Phuket facing worst tourism crisis in three decades - half of hotel rooms empty in 2020

[GeorgeCross]

On 1/3/2020 at 9:01 PM, miamiman123 said:

If there’s a war with Iran in the ME....all bets are off. You haven’t seen anything yet! 

 

they'll last about 5 minutes longer than Saddam did and i'm being generous there

 

2nd rate army + 3rd rate economy v USA

 

hahahaha

 

smashed.

 

 

[GeorgeCross]

On 1/3/2020 at 4:32 PM, Traubert said:

On 1/3/2020 at 4:23 PM, ThaiFelix said:

If the TAT is saying numbers are healthy but the accommodation sector is complaining of low occupancy rates, where are they all............alien mass abductions??

AirBnB and similar.

 

Hotels, of which there are more than ever, are half empty. It's the hotels that are moaning.

 

And TV posters, are swirling like vultures. They can't help it. Newtons Third Law is a mystery to them.

 

airbnb looks dead too, maybe they're all hiding under rocks..?

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by GeorgeCross

[xylophone]

12 hours ago, CharlieH said:

(Havnt read all the previous pages)

 

Personally I dont agree with "seasonal" prices, if the commodity/service or whatever doesnt change the price shouldnt either just because of the date.(IMHO)

Seems to be a fact of life unfortunately Charlie, and during the low season here I've seen rooms at 400 baht a night, and even some of the "middle tier" hotels will drop their rate from 1500 baht to 900 to get customers.

 

Then of course there's the airline fares which always increase in peak seasons, but the service is just the same all year round – – make hay while the sun shines seems to be the order of the day, also there is the "supply and demand" element coming into play, so Phuket/Patong is following the worldwide trend on this.

[Knocker33]

Oh dear what a pity. Couldn't happen to a nicer place. Sadly it's all over Thailand. Not just Pooket 

[Olmate]

8 minutes ago, Knocker33 said:

Oh dear what a pity. Couldn't happen to a nicer place. Sadly it's all over Thailand. Not just Pooket 

Another inspired opinion! Amazes me the amount of comment from TV members re Phuket that have little knowledge, or genuine interest in the future of the place. Seems any post with Phuket in the heading is a red flag for the knockers!

[Damrongsak]

On 1/2/2020 at 10:45 PM, ThreeEyedRaven said:

Yep! Them there chickens have come home to roost, though the idea that it is themselves that have driven customers away will not sink in, as they will always seek to blame someone or something else.

One might say they ate the goose that laid the golden egg.  It was good for a day.

[Jomtien Holiday Guy]

I haven't been there for years….Tired of the Tuk-Tuk mafia and their prices, while prices are fair in Pattaya and Bangkok...Everything is overpriced i Phuket. No reason to go there ????

[ChipButty]

1 hour ago, Damrongsak said:

One might say they ate the goose that laid the golden egg.  It was good for a day.

Does that mean no more Golden Eggs?

[LivinLOS]

3 hours ago, Olmate said:

Another inspired opinion! Amazes me the amount of comment from TV members re Phuket that have little knowledge, or genuine interest in the future of the place. Seems any post with Phuket in the heading is a red flag for the knockers!

As an ex resident for 9 years.. You can understand why tho.. 

Cant say I have much sympathy for a place so notorious in its disregard for customer service, repeat business, honest practices, and not out and out rampant 'grab what you can' mindset. When chickens come home to roost, as they appear to be doing, a little som nam nah seems highly appropriate. 

[metisdead]

A post using ALL CAPS has been removed, please turn off your Caps Lock when posting. 

[tabarin]

I'm not sure what it is about to always talk about taxi prices in Phuket while there is a good Smart bus with fair offers. (https://phuketsmartbus.com/?lang=en)
You can get a unlimited 3 day pass for like 499 baht for example, as well buy a Rabbit card and have the next stop for 50B a ride. 

Aside of this it is also possible to rent a motorbike at the airport and return it there, this way you would not have to pay a heavy amount to the first door too.
Last but not least, who is going around in taxi's all day? I usually take 1 area per 1-2 days where I can manage to get around by foot and chill on the beach.

 

And if it comes to food and drinks, sure it easily is 50-60B per meal on bottom levels, 150-300B foreign mid range,
but those prices are asked in Central BKK and even many CM places too nowadays. Pattaya is sure cheaper but no good beaches too.

For the red lights you also pay insane amounts in walking street, 150-300B drinks personal and to buy are normal there as well in Bangla road. 
Cheaper and smaller bars still offer beers from 60-70B which is common around the country. 

Rooms seem a bit expensive if so many are half empty but for the location I find the average of 700-900B per night not that crazy too.
I easily pay 1000-1200 in Bangkok for a really standard room, easily 700+ in CM for a more new / decent room.

