mattias33

Just to make clear. There will be a selection of Thai dishes for your teelaks to enjoy as well as the farang feast on offer. It starts at 3pm and will be availale till 10pm. I would imagine by then I will be tucked up in bed sleeping off the calories

Thx for the info.

So, i also probably (if not provoced) will not post anymore in this thread now, if you have further wonderings i think you can scroll back in the thread. All of it been said by now.

Good ! That's a wise decision.

Thank you; it saves me, being the OP, to ask the Mods to close this thread because of your behaviour.

LaoPo

Thats the mot redicoulus post i´ve ever seen on thaivisa. Get a grip laopao.

"Jays putting on a Xmas buffet with Turkey and stuffing, baked ham, roast and mashed pot's , seasonal veg ( Hes even got sprouts ) macaroni cheese and a selection of Thai dishes for your Teelak."

hes got sprouts already - keep clear !

Who, what?

I saw that post. But i didnt see anything about thaidishes on their chritsmas menu sign in the restaurant. Are they doing thaidishes aswell? Did the owner say so, but not yet put it on the sign?

Would like to know. That way my wife could join.....

Yep 25th but now from 3pm due to demand. The guy that owns it is indeed an American but don't let that put you off. Should be a good day and at least this year I wont end up with sand everywhere

No, that wont put me off at all, americans are good with cooking all you can eat buffés!

Tryied the half rack of spare ribs today and have nothing bad to say about it. All good. Boiled before the bbq so the meat falls of easy. Good bbq-sauce!

I will try to make it the 25th. But i read the menu and it dosent say anything about the "teenak-food" you promised? Wil they put up some thaidishes aswell as the turkey,maccaroni and baked ham?

That would be the missing factor i need to get her to join!

Have you ever considered this scenario.Such as the over supply of hotel rooms as HD has mentioned,the bars & restaurants popping up at every corner trying to get a slice of the pie,the spread of accomodation.No lomger is Chaweng , Lamai ,Bophut & Maenam the sole centres of hotels.They are spread far & between all over the island.

Yes tourism to Thailand in general will be affected, due to world economic crisis & Thailand's own internal problems.But if you listen to what HD is saying, about talking to some rather large tourism operators,they do anticipate such problems,but they also mention new emerding markets from packaged holidays to high end tourism.

Do I feel sorry for hotels & bars closing? No. I feel sorry for the staff, but not the operators that want to get on the gravy train without any forethought,proper market research or contingencie plans.

Samui in general is always quiet in November,low season.Check with any established business owner on the island.

You might find the odd hotel that has high occupancy, but in general,they are packaged tours thrust upon first time tourists & organised by overseas travel agents that have no knowledge,or wish not to disclose to their clients that their trip is cheap because it's rainy season.I have met a few of them last month & let me tell you they were not a happy bunch.

That is the last I will post on this subject,it does not warrant the 20+ pages,it is starting to sound like a troll to me.

I agree Roo with what you say and I think this thread has run for long enough with nothing new mattias seems to have his own agenda here.

I think we can safley disreguard alot of posts from someone who thinks high season on Samui starts in November he is obviously so well informed. I just wonder how long Mattias has actually been here?

1: Somebody force you to read it? .

2: Off and on since 2003. Lived here permanently for about 2,5 years. With a 4 month Europe-visit this summer.

About highseason in November, i said that when i managed a property in Chaweng 2 years ago, we started being fully booked in mid november. I know it´s not the highseason for hotels in general but i used it as a valuemeter. They are still empty this year and it´s 18th december now. I know there is resorts all over the island, but chaweng is a valuemeter. When chaweng is empty maenam and lamai is dead.

No-one forced me to read it but I could no longer ignore you spouting total <deleted>. So now you are backtracking you did not mean high season but in your opinion November used to be busier and you have gained this insight because you have lived here on and off since the good old days of 2003 probably more off than on.

