Hi Bruce, or anyone else who might have some comments?
I'm going to thailand in 3 or 4 weeks and was interested in buying a
(probably second hand) long tail boat. Has anyone had experience with
this? I've heard all different types of stories about how there is no
title on boats in thailand, that its likely to be a legal problem,
that you cant register it in thailand even if you do buy it (at least,
not in your own name) etc etc....

I'd be interested in hearing opinions from anyone who has had
experience with this.... From what I've read, these boats can be had
for under $1,000 second hand with motors. Is a license of some kind
required? are the boats generally registered? are they pretty
seaworthy?

I had considered either buying one and motoring up the river or around
the island for a month or two, probably modifying it a little to have
a canopy and bed with mosquito netting in one area. Another idea
(though probably unlikely) was to buy 2, and build a bridgedeck
joining them for a cheap cat. Have seen a couple for sale owned by
foreigners at ridiculous prices, also read the story about the
foreigner who got punched out just for owning a long tail boat.
apparently local operators thought he was stealing their business?

Any and all advice much appreciated!

Best Regards,
Shaun

On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:59:45 -0700 (PDT), imagineero
wrote:

Hi Bruce, or anyone else who might have some comments?
I'm going to thailand in 3 or 4 weeks and was interested in buying a
(probably second hand) long tail boat. Has anyone had experience with
this? I've heard all different types of stories about how there is no
title on boats in thailand, that its likely to be a legal problem,
that you cant register it in thailand even if you do buy it (at least,
not in your own name) etc etc....

I'd be interested in hearing opinions from anyone who has had
experience with this.... From what I've read, these boats can be had
for under $1,000 second hand with motors. Is a license of some kind
required? are the boats generally registered? are they pretty
seaworthy?

I had considered either buying one and motoring up the river or around
the island for a month or two, probably modifying it a little to have
a canopy and bed with mosquito netting in one area. Another idea
(though probably unlikely) was to buy 2, and build a bridgedeck
joining them for a cheap cat. Have seen a couple for sale owned by
foreigners at ridiculous prices, also read the story about the
foreigner who got punched out just for owning a long tail boat.
apparently local operators thought he was stealing their business?

Any and all advice much appreciated!

Best Regards,
Shaun


A lot of questions.

O.K., first of all there isn't such a thing as a "long tail boat".
There are various boats that have been fitted with a "long tail motor"
but the boats themselves vary considerably. A boat built to fish off
shore in S.W. Thailand is a different boat then a boat that is built
to carry passengers on the Chao Paya River.

Next point, long tail motors range from a single cylinder, 4 stroke,
3.5 H.P. air cooled engine to (a friend swears this is true) a small
block chevy V-8. A very common engine would be a single cylinder,
water cooled, diesel engine with a hand crank start.

Your ideas sound like a say 18 ft. wood fishing boat with a top.
Fairly common.

There isn't a "title" on boats in Thailand as such. There is a
registration, with the Harbor Master's Office, for boats above a
certain size but as far as I know not for smaller boats. At least I
don't think there is.

There is no legal reason that you can't own a boat in Thailand (I own
one). There might be a problem if it was necessary to register one as
it is doubtful that you will have some of the necessary paperwork
unless you are a resident here.

I rather doubt that you would get "punched out" for simply having a
boat. If you were to motor into a tourist spot and proceed to act as
though you were planning on carrying tourists I'm fairly sure one of
the other boat operators would say something but I doubt the first act
would be to hit you.

Just sitting here your figure of US$ 1,000 sounds cheap. That would be
about 34,000 baht which doesn't sound like a lot of money for a boat
and motor.

I'm sure that you can buy a used boat and motor but think about it for
a moment. Boats of this sort are work boats and are owned by someone
who uses them to make a living. Why would he want to sell it? It is
old and full of worm holes? The frigging motor won't start half the
time? This foolish foreigner came along and will give me enough to buy
a new boat and motor and a new gold chain for my sweety?

I'm in Bangkok at the moment and I really have no idea what a boat
would cost, or a motor. If you get to the point where you are serious
about the scheme let me know and I can get some sort of quotation for
you. I'll either be back in Phuket by that time or I can call someone.

One final thing. If you go putt-putting around the islands you
probably will be in areas where nobody speaks English. Generally you
will find the people friendly and willing to be helpful.... if you can
just talk to them.


Cheers,

Bruce in Bangkok
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Hi Bruce,
Thanks for your fast response! I was probably dreaming of picking up
a couple of 25~30 foot of the ocean type boats, the ones that seam a
bit beamier than the skinnier river types. In fantasy land, i would
have got them both as bare hulls for maybe $500 each second hand,
built a basic bridge deck to turn them into a cat, put a couple of the
small single cyllinder diesels on and been done for maybe $5k. If
they proved seaworthy enough and i could get away with it i had some
hopes of motoring them round the gulf and up the coast of vietnam to
halong bay.

Based on what you've said though, this doesnt sound very likely. More
realistically i might get a single boat of around 25 foot if i hunt
around a bit for maybe $1,500~$2,000? Would still love to grab a
bargain if i see one going though.... Please bear in mind im not
expecting to cross oceans or get any resale value on this boat once im
done with it (maybe a few months, at most). Any boat that will stay
afloat during these few months would keep me happy - and i'd be happy
to donate it to someone once i was done. I'm quite ready to adjust
the plans/destinations to suit the craft and will be bringing most of
my own safety gear with me.

There do seem to be some bargains still available in some parts of
asia... I had lived in korea for a few years where living seemed to
be getting more and more expensive and maybe close to japan nowadays,
but in vietnam I've managed to find a palce that sells brand new minsk
motorbikes for US$700. looks like i missed the end of the cheap plane
tickets, but sometime in the next couple of weeks im off to ride down
the coast before entering thailand. Maybe catch up for a beer when
I'm over? Will be in Bangkok for at least 2 months for dental work.