I ended up paying too much in almost every place I visited for the first time, isn't that part of being a newbie tourist?
You have to spend some time finding the good spots or do some research beforehand.

To conclude, seems a lot of the complaining is about comparing to 40B street food pad thais and stuff.
And not wanting to pay for entertainment as water sports OR expecting those things to all be 300-400B each only. 

For long stayers, really affordable housing available too, Makro etc cost the same, your own bike gets you around cheap, cheap flights to BKK etc.
Other islands might be slightly cheaper but often take much more time to get there or cost much more in airfares. 

Edited January 5, 2020 by tabarin

[ZAKY]

Im in Da Nang Vietnam now! I can say that i enjoy much more than being in Thailand, hotels, staff and service very good, no fake smile, much less expensive lot of places to see and shop! 

[London Lowf]

I lived in the biggest tourist trap in the world, London, for most of my life - capital of what we ourselves call "rip-off Britain" so I am well used to the screw-the-consumer mentality, not only for the holiday maker, but also for life's basics such as fuel, housing, mobile phone contract, TV contract, gas, water, electricity, taxis (yes, taxis!), public transport. Supermarket food is good and cheap though!

 

I have no problems with Phuket, in fact I love the place, but I guess it depends on what you are comparing it with. I like to escape the European winter for three months each year and really don't see anywhere that ticks as many boxes. The exchange rate is a little painful at the moment, but it is what it is and if it becomes a deal breaker then I'll go elsewhere.

 

PS: And I'll take fake smiles over call centres any day of the week.

Edited January 5, 2020 by London Lowf
To make it better....

[JHolmesJr]

Guess they are sad that there are now fewer farangs to beat up.

[Olmate]

8 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

As an ex resident for 9 years.. You can understand why tho.. 

Cant say I have much sympathy for a place so notorious in its disregard for customer service, repeat business, honest practices, and not out and out rampant 'grab what you can' mindset. When chickens come home to roost, as they appear to be doing, a little som nam nah seems highly appropriate. 

I am guessing after 9 years you suddenly realised you couldn’t stand the place!

[tabarin]

2 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

Guess they are sad that there are now fewer farangs to beat up.

Oh please cut the <deleted>.

[JHolmesJr]

1 minute ago, tabarin said:

Oh please cut the <deleted>.

My bad...should have added 'and scam' to it as well.

[DaRoadrunner]

4 hours ago, ZAKY said:

Im in Da Nang Vietnam now! I can say that i enjoy much more than being in Thailand, hotels, staff and service very good, no fake smile, much less expensive lot of places to see and shop! 

Yeah but does Da Nang have P4P?

[Ron jeremy]

On January 3, 2020 at 8:40 PM, BigC said:

Samui is full

 

I was in samui last New Years, plenty of people, week later, deserted.

[Ron jeremy]

37 minutes ago, DaRoadrunner said:

Yeah but does Da Nang have P4P?

P4p is rampant in Vietnam, but not as visible as Thailand. 

I actually like it this way, it gets a little much for tourists, families etc walking thru hookers lined up along the streets.

quality tourists don't want their families exposed to this.

with a little research u can find loads of ladies in Danang, and for half the cost of Thailand.

ill give you, sunny boy, and madman a site.this is one of many.

 

[kiever]

On 1/3/2020 at 10:16 AM, chrisandsu said:

As I said on another thread my brother is a first time visitor to Thailand and Phuket and he is shocked at how expensive the place is .

my father also same. he came thailand and phuket first time and he is shocked as well

[kiever]

21 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

I was in samui last New Years, plenty of people, week later, deserted.

i live here in samui. rent prices the way too expensive, studio or 1 bedroom decent homes in bophut not less than 30000 baht. lamai also same.

[PhilAtUbon]

I appreciate that this thread is about Phuket, but I’d like to mention Ubon Ratchathani briefly.

 

A few weeks ago I booked my usual hotel for my upcoming visit. It was more than double the price of my last visit just a couple of months back. As it has the location and facilities both the Mrs and I want, I reluctantly booked it.

 

Over the years I have been visiting, the price has remained fairly constant, but the dwindling occupancy was quite noticeable - fewer cars in the carpark, fewer people at breakfast etc.

However, I looked again a couple of days ago and they had reduced the price to below what I paid last time. So I cancelled my booking, and booked again at the lower price.

 

Maybe at least one hotel may have the right idea ????

 

[ChipButty]

8 hours ago, PhilAtUbon said:

I appreciate that this thread is about Phuket, but I’d like to mention Ubon Ratchathani briefly.

 

A few weeks ago I booked my usual hotel for my upcoming visit. It was more than double the price of my last visit just a couple of months back. As it has the location and facilities both the Mrs and I want, I reluctantly booked it.

 

Over the years I have been visiting, the price has remained fairly constant, but the dwindling occupancy was quite noticeable - fewer cars in the carpark, fewer people at breakfast etc.