Why don't you take a walk down Chaweng Beach Road this afternoon as I have invited you to do and open your eyes I'm afraid it is starting to get busy and more tourists will be arriving as they do every year to enjoy a holiday over Christmas and New Year.

Maybe in one week you can start a new thread complaining about the busy roads, queues at Tesco and no-where to park.

Please forgive me for spitting out total bullox. Chaweng is very busy. And the big queues at tesco is tourists. I´m going to chaweng now, i´m prepared that it´s very busy and ready for the big crowds.

Glad you straighten out all the bullox with the real information.

Busy town, here i come.

I did not say it was very busy what I said was it is starting to get busy and it will get alot busier over the next week which is normal for this time of year.

You obviously have some issues with Samui one wonders why you bother to stay I for one whilst I realise improvements are needed am very happy here and I have many friends both Thai and Farang who share that view.

Look, it´s easier that you read the thread than ask things over and over that i already explained. I am also very happy here, i couldnt care less about samui tourists. However, there is alot of tourism buisness not only in samui, also among our members here on this forum. I´m just shocked how people can invest their money in tourism industrie, and then sit back at times like this and pretend everything is good. Btw, i did take that drive troughout chaweng today, and i still dont agree with your oppinion at all. My point troughout this whole thread has been to see if tourist related buisness owners woke up and saw whats going on, and if you have a "emergensy package" goin to bring this years shrinking number of tourists from for instans Europe to samui, instead of bali, phuket, goa and other holiday destinations. Apperently, you are just happy they way it is, and im am to. But i expect alot of tourist related buisness to go bankrupt this year thats for sure, and the people that sit here and say they are invested in this and work with it and numbers are good, are either lying their ass off or just have no real look in the books.

So, i also probably (if not provoced) will not post anymore in this thread now, if you have further wonderings i think you can scroll back in the thread. All of it been said by now.

Have you ever considered this scenario.Such as the over supply of hotel rooms as HD has mentioned,the bars & restaurants popping up at every corner trying to get a slice of the pie,the spread of accomodation.No lomger is Chaweng , Lamai ,Bophut & Maenam the sole centres of hotels.They are spread far & between all over the island.

Yes tourism to Thailand in general will be affected, due to world economic crisis & Thailand's own internal problems.But if you listen to what HD is saying, about talking to some rather large tourism operators,they do anticipate such problems,but they also mention new emerding markets from packaged holidays to high end tourism.

Do I feel sorry for hotels & bars closing? No. I feel sorry for the staff, but not the operators that want to get on the gravy train without any forethought,proper market research or contingencie plans.

Samui in general is always quiet in November,low season.Check with any established business owner on the island.

You might find the odd hotel that has high occupancy, but in general,they are packaged tours thrust upon first time tourists & organised by overseas travel agents that have no knowledge,or wish not to disclose to their clients that their trip is cheap because it's rainy season.I have met a few of them last month & let me tell you they were not a happy bunch.

That is the last I will post on this subject,it does not warrant the 20+ pages,it is starting to sound like a troll to me.

I agree Roo with what you say and I think this thread has run for long enough with nothing new mattias seems to have his own agenda here.

I think we can safley disreguard alot of posts from someone who thinks high season on Samui starts in November he is obviously so well informed. I just wonder how long Mattias has actually been here?

1: Somebody force you to read it? .

2: Off and on since 2003. Lived here permanently for about 2,5 years. With a 4 month Europe-visit this summer.

About highseason in November, i said that when i managed a property in Chaweng 2 years ago, we started being fully booked in mid november. I know it´s not the highseason for hotels in general but i used it as a valuemeter. They are still empty this year and it´s 18th december now. I know there is resorts all over the island, but chaweng is a valuemeter. When chaweng is empty maenam and lamai is dead.

No-one forced me to read it but I could no longer ignore you spouting total <deleted>. So now you are backtracking you did not mean high season but in your opinion November used to be busier and you have gained this insight because you have lived here on and off since the good old days of 2003 probably more off than on.

