Phuket Poll: The cost of living in paradise

By The Phuket News

 

Tourists relax on Patong Beach. Photo TAT

 

PHUKET: The Phuket News has been asked to conduct a poll asking tourists and local residents about their opinions on the sustainability of tourism in Phuket for a school research paper.

 

Piramon Tisapramotkul, a student at Glenlyon Norfolk School in British Columbia, Canada, is writing an economic paper on the sustainability of tourism in Phuket.

 

The poll comprises two questions.

Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-poll-the-cost-of-living-in-paradise-72039.php#foY00iCt6TE7aGvG.99 

 

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2019-07-08

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1 hour ago, webfact said:

The poll comprises two questions

 1. How much is short time?

 2. How much is long time?

Paradise? I thought this was about Phuket.

What the authorities don't seem to understand is foreigners come to Phuket with the mindset of a cheap affordable holiday, that is, until they hit the ground and start spending their money and after a few days the money that should have lasted 4 or 5 days has gone in 2.  This hits the return tourists even more then the first time visitors as they know from their past trip(s) the cost of things and have budgeted accordingly.  This is when the penny drops and they realise how much more expensive it's become from their previous visit... next stop viet / camb!!! Goodbye Phuket.

Paradise?

Phuket ?

The only thing they have in common is they both start with P.

34 minutes ago, pjuk said:

Paradise?

Phuket ?

The only thing they have in common is they both start with P.

Usually in the pool or the sea.

 

1 hour ago, pattayadgw said:

What the authorities don't seem to understand is foreigners come to Phuket with the mindset of a cheap affordable holiday, that is, until they hit the ground and start spending their money and after a few days the money that should have lasted 4 or 5 days has gone in 2.  This hits the return tourists even more then the first time visitors as they know from their past trip(s) the cost of things and have budgeted accordingly.  This is when the penny drops and they realise how much more expensive it's become from their previous visit... next stop viet / camb!!! Goodbye Phuket.

I guess I wouldn't be the first to talk about the brainlessness of tourists.

To not use basic research about current costs of a destination when planning a holiday and expecting the costs to be the same as when visited years before is extremely naïve.

Have they not heard of inflation? Haven't they noticed costs have risen in their own home town? Do they not know that paradises, once discovered, also draws thousands of locals and scammers trying to share in the bounty, forcing prices up?

No paradise, once found, remains the same.

Yes, if a paradise has priced itself out of reach of many, the next stop is Viet, Cambodia or Pattaya.

I answer yes to both questions in the poll and, as I'm not invested in the industry, hope tourism here collapses returning some sanity to the Island.

The Australian dollar has tanked against the baht. 1500 AUD will bring about 30,500 baht. Thats small change in Phuket after taking gross overcharging into consideration.

Australians are throwing 30% of their savings down the drain when they travel to Thailand.

Could soon be 19 baht .

5-10 dollars for a small lousy leo or singha beer. No imported brands allowed of course.

Small beer in Patpong bars as high as 220 b -  mostly 120-150 b.

Paradise exists only for Thais in the tourist industry especially road transport mafia and prostitution.

How long would 30k last in Thailand if you don't know the local prices for anything? Maybe 5 days.

Australia traditionally one the main tourist arrivals in Phuket .I wonder for how much longer.

Paradise lost ?

 

1 hour ago, pjuk said:

Paradise?

Phuket ?

The only thing they have in common is they both start with P.

Pattaya???

8 minutes ago, Lucius verus said:

The Australian dollar has tanked against the baht. 1500 AUD will bring about 30,500 baht. Thats small change in Phuket after taking gross overcharging into consideration.

Australians are throwing 30% of their savings down the drain when they travel to Thailand.

Could soon be 19 baht .

5-10 dollars for a small lousy leo or singha beer. No imported brands allowed of course.

Small beer in Patpong bars as high as 220 b -  mostly 120-150 b.

Paradise exists only for Thais in the tourist industry especially road transport mafia and prostitution.

How long would 30k last in Thailand if you don't know the local prices for anything? Maybe 5 days.

Australia traditionally one the main tourist arrivals in Phuket .I wonder for how much longer.

Paradise lost ?

 

And Bali is booming with Australians

 

Not only booming with Australians also plenty of Europeans. Passing immigration after arrival 10 minutes

44 minutes ago, legend49 said:

And Bali is booming with Australians

 

So is Phuket at the moment. But they're not spending.

Blurry surveys! 

Obviously I jumped on and hit the button saying everything was fine and cheap and priced could still go up.

people... I’m trying to sell a house! ????

I went to Phuket a couple years ago to see the beautiful islands and beaches.  All I saw were wall to wall Chinese that somehow were not in the tourist brochure photos. 

Thailand is just like a casino. Once youre in there you lose track of  youre moneys value. Like the chips at a table . 100.00 is a single chip. In thailand 100.00 is just 3000 bht. If i were spending usd here it would not feel like casino chips.

Here its like 3000 bht feels like monopoly money. But back home a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks.

I just got back here from 4 months abroad and see the usd is now worth jack diddly again.

In malaysia,indonesia and australia  my usd is kickin some but still. Its definately lights out for me here in phuket.

I am out of here as soon as i can get a weather window. 

 

Research Method questionnaire ....closed ....  fussy stats fussy results

I'm not sure if I would call it "Paradise", Phuket lost that crown years ago to greed and corruption, and it 's far too commercialized.

 

The place is very expensive (unjustifiably) compared to other destinations in Asia. Thailand seems to forget that other countries are catching up fast, and they provide the same weather, and beaches (if not cleaner) and are more friendly to foreigners without all the visa/reporting hassles.

