Khlong boat taxis to get bigger, go farther - more quietly

[melvinmelvin]

14 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Got contact for Laem? or how to find him. I would love to get one of the small boats I see zipping around the Khlong Dan....

what kind of boats are those? those zipping around Klong Dan?

 

[melvinmelvin]

12 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

OK I see your route. I assume he is one of the dude hanging around N30 (Nonthaburi Pier). If so I will run up there and look for him if thats the way to contact him. it would be easier for me to start on this side of the river though, seems its a long way from Nonthaburi. I guess it would be via the Bangkok yai

 

 yep, he is the win (the queue master)

 

[Nyezhov]

1 minute ago, melvinmelvin said:

what kind of boats are those? those zipping around Klong Dan?

 

Little skiffs. 12 footers maybe with small outboards. See them all the time, probably privately owned.

 

I think I have talked to that guy Laem, wanted 500 baht to take me to Ko Kret, I passed and took a taxi ???? But I would pay big dollars for a trip down to the Ta Chin and back, feed the dude and whatnot ????

[melvinmelvin]

well, 500 from tha naam non to koh kred is quite cheap for a long tail, not many would do that

up and down is an hour +

and you burn say close to 300 in fuel

 

another alternative,

you know Artists House, down in your area - very interesting place as such,

but now and then longtails stop there for hours while pax do the artists house

could lurk around there and strike up a conversion with the driver if you find one parked

 

another,

go to Minburi, behind the market is a Tha Naam with several taxi boats, song dtoon lek style

could talk to those guys - large areas available for sight seeing

 

 

 

[Nyezhov]

15 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

well, 500 from tha naam non to koh kred is quite cheap for a long tail, not many would do that

up and down is an hour +

and you burn say close to 300 in fuel

 

another alternative,

you know Artists House, down in your area - very interesting place as such,

but now and then longtails stop there for hours while pax do the artists house

could lurk around there and strike up a conversion with the driver if you find one parked

 

another,

go to Minburi, behind the market is a Tha Naam with several taxi boats, song dtoon lek style

could talk to those guys - large areas available for sight seeing

 

 

 

Yep I know artist house, I never thought of that. Maybe Ill buzz by there later today, Im getting ready to go "somewhere", which means anywhere, even Icon Siam, uggg.

 

I think he quoted me so cheap becasue it was a weekday, I try not to go certain places on weekends. I should have done it, would have been a nice ride. Maybe on the next sunny weekday I will run up there again, I like walking around Koh Ket. Maybe I can work a deal to get him to take me up to ayyuthaya.

 

Your assistance is greatly appreciated you should know.

[thedemon]

37 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

that klong runs through bang bua thong - south

 

 

Sorry, I'm still confused.

 

I have marked what I think is the northern most part of Khlong Om as "A". The southern part of Bang Bua Thong District is "B" and Khlong Bang Bua Thong is C.

 

How are you getting from A to either B or C?

 

I live not far from the entrance to Khlong Om Non (near the new bridge). If there is a navigable route on that stretch (A to C) it makes a perfect loop for an afternoon/evening trip. There are plenty of restaurants/beer stops along most of that circuit.

[melvinmelvin]

2 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Yep I know artist house, I never thought of that. Maybe Ill buzz by there later today, Im getting ready to go "somewhere", which means anywhere, even Icon Siam, uggg.

 

I think he quoted me so cheap becasue it was a weekday, I try not to go certain places on weekends. I should have done it, would have been a nice ride. Maybe on the next sunny weekday I will run up there again, I like walking around Koh Ket. Maybe I can work a deal to get him to take me up to ayyuthaya

from Non to Ayuthaia south, Bang Sai area (a very interesting place to visit)

should be about 2 hours with a long tail from Ta Nam Non,

don't remember off hand how far from Bang Sai to the city centre, another half hour maybe

 

(there are 2 other longtail drivers, that I know, that operates from Non,

Kuhn Dam and Khun Toy, the latter being a very decent guy me thinks (lives in Bang Bua Thong),

think Dam is OK)