Why don't you take a walk down Chaweng Beach Road this afternoon as I have invited you to do and open your eyes I'm afraid it is starting to get busy and more tourists will be arriving as they do every year to enjoy a holiday over Christmas and New Year.

Maybe in one week you can start a new thread complaining about the busy roads, queues at Tesco and no-where to park.

Please forgive me for spitting out total bullox. Chaweng is very busy. And the big queues at tesco is tourists. I´m going to chaweng now, i´m prepared that it´s very busy and ready for the big crowds.

Glad you straighten out all the bullox with the real information.

Busy town, here i come.

Have you ever considered this scenario.Such as the over supply of hotel rooms as HD has mentioned,the bars & restaurants popping up at every corner trying to get a slice of the pie,the spread of accomodation.No lomger is Chaweng , Lamai ,Bophut & Maenam the sole centres of hotels.They are spread far & between all over the island.

Yes tourism to Thailand in general will be affected, due to world economic crisis & Thailand's own internal problems.But if you listen to what HD is saying, about talking to some rather large tourism operators,they do anticipate such problems,but they also mention new emerding markets from packaged holidays to high end tourism.

Do I feel sorry for hotels & bars closing? No. I feel sorry for the staff, but not the operators that want to get on the gravy train without any forethought,proper market research or contingencie plans.

Samui in general is always quiet in November,low season.Check with any established business owner on the island.

You might find the odd hotel that has high occupancy, but in general,they are packaged tours thrust upon first time tourists & organised by overseas travel agents that have no knowledge,or wish not to disclose to their clients that their trip is cheap because it's rainy season.I have met a few of them last month & let me tell you they were not a happy bunch.

That is the last I will post on this subject,it does not warrant the 20+ pages,it is starting to sound like a troll to me.

I agree Roo with what you say and I think this thread has run for long enough with nothing new mattias seems to have his own agenda here.

I think we can safley disreguard alot of posts from someone who thinks high season on Samui starts in November he is obviously so well informed. I just wonder how long Mattias has actually been here?

1: Somebody force you to read it? .

2: Off and on since 2003. Lived here permanently for about 2,5 years. With a 4 month Europe-visit this summer.

About highseason in November, i said that when i managed a property in Chaweng 2 years ago, we started being fully booked in mid november. I know it´s not the highseason for hotels in general but i used it as a valuemeter. They are still empty this year and it´s 18th december now. I know there is resorts all over the island, but chaweng is a valuemeter. When chaweng is empty maenam and lamai is dead.

Have you ever considered this scenario.Such as the over supply of hotel rooms as HD has mentioned,the bars & restaurants popping up at every corner trying to get a slice of the pie,the spread of accomodation.No lomger is Chaweng , Lamai ,Bophut & Maenam the sole centres of hotels.They are spread far & between all over the island.

Yes tourism to Thailand in general will be affected, due to world economic crisis & Thailand's own internal problems.But if you listen to what HD is saying, about talking to some rather large tourism operators,they do anticipate such problems,but they also mention new emerding markets from packaged holidays to high end tourism.

Do I feel sorry for hotels & bars closing? No. I feel sorry for the staff, but not the operators that want to get on the gravy train without any forethought,proper market research or contingencie plans.

Samui in general is always quiet in November,low season.Check with any established business owner on the island.

You might find the odd hotel that has high occupancy, but in general,they are packaged tours thrust upon first time tourists & organised by overseas travel agents that have no knowledge,or wish not to disclose to their clients that their trip is cheap because it's rainy season.I have met a few of them last month & let me tell you they were not a happy bunch.

That is the last I will post on this subject,it does not warrant the 20+ pages,it is starting to sound like a troll to me.

It´s the 18th of december now in case you missed it roo.

I'll kick it off Im heading to my local Catcandoo in Bangrak. Jays putting on a Xmas buffet with Turkey and stuffing, baked ham, roast and mashed pot's , seasonal veg ( Hes even got sprouts ) macaroni cheese and a selection of Thai dishes for your Teelak. Eat as much as you like all for 299 baht. And with a jug of Chang for 99 baht it should be a good day. Any better deals ??????????????

