Phuket: "State sponsored extortion" forces prices for tourists up, claims top businessman

[Psimbo]

10 hours ago, Razek said:

Phuket ..dirty and expensive. Ruined by someone sitting somewhere 

. Never again.

Post  # 3 for the first 'Phuket is sh1t' post- were you busy and missed out on the top slot?

 

For anyone in the know the local 'scion' is part of the problem- he's nothing but a gangster (IMHO Mods in case this honest comment breaches site rules), as was his father who was awaiting prosecution when he conveniently slipped on the floor at home. Anyone want to make a guess as to who will be the next Mayor of Patong when the current incumbent's time is up?

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

no who? ????

Post #62 by psimbo answers it nicely.

[chrisandsu]

Thailand has become boring . 15 years ago it used to be cool to travel to Thailand you would tell all your friends how exotic and cool it was . Now it’s a bit like telling your friends you have been to Malaga . My sister in law and her husband have just gone travelling to Georgia they are Thai and can’t believe how beautiful and cheap it is there ! They are shocked at how expensive Thailand has become .

[Pdavies99]

They are learning from Pattaya!!

[Chasstar325]

Phuket has become lawless , basically a harbor for criminals.

The expats who live there by in large are low lifes. The police and courts are crooked.

Developers like Sawit Ketroj of The now defunct Emerald Developers are able to walk the streets freely in plain sight after stealing hundreds of foreigners money estimated in the millions of US dollars.

Fatalities on the streets and water have even scared away the Chinese.

So is the strong baht playing a role, yes, but corruption, crime and lack of safety are now what Thailand is known for.

 I feel bad for the simple Thai people who are innocent victims of the failing economy, but it will only get much worse.

 

 

[maddox41]

Thailand not so cheap no more. But as the government won't devalue the baht and many  OS currencies on the low side many other countries offer more bang for your buck!!! But with Thai thinking when they are on there arse and the expat and tourist have long gone they will blame someone else for there ignorance. Same same Thai don't know what the meaning of playing the long game in Bussiness 

[taxin]

Haha, Prab blaming others for the greed problem in Phuket which his father started, comical !

[tlandtday]

1 hour ago, Chasstar325 said:

Phuket has become lawless , basically a harbor for criminals.

The expats who live there by in large are low lifes. The police and courts are crooked.

Developers like Sawit Ketroj of The now defunct Emerald Developers are able to walk the streets freely in plain sight after stealing hundreds of foreigners money estimated in the millions of US dollars.

Fatalities on the streets and water have even scared away the Chinese.

So is the strong baht playing a role, yes, but corruption, crime and lack of safety are now what Thailand is known for.

 I feel bad for the simple Thai people who are innocent victims of the failing economy, but it will only get much worse.

 

 

Sounds like pattaya lol

[sydneyjed]

13 hours ago, GalaxyMan said:

I have Thai friends here in Samui who closed their restaurant after 20+ years because they said that they just couldn't afford all of the taxes that the government kept coming up with. Great people and I really miss their food.

 

As an aside, Samui is like a graveyard right now. Lots of restaurants, including some famous ones, for sale in Chaweng now. Places in Fisherman's Village are canceling their live music because there's no business. Fisherman's Village was always crazy busy year round.

The problem also with Samui is the extortionate air fares for direct flights in and out of Bangkok..The billionaire who owns and built the airport has held an iron fist rule on which airlines can and cannot fly  in there using 'his' airport..at 'his' price.The complete over development of Chaweng has seen it go from an idyllic tourist destination with stunning beach bars to a sterile shithole of Starbucks and overpriced yuppy bars(eg The Arc Bar now)that has taken their place!As I stated previously the Golden Goose has now well and truly flown and the ever increasing strong THB is now the final nail in the coffin!

[chrisandsu]

32 minutes ago, sydneyjed said:

The problem also with Samui is the extortionate air fares for direct flights in and out of Bangkok..The billionaire who owns and built the airport has held an iron fist rule on which airlines can and cannot fly  in there using 'his' airport..at 'his' price.The complete over development of Chaweng has seen it go from an idyllic tourist destination with stunning beach bars to a sterile shithole of Starbucks and overpriced yuppy bars(eg The Arc Bar now)that has taken their place!As I stated previously the Golden Goose has now well and truly flown and the ever increasing strong THB is now the final nail in the coffin!

I have been coming to Thailand since i was 23 I’m 40 now and I won’t be back again . Maybe it’s me that’s changed but the last 5 years of coming to Thailand has really been a drag ! My wife will be back with my son next year as I feel

its important he knows his Thai family and I’ll be going somewhere else , somewhere new .  

[Benmart]

21 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

With less tourists the prices have to increase. Its logic!

What logic? Supply and demand or demand and supply?

[Benmart]

17 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

I guess he just isn't getting his snout in trough as much as the old days when it used to be their own family fiefdom.

Please elaborate.

[ChipButty]

Will it ever recover I ask myself?

[Old Croc]

11 hours ago, Alexandra818 said:

Having lived in Thailand for 6 years and visiting for 15 years, I can say that I'm leaving for good.  Thai gov't officials are short-sighted, greedy, corrupt with zero ability for urban planning.  Phuket a perfect example of a "resort" town where the tourists must walk in the street.  What were charms 10+ years ago have progressed into now annoyances due to lack of an ability to invest and develop an area with a vision.  Government officials are just a corrupted mafia.  Zero ability to lead a community, just extort from it. 

All that knowledge and experience and you still aren't aware that Phuket is a Province, not a town. (Unless you were referring to the capital - Phuket City, which is hardly known as a "resort")

Perhaps, like many other astute posters here, you confuse the town of Patong with the Province in which it's situated. Perfectly understandable, they both start with the letter P. 

