Phuket tourism going down the pan just like Pattaya: Few tourists and much worse than last year

[StevieAus]

9 minutes ago, seasia said:

If I understand correctly it is the poster Duck J Butters who was claiming to own property in Phuket as well as other areas and talking it up.

I have no opinion on that.

 

It was Stevie Aus who made the comment that Duck sounded like a travel agent,Steve has not made property ownership claims that I have seen, just he made what I and a few others thought was a witty response.

Yet 2 posters are suggesting Stevie making Duck s claim, not so the way I read it.

 

Perhaps some confusion in quotes.

 

Quite an interesting thread.

Thanks for your comment much appreciated, you are correct it was not my post I have nothing to do with Hawaii or Phuket and certainly do not own property there I have twice tried to correct Adam the Farang

maybe he has not seen my two responses.

Anyway off for a glass of wine in the garden nice and cool here in the North .

(Hope that doesn’t create a debate about taxes on wine)

[metisdead]

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[Cambodger]

i went down to Khosarn rd the other day with the Mrs. Haven't been for 3 years (we're just about young enough to still get away with it) but was curious to see what it was like now.

It's changed a lot. I know it's rainy season but it's usually when all the Western students get there 'discover myself time' but it was much quieter than i can ever remember it over the last 15 years. There was a few fishermans pants wearing types about and some of the bars were full, but it was different.

Went up to that Roof top bar (can't remember the name) but was met by an angry looking bouncer who told my girlfriend she couldn't come in with an half eaten snack, she had and to put it in the bin. I said lets go somewhere else...

We ended up in the one with a stepped terrace, that plays loud hip hop (can't remember the name either) they let her in with said snack.

The crowd was a mix but I'd say the majority were Asian who don't really drink much. The western kids were sipping bottles unusually slowly too, if at all...  I saw people come in sit down look at the drinks menu prices and walk out and a few shocked faces when the check bin arrived, followed by mumbling and fumbling to split the bill and leaving looking unhappy and i presume a feeling that they've wasted a large chunk of their budget. 

I think i was the biggest spender in there and I'm a fairly moderate drinker and my Gf never has more than 2 bottle or she can't walk.

Just to put this into perspective I was drinking bottles of Tiger and they were 180 bht that's £4.80 each. I had a few pints of Guinness at Heathrow airport on the way out which are priced at a crazy £5.50 each, seems like good value in contrast. I was actually converting US $ to spend but even then its $6 for a small bottle of cheap lager.

Closing the smoking rooms at the airport has p'ed me of too, i don't expect much sympathy from others but it's just something else. I know you still can't smoke at most of the airport terminals in the UK too but at least there you know immigration/ security isn't going to take more than 15 minutes so you can leave it until the final hour before going through.

We tend to holiday outside of Thailand now, have done for the last 2 years and have no intention of changing, we've had some wonderful holidays.

It's not just about the exchange rate, like others have said Thailand just isn't really fun or friendly anymore, even for blinkered first timers.

Edited July 13, 2019 by Cambodger

[GeorgeCross]

32 minutes ago, Cambodger said:

i went down to Khosarn rd the other day with the Mrs. Haven't been for 3 years (we're just about young enough to still get away with it) but was curious to see what it was like now.

It's changed a lot. I know it's rainy season but it's usually when all the Western students get there 'discover myself time' but it was much quieter than i can ever remember it over the last 15 years. There was a few fishermans pants wearing types about and some of the bars were full, but it was different.

Went up to that Roof top bar (can't remember the name) but was met by an angry looking bouncer who told my girlfriend she couldn't come in with an half eaten snack, she had and to put it in the bin. I said lets go somewhere else...

We ended up in the one with a stepped terrace, that plays loud hip hop (can't remember the name either) they let her in with said snack.

The crowd was a mix but I'd say the majority were Asian who don't really drink much. The western kids were sipping bottles unusually slowly too, if at all...  I saw people come in sit down look at the drinks menu prices and walk out and a few shocked faces when the check bin arrived, followed by mumbling and fumbling to split the bill and leaving looking unhappy and i presume a feeling that they've wasted a large chunk of their budget. 

I think i was the biggest spender in there and I'm a fairly moderate drinker and my Gf never has more than 2 bottle or she can't walk.

Just to put this into perspective I was drinking bottles of Tiger and they were 180 bht that's £4.80 each. I had a few pints of Guinness at Heathrow airport on the way out which are priced at a crazy £5.50 each, seems like good value in contrast. I was actually converting US $ to spend but even then its $6 for a small bottle of cheap lager.

Closing the smoking rooms at the airport has p'ed me of too, i don't expect much sympathy from others but it's just something else. I know you still can't smoke at most of the airport terminals in the UK too but at least there you know immigration/ security isn't going to take more than 15 minutes so you can leave it until the final hour before going through.

We tend to holiday outside of Thailand now, have done for the last 2 years and have no intention of changing, we've had some wonderful holidays.

It's not just about the exchange rate, like others have said Thailand just isn't really fun or friendly anymore, even for blinkered first timers.

