Chao Phraya Express Boat - Boats

Boats

Chao Phraya Express boats operates mainly two types of boats; all of them are built mainly out of wood.

• Single-screw boat: They are able to hold around 90-120 passengers at a time and are around 26-32m long, depending on the amount of wood used, and about 2.7m wide. The area on the back of the boat (floor painted yellow) is normally restricted to embarking and disembarking passengers, but some people like to stand there when the boat is highly crowded. There are two 2-step stairs on each side of the boat connecting the yellow pad on the back to the passenger area inside the boat, while in between those stairs is a non-functioning on-board toilet. The engine room, in the appearance of a large wooden box, is located inboard in the center line of the boat in front of the seating area. There are two rows of seats on the left and another two on the right and an aisle passing in the middle. On the later-built boats, the roof from over the engine room until the middle section of the boat is raised for extra headroom because most standing passengers on crowded boats are standing there. This design has been applied to all other boats that are being built in the company's shipyards in Bangkok and Ayutthaya. These type of boats operate on all non flagged, orange flagged and green-yellow flagged boats, but also off-peak direction trips of yellow flagged boats. The fleet has about 43 boats of this type.
• Twin-screw boat: This type of boat holds around 120 to 180 passengers. Unlike the single-screw boat, the boat driver sits in a small pod above the passenger deck, similar to a cockpit on board a Boeing 747 airliner, giving view for passenger in the front-most row and public access to the boat's front deck for passengers who desire to watch the view from the boat's front without any obstruction (except for the Thai national flag). It is about 30-40 meters long and about 5-7 meters wide. Unlike a single-screw boat, its seating area stretches over the entire boat, while most seating is in front of engines. The engine rooms are placed lower than those in single-screw boats, and some passengers prefer to sit on them when it is crowded. There are 8 seats behind each engine. There are two aisles in the seating area in front of the engines and 3 aisles behind the engines. There are two toilets, one on the port and another one on the starboard, located in front of the engines. This type of boat serves as yellow flagged express boat in peak hours, and serves as tourist boats in off-peak hours. The fleet has about 14 boats of this type.

All seats on board all boats have individual life jackets and there are lifebuoys around the boat that can be used in case of an emergency.