MERRY XMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.

Enjoy your day wherever you end up

PS just signed up for the TV new years eve do, Any others heading up for it from here ?????????????

Stupid question from a scandinavian. This would be on the 25th right, Since it is an American that run the joint?

Sounds like something me and the wife could join on the early evening.

And my point, since you apparently missed it, was that November is not the high season, but this is December now, and as far as I am aware from Samui people I know involved in the business and from guests coming over from Samui, is that Samui is dead. Which is, of course, not usual.

Agreed on this at least.

As far as agression, wich you been accusing me for ever since i joined the forum, readers and writers oftenly dont have the same pictures in their heads. What i write and what you or anybody else read into it can in some cases be 2 different things. You very often tell me im agressive and thats your way of reading my words. Beleive me, im the nicest, calmest guy on earth with no agression in me what so ever. You might have to change the way you look at my postings, there´s a chans you are expecting agression already before you read it.

However, i will try to make it even less agressive in the future, note taken. .

Hd:

I didnt read your whole psot as usuall, you do so long posts. But i read the part that matters. I´m glad you finaly specified that the meeting was samui tourism attorisation (or assosiation?) in the end of october, patting eachother on the back thinking samui tourism is doing better than ever. Took 9 pages to get it out of you again, but i finaly got it.

So, there´s the problem right there. If they think samui tourism is good, right things might not be done. Phuket after the tsunami realised that "we are in deep trouble if we dont do everything in hour power to attract people". They lowered the prices, put up tsunamiwarning equipments and now they have more tourists than before the tsunami. Bali did the same after the bali bombs. They shapened up bigtime and now they have more tourists than before from what i understand.

In a time when tourism assosiation should be honest and realize that hotels on this island have let staff go. Restaurants have closed down. Barbuisness is down to 0 almost, instead they lean back happily and say "we are doing better than last year". Most lightly based n a google link or some other info. For sure it´s not based by asking barowners, hotel-managers, or going to the beach.

Thanks for the info highdiver. Now we all know.

Highdiver:

How about the meeting you went to?

Samui tourism attorisation told you tourism is going up. And something else was debated in that meeting aswell? Can you please fill us in. Or id you only pull a "hd" again?

You never went to any meeting right?

Well, my opinion, after being involved in a tourism related business on Koh Phangan for the past 20 years, is that the high season has never started in November on Koh Phangan. To add to that, I have always had to do my visa extension in Samui at that time and an informal survey of Koh Samui taxi drivers every year has told me that November is never busy. But, hey, that's just my opinion based on my experience

Sbk, you got me so blinded with the story of your friend in slavery, that i forgot to comment on this part of your post. ( And i want to make a note for persons that dont understand it: I AM COMMENTING ON SBK AS A POSTER, IT IS NOT DISCUSSION ABOUT MODERATION SO DONT SEND FORMAL WARNINGS, BANNS, OR DELETE THE POST!!!)

1: Good you gave us the irrelevant detail of koh pagnan tourism. Has absolutely nothing to do with Samui tourism wich this thread is about. But thanks for the information.

2: "Informal survey of koh samui taxi-drivers has told you that november is never busy". ??????????????????

You are joking right? So now we are gonna put inputs from the koh samui taxi-drivers in this thread? Like they wont say whatever a paying customer wants them to say. They are scum and im here to tell you that their opinions mean nothing. What so ever. Sorry, find a better source.

Glad you added the last sentence "it´s just my opinion based on my experience". You are entitled to have that opinion. Aswell as i am entitled to mine. And i can agree with you on this point though. We all have different experience and threfore different opinions. (thx for teching me how that word is spelled btw, hope you are right! :jerk: )

Mattias, in two weeks they will all, including spock, admit you are correct...or they will be lying...then two or three months after, many (hopefully spock!! ) will be out of business and leave Samui...and this messed up economy and politics will have continued to VERY much improve the island! ...I can NOT believe this is even a discussion and posters are quoting Thai government agencies (horribly unreliable not to mention completely untrustworthy)...when you all can just GO LOOK!! there is NO ONE HERE!!...(okay, ya, you want to say next week....we'll seeeeee).