 

The clock is ticking and if you mistreat tourists, they simply will go elsewhere.

Nothing is cheap in amazing Thailand any more.  a $3.00 botlle of vine at home here $15.00.  what a deal.

Pork 5 bucks a kilo. Home 2.50.  Vegetables loaded with paraquat, have at it.

 

On 7/8/2019 at 3:54 PM, uffe123 said:

Nothing is cheap in amazing Thailand any more.  a $3.00 botlle of vine at home here $15.00.  what a deal.

Pork 5 bucks a kilo. Home 2.50.  Vegetables loaded with paraquat, have at it.

 

Hmmm.  Three dollar wine.  $2.50/k pork.  If you're really drinking $3.00 wine I seriously doubt that you'd even notice the paraquat. 

Where the hell is this home you are fleeing from.  If it has a good beach or three I'll go there.

On 7/9/2019 at 4:54 AM, uffe123 said:

Nothing is cheap in amazing Thailand any more.  a $3.00 botlle of vine at home here $15.00.  what a deal.

Pork 5 bucks a kilo. Home 2.50.  Vegetables loaded with paraquat, have at it.

 

Not sure if serious?

21 minutes ago, beechbum said:

Not sure if serious?

Why? 

 

Wine is dead cheap in Europe.

Alcohol in general is way cheaper...

 

https://silklegal.com/importing-alcohol-to-thailand/

 

look into the effective tax rate for french, german, us, chilean etc wine, it's 400% basically. 

And then you pay extra for long distance shipping, all the logistics involved, profit margin here etc.

 

So yes a 3 USD cheap ass wine from france can easily be 15 USD here.

 

On 7/8/2019 at 9:23 AM, Lucius verus said:

The Australian dollar has tanked against the baht. 1500 AUD will bring about 30,500 baht. Thats small change in Phuket after taking gross overcharging into consideration.

Australians are throwing 30% of their savings down the drain when they travel to Thailand.

Could soon be 19 baht .

5-10 dollars for a small lousy leo or singha beer. No imported brands allowed of course.

Small beer in Patpong bars as high as 220 b -  mostly 120-150 b.

Paradise exists only for Thais in the tourist industry especially road transport mafia and prostitution.

How long would 30k last in Thailand if you don't know the local prices for anything? Maybe 5 days.

Australia traditionally one the main tourist arrivals in Phuket .I wonder for how much longer.

Paradise lost ?

 

60 baht beer in bar for me, 40 or 50 baht with meal, bars in general mostly 80! Spend 6K per day?Nice! More anti Phuket rubbish ....

A troll post commenting on moderation has been removed. 

On 7/8/2019 at 9:33 AM, legend49 said:

And Bali is booming with Australians

 

Bali went boom a few years ago, not a good result for Ozzie’s!

Writing an economics paper about tourism based on a poll with only two questions is non-sensical especially when the questions are:

 

The first question is “Do you think the cost of living in Phuket is too high?”

Responses available to this question are:

1. Yes, the cost of living in Phuket is too high
2. The cost of living in Phuket is appropriate compared with living in other cities in Thailand
3. No, the cost of living in Phuket is not too high, prices could be even higher

The second question is “Do you think the environmental damage from tourism is too high?”

Responses available to this question are:

1. Yes, the environmental damage from tourism is too high
2. The environmental damage from tourism in Phuket is acceptable compared with other tourist destinations around the world
3. No, the environmental damage from tourism is low

“I understand that there will definitely be limitations to the replies to the poll, but regardless, the poll is still a extremely valuable data source,” Mr Piramon admitted.

 

The limitations are not based on the replies to the questions but the lack of forethought to constructing the poll in a meaningful way and asking relevant questions with proper information being provided, as it stands.  First, it displays lack of critical thinking in its construction and second, the information in the answers is not really meaningful as information is missing.  There should be a greater number of good pertinent questions related to the poll.

 

For the first question, how is it possible for tourist to make any statement about the economy if they know nothing about conditions in other parts of the country, and most tourists are not concerned with anything except having a good holiday.  The second question beggars the same problems.  How can tourists compare damage between locations when they may have no experience "...with other tourist destinations around the world".  Could go on but let it end here.

'nuf sed.

 

2 hours ago, beechbum said:

Pork 5 bucks a kilo. Home 2.50.

Don't know where you call home, but the price you quote is cheaper than Toronto.

'nuf sed.

4 minutes ago, wotsdermatter said:

Don't know where you call home, but the price you quote is cheaper than Toronto.

'nuf sed.

I had a friend who stayed in his mothers basement for free ate her leftover food and drank the bottom of her wine bottles and smoked the butts she left in the ashtray.  And he said.  Thailand was getting so expensive he couldn't afford it anymore.  

28 minutes ago, wotsdermatter said:

Don't know where you call home, but the price you quote is cheaper than Toronto.

'nuf sed.

That's because it isn't "5 bucks a kilo" here in Phuket (assuming they are talking US$). It also depends, like every other meat, on what cut you buy.

I bought two kilos of pork loin at my local morning market for about six US dollars.

2 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Don't know where you call home, but the price you quote is cheaper than Toronto.

'nuf sed.

You need to lean how to use the reply option correctly.

Adding my name to another person's comment just makes you look stupid. 

22 minutes ago, beechbum said:

3 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Don't know where you call home, but the price you quote is cheaper than Toronto.

'nuf sed.

You need to lean how to use the reply option correctly.

Adding my name to another person's comment just makes you look stupid. 

Even more stupid than his signoff line.