 

 

dunno how USAers think,

but my approach to doing a deal for a 10-12 hours day would be;

I pay all fuel - I pay oil if needed, I feed you, how much for boat and your services?

this is not compatible with Thai thinking

I find deal making for such tricky - especially this up to you crap

 

and they will not be comfortable going places they are not familiar with,

they are not adventure seakers

but they will love it as soon as they understand that they actually run in saltwater

it is essential that you have the relevant geography in your head and on paper - or laminated plastic

 

 

 

 

[Nyezhov]

21 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

from Non to Ayuthaia south, Bang Sai area (a very interesting place to visit)

should be about 2 hours with a long tail from Ta Nam Non,

don't remember off hand how far from Bang Sai to the city centre, another half hour maybe

 

(there are 2 other longtail drivers, that I know, that operates from Non,

Kuhn Dam and Khun Toy, the latter being a very decent guy me thinks (lives in Bang Bua Thong),

think Dam is OK)

 

 

dunno how USAers think,

but my approach to doing a deal for a 10-12 hours day would be;

I pay all fuel - I pay oil if needed, I feed you, how much for boat and your services?

this is not compatible with Thai thinking

I find deal making for such tricky - especially this up to you crap

 

and they will not be comfortable going places they are not familiar with,

they are not adventure seakers

but they will love it as soon as they understand that they actually run in saltwater

it is essential that you have the relevant geography in your head and on paper - or laminated plastic

 

 

 

 

Thats exactly how I negotiate. And since I eat good, Ill feed him good!

[melvinmelvin]

1 minute ago, thedemon said:

Sorry, I'm still confused.

 

I have marked what I think is the northern most part of Khlong Om as "A". The southern part of Bang Bua Thong District is "B" and Khlong Bang Bua Thong is C.

 

How are you getting from A to either B or C?

 

I live not far from the entrance to Khlong Om Non (near the new bridge). If there is a navigable route on that stretch (A to C) it makes a perfect loop for an afternoon/evening trip. There are plenty of restaurants/beer stops along most of that circuit.

A runs through B (trust me, I know - I live IN A, on stilts)

 

maybe your intention was to attach something? I didn't see any attachment

 

assume you look at a map?

 

now,

if you follow bangkok noi on the map, from pin klao to taling chan (going east-west)

then turning north - passes maha sawat passes bang kruai gets into bang yai then

turning east and changes name to Klong Oom a wee bit before you reach Ta Naam Bang Yai

continue in a generally easterly direction

a click or two later before you cross the road Bang Kruai Sai Noi you are in Bang Bua Thong,

another 2 clicks you have bang bua thong left side and bang yai right side

another click and a half you have bang bua thong both sides

another 3 clicks and you are in chao praya

----

 

now,

you mention klong bang bua thong ( I hope I didnt - by mistake)

klong bang bua thong is another issue all together - quite a distance from klong oom

 

go up chao pray,

make a left where you meet Koh Kred, follow southern shore (koh kred on your right hand)

after say 3 clicks and a bit klong bang bua thong branches off to the left

the klong is quite big where it meets chao praya, it goes towards talad bang bua thong

but closed with flood gates (that only rarely opens) say 4 clicks up the klong

some klong side restaurants up there

now

about half click before the flood gates - klong bang rak yai branches off to the left

and runs south to Klong Oom, can not be navigated by longtails, soong dton lek ok,

soong dton yai probably ok if high water, like now

 

dunno if this helped?

 

 

[thedemon]

Yeah sorry, forgot the attachment:

 

[thedemon]

15 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

A runs through B (trust me, I know - I live IN A, on stilts)

 

maybe your intention was to attach something? I didn't see any attachment

 

assume you look at a map?

