Agree with about all you said here - particularly the relatively slow pace of development. But the last time I was there - ~ 5 years ago - the traffic had increased markedly, Wing 5 had become a pain to enter and the hill there had been closed, the interesting market at the border with Myanmar had been ruined, the public transport vans that once conveniently come into town were relegated to the outskirts, graffiti had started, Khlong Won had several new but apparently empty hotels, 'Golden Beach' was being developed ...
Oh, there's no "surf" within a 100 miles of PKK. That hasn't changed in 20 years.
surf
Merriam Webster
noun
: the swell of the sea that breaks upon the shore
: the foam, splash, and sound of breaking waves