Thailand floats electric boats

Thailand floats electric boats

BANGKOK (AFP): Bangkok, once called the Venice of the East, may have an answer to the less tranquil aspects of bristling boat traffic -- noise, smoke and oil.

Thailand's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment has floated the idea of electric boats, which it says would help clear up the capital's polluted canals and cut down on the clatter of outboard motors.

Minister Suwaj Liptapallop unveiled on Wednesday one such craft, which resembles the long-tail boats used widely for taxis and freight, but with one difference: a hefty battery pack attached the a nearly silent engine.

"This is just simple technology," said a ministry official yesterday. "And a battery on a single charge can go for 50 to 70 kilometers (30 to 45 miles)."

The 25 horse-power engine, developed at the ministry's research labs, can also attain speeds of 25 kilometers per hour, even loaded down with 20 passengers, the official said.