Live long and prosper Spock

I beleive you thaireless. Good post!

Mattias, try a dictionary if you aren't sure how to spell a word

And I was talking about songthaew drivers who, just so you know, realize that I have been living on the islands for awhile now since I speak the local dialect so are more than willing to give me the beneift of their experience. But I am sure you are right and they must be lying to me based on the 50 baht I pay for the songthaew.

thaierless, the free flights are offered by Air Asia, not Thai Air.

If you are talking about songthaewdrivers and say "taxi-drivers" you might be the one who need a dictionary. .

You speak the local dialect of a samui songthaewdriver? Realy?

Are you pulling a "Hd" on us now sbk? .

I`m sure tourism is doing good now. Chaweng is completely empty, but hey, sbk spoke local dialect to a songthaewdriver on her visarun and it is infact prfectly normal situation here now. I trust this 100 %.

Go with your stories to the empty hotels and i´m sure they beleive you also. This is first hand information sbk. I dont speak local dialect of the songthaew drivers myself, sure i speak thai, but i´m sure they would say "with accent".

So it´s settle. Samui tourism is doing better than ever.

(this is a post on sbk as a poster not a moderator. It is not discussion about moderation and therefore within forumrules, jfyi).

Well, my opinion, after being involved in a tourism related business on Koh Phangan for the past 20 years, is that the high season has never started in November on Koh Phangan. To add to that, I have always had to do my visa extension in Samui at that time and an informal survey of Koh Samui taxi drivers every year has told me that November is never busy. But, hey, that's just my opinion based on my experience

Sbk, you got me so blinded with the story of your friend in slavery, that i forgot to comment on this part of your post. ( And i want to make a note for persons that dont understand it: I AM COMMENTING ON SBK AS A POSTER, IT IS NOT DISCUSSION ABOUT MODERATION SO DONT SEND FORMAL WARNINGS, BANNS, OR DELETE THE POST!!!)

1: Good you gave us the irrelevant detail of koh pagnan tourism. Has absolutely nothing to do with Samui tourism wich this thread is about. But thanks for the information.

2: "Informal survey of koh samui taxi-drivers has told you that november is never busy". ??????????????????

You are joking right? So now we are gonna put inputs from the koh samui taxi-drivers in this thread? Like they wont say whatever a paying customer wants them to say. They are scum and im here to tell you that their opinions mean nothing. What so ever. Sorry, find a better source.

Glad you added the last sentence "it´s just my opinion based on my experience". You are entitled to have that opinion. Aswell as i am entitled to mine. And i can agree with you on this point though. We all have different experience and threfore different opinions. (thx for teching me how that word is spelled btw, hope you are right! )

Highdiver:

You said something about a meeting were there was a debate about something? Could you tell us more details about this, it might be interessting news.

Was there a meeting with tourism attorisation where something was debated, wich you went too?

Pls, share the details.

Or are you only trying to look important here? .

Well, he could get out of the contract, but he'd forfeit the security deposit he paid to get the job.

My god! I hope they at least pay the guy VERY good when he is working. Are those methods even leagal around here? Pay a deposit on a job?

mattias posted.

I agree with the overdevelopment statement. But i have to ask you hd, why do you always compare prices in the west? People go halfway around the world, and pay expensive tickets, partly because its cheap in Thailand. Comparing prices to the west is irrelevant. If a family of 4 choose chiang mai or chumporn for a holiday destination, instead of Samui, they save a shitload of money. THATS the comparison. The prices in the west has nothing to do with it at all.

Ohh, and yeah. "planespotters" should come to samui. One of the few places you get so close to a starting yet. Watched one take off today aswell. Standing right next to the river and it felt like i could almost tuch the plane! Massive.