 

now,

if you follow bangkok noi on the map, from pin klao to taling chan (going east-west)

then turning north - passes maha sawat passes bang kruai gets into bang yai then

turning east and changes name to Klong Oom a wee bit before you reach Ta Naam Bang Yai

continue in a generally easterly direction

a click or two later before you cross the road Bang Kruai Sai Noi you are in Bang Bua Thong,

another 2 clicks you have bang bua thong left side and bang yai right side

another click and a half you have bang bua thong both sides

another 3 clicks and you are in chao praya

----

 

now,

you mention klong bang bua thong ( I hope I didnt - by mistake)

klong bang bua thong is another issue all together - quite a distance from klong oom

 

go up chao pray,

make a left where you meet Koh Kred, follow southern shore (koh kred on your right hand)

after say 3 clicks and a bit klong bang bua thong branches off to the left

the klong is quite big where it meets chao praya, it goes towards talad bang bua thong

but closed with flood gates (that only rarely opens) say 4 clicks up the klong

some klong side restaurants up there

now

about half click before the flood gates - klong bang rak yai branches off to the left

and runs south to Klong Oom, can not be navigated by longtails, soong dton lek ok,

soong dton yai probably ok if high water, like now

 

dunno if this helped?

 

 

 

OK we are talking about the same places. I'm looking at google maps and you mentioned in another post that you are using a paper map so probably there are some discrepancies there. That would be normal. Look at 3 different maps, get 3 different road names.

 

I have been from Khlong Bang Bua Thong to Khlong Om via Khlong Bang Rak Yai. I went by speedboat and just barely made it through because of both the Khlong width and low hanging tree branches. I don't recall what time of year that was but there was enough water for my boat - just.

 

I don't think I have been further up Khlong Bang Bua Thong so I didn't know that there are flood gates there. I was hoping that there may have been another more navigable Khlong to make the connection but I guess not.

[melvinmelvin]

25 minutes ago, thedemon said:

Yeah sorry, forgot the attachment:

 

 

right, starting to understand now,

your A and C are OK, your B is kinda off

Bang Bua Thong runs much further south, it actually covers small parts of the southern shore of Klong Oom.

 

a nice afternoon project for you (dunno how many you are though)

get hold of a soong dtoon lek from Ta Naam Non, go around Koh Kred, maybe  a wee look at the market,

then up Klong Bang Bua Thong (visit the sweet factory), then Klong Bang Rak Yai down to Klong Oom,

then west on Klong Oom past Ta Naam Bang Yai and a bit,

then up to the right Klong Bang Muang to Raan Ahaan Krua Chai Klong

eat and drink then back home to Non-1

good stuff

 

 

 

 

 

[melvinmelvin]

17 minutes ago, thedemon said:

 

OK we are talking about the same places. I'm looking at google maps and you mentioned in another post that you are using a paper map so probably there are some discrepancies there. That would be normal. Look at 3 different maps, get 3 different road names.

 

I have been from Khlong Bang Bua Thong to Khlong Om via Khlong Bang Rak Yai. I went by speedboat and just barely made it through because of both the Khlong width and low hanging tree branches. I don't recall what time of year that was but there was enough water for my boat - just.

 

I don't think I have been further up Khlong Bang Bua Thong so I didn't know that there are flood gates there. I was hoping that there may have been another more navigable Khlong to make the connection but I guess not.

right we converge now, but you'r BBT map is severely off 

 

speedboat? doubt it very much, do you know what Thais call speedboat?

my guess is that you went by soong dton lek, bet you a 10er that you did not go by speed boat

 

anyway,

see my post re pleasant afternoon

 

 

[melvinmelvin]

6 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

right we converge now, but you'r BBT map is severely off 

 

speedboat? doubt it very much, do you know what Thais call speedboat?

my guess is that you went by soong dton lek, bet you a 10er that you did not go by speed boat

 

anyway,

see my post re pleasant afternoon

 

 

 

looked at your map again, your red A is in bang bua thong district

 

[thedemon]

6 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

 

looked at your map again, your red A is in bang bua thong district

 

 

Yes I see now, you are right that area is part of Amphoe Bang Bua Thong. I hadn't realised that.

 

You'll lose a 10er about the boat though. It's an approx 17ft fiberglass hull with a 140hp Yamaha outboard. The engine is good but the hull is pretty old and crappy so I don't care much when it gets knocked around in shallow narrow khlongs. I get through a few props though lol.

