of 30 cars. Although a date for the expected start of construction has yet to be released or decided, once it does begin, it is expected to take 12 months to complete.
For those looking to invest in the Pattaya condo for sale sector, this is great news, opening up the area to more destinations, which will create a greater flow of people across the Gulf of Thailand.