================================================================================

===============

from a tourist point of view samui is a great destination.

since most of the tourist arrive from other countries mainly west and specially western Europe.

When you need to relate or market samui to to tourists you need to examine.....how they see the holiday in Samui.

a tourist coming here has a choice of taking his vacation in Europe or in any other holiday destination. samui is cheaper even with flight costs and the "extras" cost even if you are "riped off" by local standards, a tourist who lives in western currency terms still finds Samui a bargain and they do make the calculations.

the tourists don't use the local infrastructure as the locals so they don't see may of the problems that posters who ,live here see. and if they see them. i think, they don't really care because they are on vacation and they want to enjoy not complain.

Highdiver, you try to think like a tourist, but i think it was a long time since you were one yourself. With all your respect. I really dont think any, even European tourist nowadays think of Samui as a cheap destination. Hence, groceries in tops or tesco in samui is twice the price from Bkk, and same price as my exp. country in Europe. A beer chang on the beach is 80 baht witch is a Swedich price. I hear what you say, dont get me wrong. But i just think they took it too far when it comes to pricing. Thinking like you do. "Its still cheap". Samui is not cheap anymore.

i agree with you i have not been a tourist in samui... but i own business in tourist sector and i am very interested in what tourists have to say. so i try to speak and find out from tourists what they think and how they feel.

as for beer the cost of beer in most European towns i visited a few months ago was a bout 4-6 euro depending on the size of the glass and the location. 5 euro is about 240 baht per beer.

4-6 euro / beer i can agree on in a bar nightime in downtown London. Or Stockholm for that matter. Oslo even more. In copenhagen or Amsterdam you can half that price. (And take in that price-comparission that in Europe a beer is a pint or half a litre, in thailand we are talking 33 cl bottles). But when i sit on the beachtable daytime in my town Malmö in Sweden, summertime, i can get served a cold beer for 1,50 Euro. I dont expect to pay as much at op bungalow but infact i have to. If i sit on the river in Bkk i can get a cold beer for 45 baht. Also in chumpon i got a beachbeer for 50 baht a couple on months ago. Before we turn this whole thread into beerpricing in the world (or did i already?) my point was more a remark to the "samui is cheap" comment. I have the deepest respect that you do speak to alot of tourists, and if that is the case, i´m pretty sure you must have heard my arguments before. Samui is offcourse as you say cheap compared to Europe still, but alot of tourists are getting their eyes open that samui is infact alot more expensive than other destinations in Thailand. Some of them think it´s totaly worth it, because they have the money and love this island. Some of them dont. And they dont come back.

All i´m saying is that i think the greedyness bite the people in the tourist-industri in the neck sooner or later. To constantly raise the prices, little by little every year, try to see were the limits are. Taxis, hotels, restaurants, beers. "It´s still cheap for them". Yes, but in the end they can see how much last years holiday in Samui cost the family of 4 instead of the year before when they went to Chiang mai or hua hin.

Btw, just oppinions, not facts!

Whats he mater with you?

You have your oppinion and i have mine. I was the manager for a resort 2 years ago and our highseason started in the begining of november at that time. In chaweng. Now you say high season is starting januari 20? I beleive you, i just think it´s different from a few years ago, and i have honestly not seen chaweng this empty ever before. Difference in oppinins. Thats all.

Negative program. Or reality program. Depending on who you ask.

Oppinions, thats all it is.

Well, my opinion, after being involved in a tourism related business on Koh Phangan for the past 20 years, is that the high season has never started in November on Koh Phangan. To add to that, I have always had to do my visa extension in Samui at that time and an informal survey of Koh Samui taxi drivers every year has told me that November is never busy. But, hey, that's just my opinion based on my experience

As for tourism right now, well a close friend of ours drives a minivan for a service that provides minivans for the large hotels and all drivers are now working 15 days/ month (they work 15 days, they get paid for 15 days) because business is so slow. He is not allowed to go find another full time job since he signed a one year contract for this job. Very poor IMO.

Indeed.