[melvinmelvin]

6 minutes ago, thedemon said:

 

Yes I see now, you are right that area is part of Amphoe Bang Bua Thong. I hadn't realised that.

 

You'll lose a 10er about the boat though. It's an approx 17ft fiberglass hull with a 140hp Yamaha outboard. The engine is good but the hull is pretty old and crappy so I don't care much when it gets knocked around in shallow narrow khlongs. I get through a few props though lol.

wow man, I have lived klong side 6-7 years and spent my time klong side several years before that,

never seen such a boat around

 

anyway,

not what Thais call speedboat, speedboat is a standardized concept like longtail and soong dton

you have 2 types, speedboat big and speedboat small,

some built in grp most in plywood

inboard engine with fixed shaft - no gear, no tail but a weird construction about a meter behind the transom

with rudder and propeller,

these boats Thais use for fun most have beefed up taxi meter engines (no gas), some V8s around

there are 5-10 of them in Klong Oom

 

don,t forget my eatery advice (Krua Chai Klong) - the food is not brilliant by the place is very nice

 

another one for you,

go down the river from you, under saphan phra ram 5, later make a right into Klong Bang Kruai

3-500 meters into the klong on the right - a restaurant by name Non Natee, nice indeed - very tasty food

simply a very pleasant place

 

 

[thedemon]

1 hour ago, melvinmelvin said:

wow man, I have lived klong side 6-7 years and spent my time klong side several years before that,

never seen such a boat around

 

anyway,

not what Thais call speedboat, speedboat is a standardized concept like longtail and soong dton

you have 2 types, speedboat big and speedboat small,

some built in grp most in plywood

inboard engine with fixed shaft - no gear, no tail but a weird construction about a meter behind the transom

with rudder and propeller,

these boats Thais use for fun most have beefed up taxi meter engines (no gas), some V8s around

there are 5-10 of them in Klong Oom

 

don,t forget my eatery advice (Krua Chai Klong) - the food is not brilliant by the place is very nice

 

another one for you,

go down the river from you, under saphan phra ram 5, later make a right into Klong Bang Kruai

3-500 meters into the klong on the right - a restaurant by name Non Natee, nice indeed - very tasty food

simply a very pleasant place

 

 

 

I didn't know they were called speedboats but I see those boats on Sundays and public holidays when 2 or 3 of them come out of Khlong Om for a practice blast up the river. If I don't see them, never mind because I will certainly hear them. To me they look like they're going fairly quickly but not as fast as I would expect considering the noise they make. It's as if half the energy goes to making a noise and the other half the propeller. I've never heard any with that distinctive V8 sound, rather much more high pitched than that. I don't understand what you mean by "taxi meter engine". I presume you're not talking about Toyota Corolla/Altis engines lol.

 

I think I may have seen Non Natee, a cute looking place but for some reason I thought it was more a coffee shop than a restaurant. Thanks, I'll try it out. I have been all the way down that khlong a couple of times to where it ends in a T with Khlong Om the the right and Khlong Bangkok Noi to the left. It also gets very narrow and shallow towards the end. In fact I got marooned there once and had to wait for a couple of hours for the tide to bring enough water in to float again.

 

Also will try the place you mention on Klong Bang Muang. I have looked for good places to stop nearby that part of Khlong Om but never seen anything that looked interesting probably because I never ventured down Klong Bang Muang.

 

I have been at this place for about 10 years and had the boat most of that time. There didn't used to be too many pleasure boats on the river but the last couple of years there has been a mini explosion of them and 3-4 new marinas popped up. By the way they drive, it looks like most of them are first time boaties who probably lack the confidence to navigate the canals but I wouldn't be surprised if that changes soon. Hopefully they won't spoil your peace on Khlong Om. At least they're all modern quiet machines as opposed to those little pocket rockets you're talking about. 