Best Regards,
Shaun

O.K., first of all there isn't such a thing as a "long tail boat".
There are various boats that have been fitted with a "long tail motor"
but the boats themselves vary considerably. A boat built to fish off
shore in S.W. Thailand is a different boat then a boat that is built
to carry passengers on the Chao Paya River.

Next point, long tail motors range from a single cylinder, 4 stroke,
3.5 H.P. air cooled engine to (a friend swears this is true) a small
block chevy V-8. A very common engine would be a single cylinder,
water cooled, diesel engine with a hand crank start.

Your ideas sound like a say 18 ft. wood fishing boat with a top.
Fairly common.

There isn't a "title" on boats in Thailand as such. There is a
registration, with the Harbor Master's Office, for boats above a
certain size but as far as I know not for smaller boats. At least I
don't think there is.

There is no legal reason that you can't own a boat in Thailand (I own
one). There might be a problem if it was necessary to register one as
it is doubtful that you will have some of the necessary paperwork
unless you are a resident here.

I rather doubt that you would get "punched out" for simply having a
boat. If you were to motor into a tourist spot and proceed to act as
though you were planning on carrying tourists I'm fairly sure one of
the other boat operators would say something but I doubt the first act
would be to hit you.

Just sitting here your figure of US$ 1,000 sounds cheap. That would be
about 34,000 baht which doesn't sound like a lot of money for a boat
and motor.

I'm sure that you can buy a used boat and motor but think about it for
a moment. Boats of this sort are work boats and are owned by someone
who uses them to make a living. Why would he want to sell it? It is
old and full of worm holes? The frigging motor won't start half the
time? This foolish foreigner came along and will give me enough to buy
a new boat and motor and a new gold chain for my sweety?

I'm in Bangkok at the moment and I really have no idea what a boat
would cost, or a motor. If you get to the point where you are serious
about the scheme let me know and I can get some sort of quotation for
you. I'll either be back in Phuket by that time or I can call someone.

One final thing. If you go putt-putting around the islands you
probably will be in areas where nobody speaks English. Generally you
will find the people friendly and willing to be helpful.... if you can
just talk to them.

Cheers,

Bruce in Bangkok
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:59:56 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

Hi Bruce,
Thanks for your fast response! I was probably dreaming of picking up
a couple of 25~30 foot of the ocean type boats, the ones that seam a
bit beamier than the skinnier river types. In fantasy land, i would
have got them both as bare hulls for maybe $500 each second hand,
built a basic bridge deck to turn them into a cat, put a couple of the
small single cyllinder diesels on and been done for maybe $5k. If
they proved seaworthy enough and i could get away with it i had some
hopes of motoring them round the gulf and up the coast of vietnam to
halong bay.

Based on what you've said though, this doesnt sound very likely. More
realistically i might get a single boat of around 25 foot if i hunt
around a bit for maybe $1,500~$2,000? Would still love to grab a
bargain if i see one going though.... Please bear in mind im not
expecting to cross oceans or get any resale value on this boat once im
done with it (maybe a few months, at most). Any boat that will stay
afloat during these few months would keep me happy - and i'd be happy
to donate it to someone once i was done. I'm quite ready to adjust
the plans/destinations to suit the craft and will be bringing most of
my own safety gear with me.

There do seem to be some bargains still available in some parts of
asia... I had lived in korea for a few years where living seemed to
be getting more and more expensive and maybe close to japan nowadays,
but in vietnam I've managed to find a palce that sells brand new minsk
motorbikes for US$700. looks like i missed the end of the cheap plane
tickets, but sometime in the next couple of weeks im off to ride down
the coast before entering thailand. Maybe catch up for a beer when
I'm over? Will be in Bangkok for at least 2 months for dental work.

Best Regards,
Shaun


What you are talking about is feasible. I don't have any idea of the
amount of money needed but the main problem that you would encounter
is language.

You are talking about dealing with people who are in the fishing
business, or other marine work, and it is unlikely that many of them
will speak English which means that you need an interpreter.

Of course it is possible to locate a good looking (or even an ugly)
Thai interpreter to talk for you but that has its own problems unless
you get an interpreter that grew up in a fishing village somewhere and
the better looking ones are in Bangkok because they "escaped" from the
fishing village and may not want to go back.

Finally, building a "bridge deck" is a bit more complex than just
nailing a couple of 2 X 4's across the two hulls. You probably know
this but I thought it might be mentioned in case you don't as I have
seen a couple of "bridge decks" that weren't quite as strong as they
needed to be.

You are also talking about taking a "Thai" boat into first Cambodian
and then Viet waters which probably means that you need some sort of
documentation on the boat and from what little I have heard about
taking foreign boats into these waters leads me to believe that you
are going to encounter problems. But I assume that you will do some
research here.

By the way, I met a fellow in Singapore who did essentially what you
are thinking about except that he bought a "Cornish Crabber" and
sailed it from Singapore to Pattaya, Thailand. the Crabber is an open
sail boat about 18 ft. long. This chap, and his wife, puddle jumped up
the coast stopping every night and going ashore to the market when
they needed supplies - took him 3 months to make the trip and he
commented later "it is nice to have done it but I don't believe I'd do
it again".

I'm in Bangkok at the moment but spend most of the time in Phuket. If
you are coming let me know and if I'm in town we can meet up.

At the moment I'm not sure when we will be back in Phuket (my wife
wants to go "up-country" for a visit) but if you like when we get back
I can do some research on this type of boat and motors and get some
costs for you. they would be "South Thailand" costs but should
approximate what costs would be in other locations.

Cheers,

Bruce in Bangkok
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)