Thats close to slavery. What happens if they cut him down to 5 hours/month..... .

Crazy contract.

mattias,

You're hard to follow. From some posters you want hard evidence and when this hard evidence is provided by other posters you basically brush it off the table.

I'm slightly baffled to say the least.

I truely hope you find an occupation very soon that prohibits you spending so much time on TV, spouting your mostly unbalanced and biased flood of words here.

If you post an oppinion you dont need to provide evidence. Some posters like to post "facts" and then i think evidence is required.

Well, i am not looking for a job currently so theirs no chans of that. I would say you yourself would have to get busy enough to stop reading my postings. Thats the only way.

Fair enought. No hard feelings, i didnt mean to be rude to you and i´m happy you brought the fact links to second your statements. However, if i walk out of my house and get an apple in my head tomorrow, im sure you can find a link that tell me it´s impossible that this happen. Thats the only point. Internetlinks are good. Reality seen is another truth but also good. The real truth is somewhere in between i guess?

Look, whatever we want to prove with a link it´s gonna be possible. Tourism down, or up. Either way we can prove it with a link. But take a ride down chaweng beachroad for the latest month and it shows something else. At least in my eyes. We are all coloured with what we want to beleive in a way. And what we seen before i guess.

Explanation good enough?

No, it's not good enough since you were rude, addressing me as a "linkprovider who is hard to believe"

I do NOT want to prove anything.

YOU are doubting the figures collected by the Immigration Bureau, Royal Thai Police who receive the border cards, whether INBOUND tourists arrive by air, land, sea or train which Bureau supply them to the Office of Tourism Development; next to that are the TAT statistics.

The numbers I supplied from the sources I explained earlier were from up to June 2008. Another statistic which was already available was for Suvarnabhumi Airport for October where it showed that a number of almost 100.000 foreign tourists was short of last year.

YOU are talking about November and December 2008 but you are telling now that the links are doubtful and the numbers not correct.

You are mixing apples with pears.

I talk facts unless the data are lied upon by the government sources, above. But I see no reason why they should because the data over all for Thailand are not very promising for 2008.

I would appreciate if you won't address me any longer as a "linkprovider who is hard to believe" because I do not deserve to be called like that

Contrary to your own posts I only post after research and studying the facts; you are just talking what you see on a limited part of Chaweng beach on a certain day or period of the year.

Now please stop attacking me and just correct me if I wrote something wrong or incorrect which is always possible because I am a human being, like everybody else on this forum.

LaoPo

Dont wieght to much in the choice of words. My English is what it is. Sorry if you felt personaly attached, L.p.

You are right, i dont provide facts. Only oppinion. I said so the whole time. And yes, i am talking about nov,dec 2008 and you are talking last summer so theres no reason for you to feel attacked in the first place.

I think walking chaweng beach on a sunny day is a good value-meter. Dont you?

Been spending the day on chaweng beach (op bungalow.). There where a few tourists there. The tables where empty but there where some sunbathers. My wife bought a bbq corn and the salesman said it was the first he sold in 4 days, for whatever that might be worth, he might be lying.

Im not sure i ever seen it this empty before. To be honest. Wheter or not tourism is good this year, lets not argue back and forward, we all have our oppinions. I just find some of the linkproviders hard to beleive. But if they are happy, why shouldnt i? After all, we got to choose whatever table we wanted, thats rare!

What is the matter with you? You keep on saying that again and again - for too long. Are you some kind of a negative program? I think, that there are many tourists here, considering the political situation, the financial crises and the low season, which usual has a break 1 week before Christmas until 1 week after New Year until the high season starts at about 20 Jan.

My office is on Chaweng, I am every day overthere - since many years! I have seen low seasons much more quiet than this year!

Whats he mater with you?

You have your oppinion and i have mine. I was the manager for a resort 2 years ago and our highseason started in the begining of november at that time. In chaweng. Now you say high season is starting januari 20? I beleive you, i just think it´s different from a few years ago, and i have honestly not seen chaweng this empty ever before. Difference in oppinins. Thats all.

