This is the problem with Thailand. The government is 100% "reactionary" meaning they simply react to things. They don't plan or study impacts. At first blush the competition with hotels may seem devastating, however, there is every incentive for hotels to offer packages to vacationers and compete fairly and reasonably. Additional legislation could be imposed which doesn't devastate investments in their country. Currently Thai policies simply devastate any goodwill extended to their country and so if they want a repressive police state I'm sure they will be successful. But their people will of course be miserable. 

 

However the sceam these days is just attacking any profit center the resort business has in Thailand: tourists on motorscooters now expanded to license requirements and penalties; short term rentals now require license; bars must be regulated and closed at 1:00 PM sharp and of course, it is illegal to own land in Thailand to begin with...

 

The government is devastating their tourist industry and the livelihood of millions of Thais. This is not good government this is a government which has no idea of the economic impact it's policies have, and I question whether in fact the leaders are intelligent enough to create "customer friendly" policies in the first place. Maybe they want a repressive society kind of like other backwards places...instead of capitalizing on their strengths. 

Thought I recognised it - I've actually stayed here.  Friend of a friend used to work there, so it didn't actually cost us anything.

Absolutely beautiful villa though.  We had the 6 villa (sleeps 12) which had its own gym, cinema, pool table etc.

Many people who stay here are famous people (think top boxers + DJ's) who apparently often don't actually pay for the villas themselves.

If I was having a special occasion, such as a wedding, this would be a dream destination, albeit expensive.