Unithai Port

[mmyorkston]

Does anyone have experience sailing into or out of the Unithai port in Thailand? The Ocean Princess is using that port in January, and we are curious about it. How difficult is it to reach from Pattaya? Any information would be appreciated.

[FredS]

You might go on the TripAdvisor forum and ask that question. Here is the URL for one question. on the left is the menu

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293916-i3687-k2936231-Travel_from_Bangkok_to_Laem_Chabang_Port-Bangkok.html

[greatam]

Does anyone have experience sailing into or out of the Unithai port in Thailand? The Ocean Princess is using that port in January, and we are curious about it. How difficult is it to reach from Pattaya? Any information would be appreciated.

 

Do you mean the United Thailand (Unithai) container port which is south of Klong Toey, the other commercial port in Bangkok proper??? If so, it is actually in SE portion of Bangkok, close to the mouth of the Chao Phraya River.

 

About 70 miles to Pattaya from the SOUTH Bangkok ports, a 2-3 hour drive.

[greatam]

Do you mean the United Thailand (Unithai) container port/huge warehouse which is south of Klong Toey, the other commercial port in Bangkok proper??? If so, it is actually in SE portion of Bangkok, close to the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. But Unithai has port facilities in Laem Chabang, so it is hard to figure out which one you mean.

 

About 70 miles to Pattaya from the SOUTH Bangkok ports, a 2-3 hour drive, about an hour from Laem Chabang.

 

I am going to say with the size of the ship, you will be more likely in the Laem Chabang area, which is not too far from Pattaya and not around the huge container ships.

[FredS]

I am going to say with the size of the ship, you will be more likely in the Laem Chabang area, which is not too far from Pattaya and not around the huge container ships.

 

for some reason the Ocean Princess is using Unithai Port. This starts in Jan the Dec cruises are using the regular port.

 

On Trip Advisor Thailand forum I received this answer:

 

. Re: Unithai port Aug 05, 2009 10:13 PM

Destination Expert for Bangkok, Thailand

 

The port is in Samut Prakarn province, close to the city. It takes about an hour by road to get into Bangkok center; taxis are plentiful and around 250-350 baht. Getting to Pattaya takes a little over 2 hours and fares need to be haggled unless you used a private limo service like http://www.imagelimo.com. If you're in Samut Prakarn you should not miss the Erawan Museum and the Ancient City. http://www.ancientcity.com

[greatam]

for some reason the Ocean Princess is using Unithai Port. This starts in Jan the Dec cruises are using the regular port.

 

 

United Thai Logistics Co. LTD (Unithai Group, Inc) has TWO port facilities and warehouses. One in Laem Chabang, the other SE of downtown Bangkok(actually slightly south of the Klong Toey port which is owned by the Thailand Port Authority/Bangkok Port Authority).

 

So from the Bangkok port, it is two hours to Pattaya. From the Laem Chabang port, it is less than an hour.

 

The Ocean Princess is one of the smaller ships, so conceivably could make it into the Bangkok port. BUT I am still making an educated guess that the ship will dock in the Laem Chabang area, which is a deep water port suitable for HUGE container ships. The Unithai port in Laem Chabang is newer, fancier and much more suitable to cruise ship passengers than the Bangkok proper ports. They are old and depressing. And Unithai has been sending out info in their press releases and industry trade publications about "convenience" for their customers using the newer Laem Chabang facility-"close to the beaches of Pattaya and the luxury hotels". This from a blurb in Refrigerated Transporter, April Issue

 

"Visiting clients are assured a comfortable stay given that the Unithai Shipyard is located within 20 minutes of the popular seaside resort of Pattaya. Offering first class hotels and restaurants, scenic surrounds and a wide range of recreational activities, Pattaya is a popular destination for international visitors.

 

Served by daily flights to worldwide destinations, Suvannabhumi International Airport is less than 2 hour drive (105 km) from the Unithai Shipyard. Central Bangkok is 125 km away by well established roads/freeways."

[mmyorkston]

I am hoping you are right that it is nearer to Pattaya, since we are planning to stay there for 2 nights pre-cruise. I guess I will need to check with Princess to confirm. Thanks all for the information

[greatam]

I am hoping you are right that it is nearer to Pattaya, since we are planning to stay there for 2 nights pre-cruise. I guess I will need to check with Princess to confirm. Thanks all for the information

 

You will have to get transport to Pattaya. Same thing if you need to go back into Bangkok. Taxis/transport is cheap. Just ask your hotel to arrange something.

[FredS]

I am hoping you are right that it is nearer to Pattaya, since we are planning to stay there for 2 nights pre-cruise. I guess I will need to check with Princess to confirm. Thanks all for the information

 

Looking at the itinerary on the Princess site it shows

Day 1

Bangkok (Unithai), Thailand

7:00 PM

this does not mean it won't change, could, but unlikely.

[ianj]

........this does not mean it won't change, could, but unlikely.

 

Not wishing to cause you any more confusion... we were on the Royal Princess docking in Bangkok last March. Our itinerary showed 'Bangkok Modern Terminal or Unithai Terminal' and a written query and response from Princess confirmed this. Anyway to cut a long story short, about a week before we were due to arrive after several requests to the Pursers desk, they confirmed they would be docking in Laem Chabang. Changes do happen, make sure your transfer arrangements are flexible.

[FredS]

Bangkok Day Tours shows the Ocean Princess docking at Unithai. I wrote them asking how they knew this and got this response:

 

I'm not sure why Ocean Princess has chosen to dock at Unithai. Maybe she's small enough to get party way up the river but too big to dock at Klong Toey.

 

Both the local port authority and Princess Line show Unithai as the port.

[FredS]

If you go here it may give an idea why Princess is not docking at Khlong Toey. There are only 3 messages on this subject and the 3 one is the one with some info.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1034497

 

Since Laem Chabang port is about 2 hrs from the city, it may be that Princess is seeking to dock closer to the city center. But, not in harms way or where there are potential problems. There have been problems at Khlong Toey with vendors and the new operator of the vendor market at the Khlong Toey port.