 

180 baht for a beer on khao san road. nuts. thong lor ok in an upper end bar but khao san. jeez.

 

we are going to vietnam for holiday this year as well, might as well get some good news from the high baht, it'll be cheaper abroad.

 

swerving local holidays here now as its just getting so grim to travel and they have killed the fun.

 

sad times indeed and i don't see it getting better all the charm is going and the locals are grumpy and i don't blame them.

[Mark Evans]

There is a massive amount of land available on the island, especially on the Eastern side. You can find empty beaches and large plots of land in the East for good value. I picked up a beachfront 19 rai plot for 4 million baht recently.

 

Duck you had me with your long eloquent reply until you said this. 

Nobody I mean, nobody could ever buy beachfront land of 19 Rai for 4 million Baht. Even one Rai of beachfront land in Phuket  would cost considerably more than 4 million Baht. 

[lkv]

Why anybody goes to Phuket, I don't understand.

 

Oh wait, they don't go to Phuket anymore ????????????????

 

 

[Olmate]

4 hours ago, lkv said:

Why anybody goes to Phuket, I don't understand.

 

Oh wait, they don't go to Phuket anymore ????????????????

 

 

Off you go then if you reckon Phuket has agro, oh and those women there are something else!

[Moo 2]

When low/middle class tourists came to Thailand a few years ago, they knew they were getting good value for their money, unfortunately the government failed to try to get those tourists to return, when they did returned they had a bit of a shock, these peoples will never return and will tell other peoples to stay away

from Thailand. Word of mouth can be a very powerful tool, good or bad comments.

 

 

A good wife is the one who forgive her husband when......she is wrong!

[dallen52]

The only people who benefit from an economic crisis such as the current baht is exhibiting, are importers. 

Be it military or government services, Engineering skills and know how, submarines...etc.

Certainly not great for the balance of payments, and no good for any commodity Thailand produces and sells. 

Tourism is one of these.

I've worked with companies that virtually wrapped products up in $5 notes, and its a one way trip to going broke. Which they did. 

 

The automotive industry is a huge player in Thailand and all the supporting parts companies. 

Anything that is not domestic product is sold overseas.

This part of the business is supplemental to the normal product production.

You cannot have one without the other. 

Normally economic production is achieved by working 2x 10 hour shifts. 

Or 100 hours every five days.

Investment and depreciation of equipment is also based on this.

The car industry looks at production of one car every minute, off the production line. 

480 cars a day.

And 480 cars each night. 

That's right, every process is geared around the one minute cycle. 

And the normal investment for a 4 year vehicle life is $1 billion US..

Recovered on the volume of total sales as calculated.

 

So, domestic consumption has to rise to offset the losses from exports. 

And at say 30% devalued by exchange presently, its never going to happen....

 

Its no good people saying that tourism is a major benefit for Thailand, even with the current exchange rates.

 

Because it is totally eroded by the loss of exports, and quite possibly the loss of domestic manufacturing and the thousands of jobs it supports...

Companies will start to look for other places to manufacture. 

[madmen]

32 minutes ago, Bipolar said:

I just pray that it goes down even more and some things bad might happen there like a natural or epidemic

You are sick in the head.

[lkv]

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/thailands-tourism-stormy-weather-ahead

[MRToMRT]

I visited last year  (Phuket) after not being there for 12 years. Idea was to look at buying a place to live (I work in Bangkok but am getting old). I was shocked at the amount of development on the west coast. I think its just become too overdeveloped and full of cheap tack beach stores that the thing that made Phuket a desirable location in the past has now disappeared. 

 

I see it affecting the whole of Thailand, largely uncontrolled building has made it a hot potch of building ugliness. Its not the cheap tropical paradise it was, other countries are coming up and more localized destinations offer better value to tourists. 

 

 

[gk10002000]

Maybe I will book my flight.  I did enjoy Karon beach.  Turning around and seeing the top half of the white giant buddha to me was surreal and very pleasing.  The food eateries on the road between karon and kata were really nice.  A few nights in Patong are OK.  Hate the taxi and motorbike mafia, but forewarned is fore armed.  The ferry from Phuket pier to Ao Nang really is a nice little journey.  Quite scenic as you motor past little islands and out croppings

[Reigntax]

On 7/12/2019 at 1:20 PM, yogi100 said:

The bar girls definitely can see it, in Pattaya anyway. They collectively hate their govt and wish Taksin could come back.

Was he a good customer ?

[from the home of CC]

On 7/12/2019 at 9:54 AM, Pilotman said:

Yes to all that, but on balance, I see no difference in terms of ripping off tourists here than say Spain, Cyprus, Malta,  most Caribbean islands. It goes on everywhere. 

I traveled extensively prior to hanging my hat here and you are absolutely right. Many places make the Thai scammers here look like rookies (and considering the number who get taken here doesn't bode well for the intelligence of the travelers). I believe after a while many here get a tunnel vision type mentality, and make Thailand the center of their universe including all the problems. There's way more to life than complaining about things they themselves can't change no matter how good it feels to wallow in it.