BillR

what type of product did you order? You could check the customs house next to immigration, but usually if its there they will send you a letter.

no.

Fatty gives you a lot of food for cheap, but the quality is pretty poor

check out the western food section, there are plenty of people who have used it, no mention of any problems so far.

and if anyone mentions sizzler in this thread I may slit my wrists

Steak Rawai good? I lol'd. crap thai beef

The only hairdressing business that I know of that makes money in Phuket is Tonie & Guy. They have a shop in central. If I was you I would not bother setting up any business here on Phuket. I have learned my lesson three times over.

So your a poor business person, not everyone can cut it. I am 3 for 3 in the businesses I started in Phuket and none of them are bars or salons:)

Good idea Bill but OP's gf will have to have the sell mentality which most people do not have.

Or the "my policeman brother will mess with your business if you do not buy my beauty supplies" mentality

and to answer the original question "how is business in Phuket" I posted a business for sale about a year ago for a thai friend that was turning 20k baht monthly profit and my phone would not stop ringing from farang and it was sold the same day, so that would indicate to me that if its making ANY profit you are doing very well in Phuket.

If she really is into the beauty business, why not suggest that she buys wholesale beauty supplies from Bangkok and sell them to the salons. If she is outgoing and can dress and act the part (look hi so) she will have no problem persuading salon owners to buy her supplies. This is another important business point in Thailand, if someone who seems important is selling or demanding something the immediate impulse is to win their favor by buying. Get her an official looking name tag, business cards, and nice business suits etc. You may think i'm kidding but I am being serious.

Buy a book and learn wordpress, it is really easy and free and many popular websites use it and there are a ton of free templates already.

Here are some wordpress powered sites http://welovewp.com/ and you will never have to learn a single snippet of code.

Listen, Don't do it. End of story. There are so many farang muppets in Phuket already invested in stupid over done businesses just to keep their TGF busy while there away. Hardly any of them are successful, and guess who ends paying the rent because these girls now have some sort of delusional fantasy of being the big boss and a huge loss of face if they shut down.

These "hair salons" are usually just a dumb excuse to sit on your ass all day chit chatting with your friends while every once in a while someone actually pays 300B for a haircut, which she'll have to split with the stylist. Do the math.

I was at the bank the other day, and two big fat guys with no shirt on and santa claus hats were actually inside making some transaction. I could not resist so I snapped a photo of it and posted on one of the fail websites and it was accepted. Those guys are now famous.

saving a few baht usually trumps my moral principles too

For the acrylic display holders etc, B2c or whatever the bookstore name is in central has all that stuff. The display sign, there are many, you might consider http://kazarmedia.com/ which has a shop in the main tesco I believe.

Me and a friend were jokingly having a conversation about adopting a zero tolerance for the usual BS you have to put up with here in regards to businesses and services on the island. Poor service, people treating their business like some sort of half-ass hobby etc. Of course, within days of this conversation I had the opportunity to implement this policy with a farang supplier who "forgot" to prepare my order, I just walked out without saying anything, found a new supplier, felt good.

The point is, tourists should do the same and that will cause change. i read the article about the thais being upset with the Russian tour operators, partly because they told people to avoid the tuk-tuks and other services, which they should. They are upset about the truth. Sooner or later they will wake up.

ah ok, Ive just seen it mentioned (I thought) that you could have problem if the balance dropped below 800k

I always thought the 800k baht was NOT for annual living expenses, rather a security in case something bad happens, such as a hospital stay.

I enjoy the 5 mile walk to the international departure gates

yes it is http://www.google.co.th/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=cocoa+powder+phuket&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Who are these amazing business people?

yes of course, any of the local mom and pop shops will buy your car the same day, you will just get a crap price, like 20% below market value. Try a classified, i sold my truck same day with one and got a fair price.

If you're talking engine and body work, Manit Center Max near Super Cheap, stereo, some body work Chai auto sound on bypass road.

Luckily us Americans know how silly and disgusting it looks to be walking around like that Good for a laugh though.

the novotel is nice and you can walk to the airport

Yes do not stop unless the guy is really drunk and happens to have a nice cell phone and their wallet halfway out of their pants