Sattahip-Koh Chang ferry service due in September

Sattahip-Koh Chang ferry service due in September

Passengers wait to board a ferry from Pattaya’s Bali Hai pier to Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan on Feb 2 this year. (Photo by Thanarak Khunton)
Passengers wait to board a ferry from Pattaya’s Bali Hai pier to Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan on Feb 2 this year. (Photo by Thanarak Khunton)

A trial run of the new daily Sattahip-Koh Chang ferry service will begin on Saturday.

Full commercial service will begin next month or in October, with a fare of a little over 1,000 baht or less.

The Marine Department said on Friday the ferry boat would ply between Sattahip commercial port (Juk Samet port) in Chon Buri province and Koh Chang in Trat province, according to Daily News Online.

“The service aims to support tourists and reduce the number of cars entering Koh Chang, which has limited space,” said Sornsak Saengsombat, director-general of the Marine Department.

The operator is the same one which provides the Pattaya-Hua Hin service, he added. Royal Passenger Line Co Ltd is the operator of the route.

“We’re waiting for it to quote the fares but we set the ceiling at a little over 1,000 baht.”

The department is also planning to develop a port in Pran Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, on one of its plots.

It will serve a car ferry service that will link with the Sattahip-Hua Hin (Khao Takiab port) and Sattahip-Pran Buri routes in the future.  

It remains undecided whether the 1-billion-baht project should be a public-private venture or an investment by the department.

If the department is to invest in the project by itself, the construction should begin in 2019 using the budget for fiscal 2018.

“The route should be popular among Thai travellers who might want to save 1½ hours on the trip that normally takes five hours. 

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