Negative program. Or reality program. Depending on who you ask.

Oppinions, thats all it is.

1. Been spending the day on chaweng beach (op bungalow.). There where a few tourists there. The tables where empty but there where some sunbathers. My wife bought a bbq corn and the salesman said it was the first he sold in 4 days, for whatever that might be worth, he might be lying.

Im not sure i ever seen it this empty before. To be honest. Wheter or not tourism is good this year, lets not argue back and forward, we all have our oppinions.

2. I just find some of the linkproviders hard to beleive. But if they are happy, why shouldnt i? After all, we got to choose whatever table we wanted, thats rare!

1. There's nobody who doubts that there were only a few tourists at OP Bungalow on Chaweng (I know where it is) if you say so.

2. Only Koheesti and myself have provided links in the last 3 pages; so...I'm curious what you mean that we are "hard to believe" and "But, if they are happy...."

I find that kind of writing very odd (mildly spoken) since I have been supplying facts and it's not me who made those statistics; I just supplied them. It's not about being happy about declining tourism you know.

Please explain.

LaoPo

Fair enought. No hard feelings, i didnt mean to be rude to you and i´m happy you brought the fact links to second your statements. However, if i walk out of my house and get an apple in my head tomorrow, im sure you can find a link that tell me it´s impossible that this happen. Thats the only point. Internetlinks are good. Reality seen is another truth but also good. The real truth is somewhere in between i guess?

Look, whatever we want to prove with a link it´s gonna be possible. Tourism down, or up. Either way we can prove it with a link. But take a ride down chaweng beachroad for the latest month and it shows something else. At least in my eyes. We are all coloured with what we want to beleive in a way. And what we seen before i guess.

Explanation good enough?

mattias posted.

I agree with the overdevelopment statement. But i have to ask you hd, why do you always compare prices in the west? People go halfway around the world, and pay expensive tickets, partly because its cheap in Thailand. Comparing prices to the west is irrelevant. If a family of 4 choose chiang mai or chumporn for a holiday destination, instead of Samui, they save a shitload of money. THATS the comparison. The prices in the west has nothing to do with it at all.

Ohh, and yeah. "planespotters" should come to samui. One of the few places you get so close to a starting yet. Watched one take off today aswell. Standing right next to the river and it felt like i could almost tuch the plane! Massive.

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from a tourist point of view samui is a great destination.

since most of the tourist arrive from other countries mainly west and specially western Europe.

When you need to relate or market samui to to tourists you need to examine.....how they see the holiday in Samui.

a tourist coming here has a choice of taking his vacation in Europe or in any other holiday destination. samui is cheaper even with flight costs and the "extras" cost even if you are "riped off" by local standards, a tourist who lives in western currency terms still finds Samui a bargain and they do make the calculations.

the tourists don't use the local infrastructure as the locals so they don't see may of the problems that posters who ,live here see. and if they see them. i think, they don't really care because they are on vacation and they want to enjoy not complain.

Highdiver, you try to think like a tourist, but i think it was a long time since you were one yourself. With all your respect. I really dont think any, even European tourist nowadays think of Samui as a cheap destination. Hence, groceries in tops or tesco in samui is twice the price from Bkk, and same price as my exp. country in Europe. A beer chang on the beach is 80 baht witch is a Swedich price. I hear what you say, dont get me wrong. But i just think they took it too far when it comes to pricing. Thinking like you do. "Its still cheap". Samui is not cheap anymore.

Been spending the day on chaweng beach (op bungalow.). There where a few tourists there. The tables where empty but there where some sunbathers. My wife bought a bbq corn and the salesman said it was the first he sold in 4 days, for whatever that might be worth, he might be lying.

Im not sure i ever seen it this empty before. To be honest. Wheter or not tourism is good this year, lets not argue back and forward, we all have our oppinions. I just find some of the linkproviders hard to beleive. But if they are happy, why shouldnt i? After all, we got to choose whatever table we wanted, thats rare!