[chrisandsu]

4 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

All that knowledge and experience and you still aren't aware that Phuket is a Province, not a town. (Unless you were referring to the capital - Phuket City, which is hardly known as a "resort")

Perhaps, like many other astute posters here, you confuse the town of Patong with the Province in which it's situated. Perfectly understandable, they both start with the letter P. 

You win a gold star for being the most pedantic poster on Thai Visa . 3 cheerrrrrrs 

[Henryford]

I would never go to Phuket again. Just a bunch of crooks.

[Henryford]

1 hour ago, sydneyjed said:

The problem also with Samui is the extortionate air fares for direct flights in and out of Bangkok..The billionaire who owns and built the airport has held an iron fist rule on which airlines can and cannot fly  in there using 'his' airport..at 'his' price.The complete over development of Chaweng has seen it go from an idyllic tourist destination with stunning beach bars to a sterile shithole of Starbucks and overpriced yuppy bars(eg The Arc Bar now)that has taken their place!As I stated previously the Golden Goose has now well and truly flown and the ever increasing strong THB is now the final nail in the coffin!

I am surprised he was allowed to get away with this. I am going to Samui next week and flying to Surat Thani for 10% of the fare to fly into the island. Probably the last time i will go as it's a PITA to get to the island from there. No wonder the island is dying. Thailand is expensive enough now without rip offs like this.

[cheapcanuck]

18 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Sorry, There just ain´t any other options available.

Cambodia or Vietnam are upping their tourist game.

[timewilltell]

17 hours ago, Phuketboy said:

haha That is the problem.  Stupid people with stupid logic like you.  Would be better to decrease the prices so more tourists come.  More tourists mean more money.  Increasing the prices only makes tourists go to other places that are cheaper like Cambodia and Vietnam.  You my friend are a fool.

I think you misunderstood the joke. The comment was a clear comment on the mentality of Thais in the past and likely time immemorial

[timewilltell]

33 minutes ago, Henryford said:

I would never go to Phuket again. Just a bunch of crooks.

I quite agree. Full of crooks, corruption and scams of every nature against foreigners and don’t even start to think about the process of justice on the island should you ever need it - even more inundated..

[timewilltell]

39 minutes ago, chrisandsu said:

You win a gold star for being the most pedantic poster on Thai Visa . 3 cheerrrrrrs 

Phuket and Paton suffer from broadly the same set of problems - it is the mentality of the people who populate the place.

[Olmate]

18 minutes ago, timewilltell said:

I quite agree. Full of crooks, corruption and scams of every nature against foreigners and don’t even start to think about the process of justice on the island should you ever need it - even more inundated..

Is inundated an attempt at a joke? Poor sole!

[GalaxyMan]

2 hours ago, sydneyjed said:

The problem also with Samui is the extortionate air fares for direct flights in and out of Bangkok..The billionaire who owns and built the airport has held an iron fist rule on which airlines can and cannot fly  in there using 'his' airport..at 'his' price.The complete over development of Chaweng has seen it go from an idyllic tourist destination with stunning beach bars to a sterile shithole of Starbucks and overpriced yuppy bars(eg The Arc Bar now)that has taken their place!As I stated previously the Golden Goose has now well and truly flown and the ever increasing strong THB is now the final nail in the coffin!

The billionaire is Bangkok Air, who agreed with the government to build and run a new airport as long as they got a monopoly. They charge approximately 4x as much per kilometer air mile for service to and from Samui than any other flights in SE Asia. No direct international flights except from Singapore and KL and the connections suck. Nobody wants to bother with the hassle and additional expense of getting here, so Phuket gets most of the business. Stupid. Beautiful, well-run airport, though. One of my favorites.

[Oziex1]

18 hours ago, zaZa9 said:

Wasn't he facing a number of charges when the military came in ? And what ever happened to the Mayor of Karon who definitely was charged around the same time ?

Not sure, but one of my frustrations is the lack of follow up stories on all sorts of issues.

 

[Okis]

16 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

Yup !

Been seeing this Thai Logic in the big Supermarkets lately with huge hikes in prices on many things.

Those happened mainly because of the nationwide two timed tax raise of gasoline in just a months duration.  More expensive gasoline makes everything else more expensive because of the transports. 

[Okis]

2 hours ago, Old Croc said:

All that knowledge and experience and you still aren't aware that Phuket is a Province, not a town. (Unless you were referring to the capital - Phuket City, which is hardly known as a "resort")

Perhaps, like many other astute posters here, you confuse the town of Patong with the Province in which it's situated. Perfectly understandable, they both start with the letter P. 

Well Phuket Town has turned into crap too. Both for the tourists and for the local business since it's so empty on tourists compared to 3+ years ago. Even the Chinese was low in numbers last year. 

I lived there for a long time but like many others i moved out my stuff this sunday and now moving south to a place where the locals are still genuine and 99% of the tourism is domestic. 

 

My wife who been working here for 2 years is so tired of the locals and the prices aswell. Not to mention tired about Phukets fake nationalpark where she had to experience first hand the corruption and the selling out of protected nature. 

[Jiggo]

3 hours ago, cheapcanuck said:

Cambodia or Vietnam are upping their tourist game.

Cambodia upping their tourist game LOL, ever been to Sanookville.  

[madmen]

4 hours ago, cheapcanuck said:

Cambodia or Vietnam are upping their tourist game.

really, in what way?

[Rimmer]

Baiting post and reply have been removed

[Moo 2]

Let's not forget the Baht, you get peanuts and bananas when you change your money for baht,

don't believe that tourists keep coming on mass because someone has to explain why

Thai Airways is in the red up to its eye balls!