One possibility is by sea, which is why a meeting was held yesterday (March 27) to discuss a plan to build a quay or pier next to the airport to run transport services, initially to Patong.
Phuripat Theerakulpisut, Director of Marine, Phuket Branch, explained, “We are waiting for approval and budget. We have drawn up a plan. We estimate the cost of building it will be around B180 million.
“We believe Patong will be the most popular destination, so we have decided to concentrate on that initially.
“If it works then we will expand to other parts of Phuket and then to other provinces such as Phang-Nga and Krabi.
“The idea is to help ease crowding in the airport passenger terminal. The number of tourists keeps increasing every year, and most passengers head for the airport early by road [because they are worried about traffic], so they get to the airport early and then sit around in the terminal waiting for their flight.
“But if you take a boat, that is different, because the timetable of the boat service will be certain and accurate, and water traffic is not congested like road traffic.
“We are ready to do this. If the project is approved, it will take a year to complete. Initially, we’ll use speedboats. From the airport to Patong is 13 nautical miles, or about 25 kilometres, so it will take only 25 minutes to get there.”
With the current state of Phuket’s traffic, it takes an hour or more to travel by road between the two points.
Santisuk Tharaporn is GM of Phuket Adventures Group, which operates many speedboat tours, and also owns Dolphin Seaways, operator of two hydrofoils. She had not heard about the plan but told The Phuket News, “It’s a good idea.”
However, she said, hydrofoils rather than speedboats would be more appropriate because they are safer and faster. The hydrofoils used by Dolphin can seat up to 128 people and has space for their luggage, while speedboats have much smaller passenger capacity and little space for luggage.
In rough weather, she added, speedboats are uncomfortable and can be dangerous, while hydrofoils “fly” above the waves, giving a smooth, safe ride. She estimated that the trip would take 40 minutes by speedboat and 20 by hydrofoil.
The main problem, however, is that apart from the small pier at the south end of Patong there are no places to bring larger boats into west coast destinations. And even in Patong, the hydrofoils draw too much water to pull in to the pier.