[melvinmelvin]

2 hours ago, thedemon said:

 

I didn't know they were called speedboats but I see those boats on Sundays and public holidays when 2 or 3 of them come out of Khlong Om for a practice blast up the river. If I don't see them, never mind because I will certainly hear them. To me they look like they're going fairly quickly but not as fast as I would expect considering the noise they make. It's as if half the energy goes to making a noise and the other half the propeller. I've never heard any with that distinctive V8 sound, rather much more high pitched than that. I don't understand what you mean by "taxi meter engine". I presume you're not talking about Toyota Corolla/Altis engines lol.

 

I think I may have seen Non Natee, a cute looking place but for some reason I thought it was more a coffee shop than a restaurant. Thanks, I'll try it out. I have been all the way down that khlong a couple of times to where it ends in a T with Khlong Om the the right and Khlong Bangkok Noi to the left. It also gets very narrow and shallow towards the end. In fact I got marooned there once and had to wait for a couple of hours for the tide to bring enough water in to float again.

 

Also will try the place you mention on Klong Bang Muang. I have looked for good places to stop nearby that part of Khlong Om but never seen anything that looked interesting probably because I never ventured down Klong Bang Muang.

 

I have been at this place for about 10 years and had the boat most of that time. There didn't used to be too many pleasure boats on the river but the last couple of years there has been a mini explosion of them and 3-4 new marinas popped up. By the way they drive, it looks like most of them are first time boaties who probably lack the confidence to navigate the canals but I wouldn't be surprised if that changes soon. Hopefully they won't spoil your peace on Khlong Om. At least they're all modern quiet machines as opposed to those little pocket rockets you're talking about. 

yes, typically Sundays and holidays, I think several of the punters live in BKK during the week and use their childhood

homes along the canal on days off

only 1 or 2 with V8. the rest with taxi meter,

yes toyota 4 cylinder - corolla - altis etc, not this years model though, vvt would be few and far between

 

my neighbour has a speed boat - grp - diesel - unusual

 

Non Natee is interesting, big place, has restaurant klong side - has aircon room-

has karaoke huts- has homestay - has hotel - has cafe/bakery

most went down the drain during the big floods,

was there couple of years ago - restaurant very good, rest. and cake /cofee open - the rest not

 

another place, nearer, kinda klong side, not immediately easy to spot

coming from the river - left hand side abot 5-700 meters before you reach

klong bang rak yai - Home Stay Suan Bua, nice place - bib big restaurant - packed on week ends

 

another, ran a haan is Raat Chaa, a bit uncertain about the name, this is river side,

going upstream - the first one on the left after having passed under saphan Phra Nang Klao

absolutely ok

 

and of course, Wat Ta Kiang, up a klong close to Bang Muang,

big wat, mega busy on sat/sun, has Talaad Naam,

not really my cup of tea but ok to have experienced

forgot the name of the klong - all taxi boat drivers  will know it

 

of course all these places are easier to reach by car than by boat

 

----

 

there are so many places around - also many restaurants not even worth visiting, except for looks

 

 

 

 

[melvinmelvin]

2 hours ago, thedemon said:

 

I didn't know they were called speedboats but I see those boats on Sundays and public holidays when 2 or 3 of them come out of Khlong Om for a practice blast up the river. If I don't see them, never mind because I will certainly hear them. To me they look like they're going fairly quickly but not as fast as I would expect considering the noise they make. It's as if half the energy goes to making a noise and the other half the propeller. I've never heard any with that distinctive V8 sound, rather much more high pitched than that. I don't understand what you mean by "taxi meter engine". I presume you're not talking about Toyota Corolla/Altis engines lol.

 

I think I may have seen Non Natee, a cute looking place but for some reason I thought it was more a coffee shop than a restaurant. Thanks, I'll try it out. I have been all the way down that khlong a couple of times to where it ends in a T with Khlong Om the the right and Khlong Bangkok Noi to the left. It also gets very narrow and shallow towards the end. In fact I got marooned there once and had to wait for a couple of hours for the tide to bring enough water in to float again.

 

Also will try the place you mention on Klong Bang Muang. I have looked for good places to stop nearby that part of Khlong Om but never seen anything that looked interesting probably because I never ventured down Klong Bang Muang.

