A new ferry service from Hua Hin to Pattaya has been given the green light to go ahead and is expected to be up and running by 2020.
What would be the commercial impact to Pattaya and will it help property sales and rentals in the future?
The simple answer to the question is that such as service would definitely help to bring extra revenue to Pattaya and by default would affect property rentals and to some extent sales.
It currently takes around five to six hours to complete the journey via Bangkok, and that is heavily down to traffic conditions. At present many tourists and expats choose between the two resorts to spend their time, and do not share a dual base type vacation.
When the ferry service begins it is estimated it will cut the journey time down to less than two hours to cover the 105km trip.
The Benefits Of The Service
It is without doubt that such a service will boost more tourism to both Chonburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan.
The influx of the added tourism will without doubt significantly increase tourist spend in both regions as new tourists are being targeted to enjoy a dual base holiday.
The offshoot of this is that tourists often become future buyers and renters, and any increase in tourist numbers directly affects the real estate market.
The Ferry Services
Pattaya is approximately 345km from Hua Hin by road, but only 105km across the Gulf of Thailand. A modern ferry would be able to handle 300-500 passengers and 30-60 vehicles and take about an hour and a half.
The project is tipped to boost the economy, enhance the country’s competitiveness and reduce heavy road traffic during holidays.
The service is focused on serving tourists, not on cargo. And the Thai government has plans to build a deep-sea port in Prachuap Khiri Khan to cater for cargo shipments, especially from Myanmar once the Thai-Myanmar Singkhon border pass becomes a permanent crossing.
Boost to Tourism
It is expected in the first 10 years of the ferry being operational, tourist revenue is expected to soar and account for 80% of the region’s income, with the rest stemming from other economic activities.
Although it is agreed that Hua Hin would mostly gain most in terms of tourism than Pattaya it is certain that this added ferry service connecting east and west together would give travel agents in China, Japan and Korea an added attraction to offer their clients that perhaps would not otherwise come to the region.
With the overall demographic of tourism changing in Thailand over the last few years, any additional attractions or reasons to come to Pattaya and the region would be greatly accepted.
And the addition of this new ferry service is certainly one of those.