However, I looked again a couple of days ago and they had reduced the price to below what I paid last time. So I cancelled my booking, and booked again at the lower price.

 

Maybe at least one hotel may have the right idea ????

 

Lots of these OTA's sites have a program built in that can recognize all sorts of statistics hence the reason the price fluctuates if the demand is up or down, airbnb have what they call smart pricing where the price will move automatically up or down according to the market  

Edited January 6, 2020 by ChipButty

[BestB]

31 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Lots of these OTA's sites have a program built in that can recognize all sorts of statistics hence the reason the price fluctuates if the demand is up or down, airbnb have what they call smart pricing where the price will move automatically up or down according to the market  

None of the OTA’s have such a thing . All rates are controlled by the hotel. Price may vary based on how many days in advance , how many days , booked on app or computer , booked in the vicinity or Outside.Refundable or not .

 

everyone hoped for high season and put up prices, when turned out no high season , smart ones dropped prices.

 

agoda is the only sneaky one. They offer extra discount without hotel knowledge but deduct the extra discount from their commissions 

[ChipButty]

6 hours ago, BestB said:

None of the OTA’s have such a thing . All rates are controlled by the hotel. Price may vary based on how many days in advance , how many days , booked on app or computer , booked in the vicinity or Outside.Refundable or not .

 

everyone hoped for high season and put up prices, when turned out no high season , smart ones dropped prices.

 

agoda is the only sneaky one. They offer extra discount without hotel knowledge but deduct the extra discount from their commissions 

If you say so

[LivinLOS]

20 hours ago, Olmate said:

I am guessing after 9 years you suddenly realised you couldn’t stand the place!

Pre Tsunami the greed was far less pronounced.. It was after that I saw a level of unfriendlyness and abusive behaviour where I felt enough was enough.. Probably stayed a couple of years longer than I should have as I was getting that expat hating the people around them thing building. 

So it wasnt sudden by any means, death by a 1000 cuts until I simply couldnt look myself in the mirror if I continued to allow people to take the <deleted>, and act as openly abusive as so many do there without retaliating.. When someone says something filthy to your wife, simply for walking along the pavement, you just let it slide out of fear of reprisals ??  

[InevitableCost]

This isn't a surprise you visit the rest of Thailand and love it but then probably never want to come back to Phuket after trying it once. Hotels are fairly priced and you can still get a cheap bite to eat if your savvy but its annoying if you have to dodge most places because the average cost for a meal is $10 here the taxi mafia is the number one thing that kills this place tourists dont often get to explore the entire city because transportation costs here are ridiculous so they stay near their hotel and spend less money because of it. If they fixed this one issue alone then all these tourists would suddenly be spending more money on all of the tourists attractions. The same zip lining and elephant experiences are also more expensive here then the rest of thailand.

Edited January 6, 2020 by InevitableCost

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, InevitableCost said:

This isn't a surprise you visit the rest of Thailand and love it but then probably never want to come back to Phuket after trying it once. Hotels are fairly priced and you can still get a cheap bite to eat if your savvy but its annoying if you have to dodge most places because the average cost for a meal is $10 here the taxi mafia is the number one thing that kills this place tourists dont often get to explore the entire city because transportation costs here are ridiculous so they stay near their hotel and spend less money because of it. If they fixed this one issue alone then all these tourists would suddenly be spending more money on all of the tourists attractions. The same zip lining and elephant experiences are also more expensive here then the rest of thailand.

Agreed .. It is the Taxi Mafia that is the deal breaker ... it is absurd ... if they fixed this one thing .. the island would be BOOMING in two years ... and never go back!

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/3/2020 at 4:00 PM, webfact said:

Manager said that Phuket has enjoyed 14 million visitors annually in the past and they spend 44 billion baht a year. 

 

But all this is now under threat. 

All self inflicted, IMO.

 

On 1/3/2020 at 4:00 PM, webfact said:

There was also a massive oversupply of hotel accommodation. For this year it is expected that the hotel industry will see 50% occupancy if they are lucky. 

Need I say more on that?

 

On 1/3/2020 at 4:00 PM, webfact said:

They said that tourism on the holiday island needed a "big injection" - and the private sector was demanding action from the government in delivering the medicine. 

They ( private sector ) didn't cause the problem, oh no, it's all somebody else's fault!

People ( I assume they mean western tourists ) don't go there any more because the "private sector" killed the golden goose.

All the reasons people flocked to the beaches there have vanished under concrete, rip off hotel prices, and, not forgetting, the taxi "extortionate" prices.

I stopped going there decades ago, as it had turned from a great place to party to a <deleted><deleted>.

 

Anyway, the reason western tourists don't go there, IMO, is because the greedy Thais made it a place people DON'T want to go to anymore.

NB I'm not accusing ALL Thais of being greedy, just the people that ruin nice beaches to get rich.