 

I have been at this place for about 10 years and had the boat most of that time. There didn't used to be too many pleasure boats on the river but the last couple of years there has been a mini explosion of them and 3-4 new marinas popped up. By the way they drive, it looks like most of them are first time boaties who probably lack the confidence to navigate the canals but I wouldn't be surprised if that changes soon. Hopefully they won't spoil your peace on Khlong Om. At least they're all modern quiet machines as opposed to those little pocket rockets you're talking about. 

 

had your own boat?

that is the way, very free to explore then

not expensive- but you need a place to keep it

and you need to go through the redtape of registration and getting licenses

 

more and more pleasure crafts are coming around as Thais get more affl.

they typically have a grp runabout or daycruiser with a moderate outboard

launch it in the morning, use it, pull it up in the afternoon/evening 

they are pretty good at using life vests

 

 

[Nyezhov]

8 hours ago, thedemon said:

 

Yes I see now, you are right that area is part of Amphoe Bang Bua Thong. I hadn't realised that.

 

You'll lose a 10er about the boat though. It's an approx 17ft fiberglass hull with a 140hp Yamaha outboard. The engine is good but the hull is pretty old and crappy so I don't care much when it gets knocked around in shallow narrow khlongs. I get through a few props though lol.

Wouldnt it be better to run an impeller than a prop, or is there too much garbage in the water (meaning vegitation).

 

Isnt a 140 a bit much?

[melvinmelvin]

17 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Wouldnt it be better to run an impeller than a prop, or is there too much garbage in the water (meaning vegitation).

 

Isnt a 140 a bit much?

impeller?

you mean water jet?

 

the water in the river and in the klongs are so full of crap you cannot believe it,

also plenty water hyacinth (depending on time of year)

 

[Nyezhov]

31 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

impeller?

you mean water jet?

 

the water in the river and in the klongs are so full of crap you cannot believe it,

also plenty water hyacinth (depending on time of year)

 

Thats what I thought (yes water jet, we call them Impellers in Alaska). Props have a tendency up there to get smashed, leaving one drifting 50 miles from the nearest anything

 

How do you stop prop fouling I always wondered that with the hyacinth?

 

[melvinmelvin]

8 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Thats what I thought (yes water jet, we call them Impellers in Alaska). Props have a tendency up there to get smashed, leaving one drifting 50 miles from the nearest anything

 

How do you stop prop fouling I always wondered that with the hyacinth?

 

lots of stone in Alaska, not so in the river basin

most boats will have a spare propeller and tools for changing prop

 

you dont drive into big hyacinth islands at speed, you drive around

if you have to get through a belt of hyacinth you go slow and try lifting the prop where it would hit

 

but yes, all the shit in the water represents a challenge, old chairs, mattresses - you name it

dead animal bodies etc etc half rotten trees low in the water

you have to watch out and slow down and/or drive around when you detect crap 

 

many drive straight through smaller hyacinth islands,

the problem with this is that you never know if smth unpleasant hard is hiding there

 

generally

I think its most easy to screw a screw when you are maneuvering

in harbour, turning/parking etc

[Nyezhov]

2 hours ago, melvinmelvin said:

f you have to get through a belt of hyacinth you go slow and try lifting the prop where it would hi

Ah thats why in the middle of nowhere the boat will slow as the boatman lifts and drips his prop. Guess the design of the longtail is far more conducive to these waters that a regular outboard..

[melvinmelvin]

3 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Ah thats why in the middle of nowhere the boat will slow as the boatman lifts and drips his prop. Guess the design of the longtail is far more conducive to these waters that a regular outboard..

guess tails are most useful in very shallow water, but also very handy to lift out screw when passing through/over crap

 

if you look at where Mae Klong meets the sea, at low tide,

you will see tailed boats running in pure mud, doing excellent speed

 

these tailed boats do not maneuver very well, the turning radius is huge when driving

 

at slow speed or when not making headway you lift half the screw out of water

and increase to fairly high rpm and the boat is turning on a dime without making noticeable headway

 

 

[melvinmelvin]

 

if you can get hold of yesterday's Bangkok Post you will find a full page article on the canals,

mostly Saen Saeb but also lower PhetKaseem is mentioned.

 

[Nyezhov]

21 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

 

if you can get hold of yesterday's Bangkok Post you will find a full page article on the canals,

mostly Saen Saeb but also lower PhetKaseem is mentioned.

 

Yes great article, I may try to ride the Phet Kasem line later today just to see it. It only runs rush our on weekdays....

 

[melvinmelvin]

28 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

guess tails are most useful in very shallow water, but also very handy to lift out screw when passing through/over crap

 

if you look at where Mae Klong meets the sea, at low tide,

you will see tailed boats running in pure mud, doing excellent speed

 

these tailed boats do not maneuver very well, the turning radius is huge when driving

 

at slow speed or when not making headway you lift half the screw out of water

and increase to fairly high rpm and the boat is turning on a dime without making noticeable headway

 

 

 

and to add, the tail with its fin under the shaft (the fin is called haeng bpla- fish tail)

this is excellent for using as a paddle to turn the boat without engine running

or when crap prevents you from using the prop

 

also,

heaps of hyacinth can easily cling to the tail/prop area,

lifting screw out of the water while revving hard would normally result in the hyacinth being thrown away,

centri petal forces

 

[melvinmelvin]

 

forgot to mention yesterday:

 

Tha Naam Bang Yai (in Klong Oom/Bangkok Noi) has a bunch of taxi boats.

All these boats are soong dton lek boats, tailed boats with taxi meter engines running on gas - no gear.

I have gone to Maha Chai with that kind of boat, feasible.

The taxi boat guys there are very decent guys.

 

The win (queue master) is named Tii, pronounced as Tea in Afternoon Tea, long vowel.

 

How to get there, take purple line to Sam Yeak Bang Yai, then a local taxi meter.

 

[melvinmelvin]

 

Now, before you start negotiating for long haul exploring you need to get your terminology right.

What I say now applies to inland waterways and BKK very large metropolitan area, including Bang Kapong and the two rivers

to the west.

 

Farang tend to say longtail boat for any boat with a long tail, Thais do not.

Doing this causes confusion. I will post pics later.

 

Ruua Haeng Yao, long tail boat is exclusively those large tourist boats with fixed canopy that shuffles

tourists around in ThonBuri, snake farm, orchard farm, croc farm and the like and up to and down from Koh Kred.

These boats are OK for going to MahaChai but they are big, 16-17 meters long with tall bow, low bridges

may represent challenge.

The tail is called tail (haeng) not long tail.

It is the boat type that is long tail boat.

usually mazda gear and Isuzu 4 cyl diesel

 

other boats with long tails are NOT called long tail boats

 

then you have speedboat small and speedboat big, not suitable for maha chai

 

at Pibul 30 or Tha Naam Non you have 3 types of boats, longtails

and soong dton lek (2 section small) and katoey (yes, lady boy)

both types are fast moving planing boats with lengthy tails, haeng (dont say haeng yao)

the katoeys are more narrow than the soong dtons and less stable

mostly older taxi meter engines 4-cyl toyota pre vvt running on gas

katoey not suitable for farang and maha chai

 

tha naam bang yai

soong dton lek only, ok for maha chai

 

Tha Naam Pak Kred and Koh Kred ++

Soong dton lek and soong dton yai

cant remember seeing any katoeys and cant remember seeing any longtail raap jan

there are longtails plying fixed routes like buses but no raap jan

soong dton yai would be the ideal boat for long haul explore,

most have a 4 cylinder Isuzu diesel and Mazda gear

about 9 meters long - sturdy boats

the drivers up there are kinda weird me thinks - could be difficult to clinch an OK deal with them,

they get dollar signs in eyes too easily

However, there is one chap, Mr Faa that operates a soong dton yai from PakKred I find

OK, muslim guy, has brains -might be a possibility

 

now further on - some pics