Samui Open for Business?

[khunPer]

Is Samui open for business?
Yes...????

 

 

More information here.

[CG1 Blue]

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

When I pay thousands of $ to go to LOS ( visa, flights, insurance, hotels, transport, restaurants etc ) I don't expect to be blocked from walking along the beach at any tide level.

Some things are IMO very bad in LOS,  some being

-the lack of consideration for pedestrians everywhere ( IMO because the officials responsible think only low class people walk )

-the legal or ignored destruction of Thailand's beaches.

It would not hurt anyone to leave the beaches walkable at all times. Encroaching whether legal or illegal is selfish and inconsiderate, and there is no reason to do so.

We have been discussing that particular stretch of beach at Chaweng, which sometimes has plenty of sandy beach to walk along and sometimes doesn't, if nature decides. 

I have been going to that actual stretch of beach for 20 years, and no hotels or resorts have encroached further on the beach during that time. The shore line has stayed the same. 

 

On this thread many of us have pointed this out to you in various ways, and you repeat your encroachment claims. Maybe your grievance is not with this stretch of beach, but other parts of Thailand. Please clarify so we can stop going around in circles ????

[Tmoney]

Totally agree CG1 Blue you are correct.

Not only that but the title of this thread and the OP's question is about whether or not Samui is open for business, nothing to do with beach encroachment.

Back on topic or start another one please.

[thaibeachlovers]

53 minutes ago, Tmoney said:

Totally agree CG1 Blue you are correct.

Not only that but the title of this thread and the OP's question is about whether or not Samui is open for business, nothing to do with beach encroachment.

Back on topic or start another one please.

 

I already said, had you bothered to read the post, that I was not going to keep discussing this particular subject, which I only started to do because someone chose an insignificant comment I made to call me on.

However keep on if you will by yourself, or not. Up to you.

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by thaibeachlovers

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, CG1 Blue said:

We have been discussing that particular stretch of beach at Chaweng, which sometimes has plenty of sandy beach to walk along and sometimes doesn't, if nature decides. 

I have been going to that actual stretch of beach for 20 years, and no hotels or resorts have encroached further on the beach during that time. The shore line has stayed the same. 

 

On this thread many of us have pointed this out to you in various ways, and you repeat your encroachment claims. Maybe your grievance is not with this stretch of beach, but other parts of Thailand. Please clarify so we can stop going around in circles ????

The original point I made some way back was that if Thais continue to destroy the natural environment with concrete structures it doesn't matter if Samui is "open" or not as anyone that actually appreciates nature will not be visiting.

Given the thread is about Samui my comments were specific to Samui, but could also be applied to every other once nice, but destroyed beach in LOS.

As I mentioned before I don't consider it worth continuing this particular subject, so bye.

[Tmoney]

Phew

[corkman]

On 10/1/2020 at 12:50 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

When I pay thousands of $ to go to LOS ( visa, flights, insurance, hotels, transport, restaurants etc ) I don't expect to be blocked from walking along the beach at any tide level.

Some things are IMO very bad in LOS,  some being

-the lack of consideration for pedestrians everywhere ( IMO because the officials responsible think only low class people walk )

-the legal or ignored destruction of Thailand's beaches.

It would not hurt anyone to leave the beaches walkable at all times. Encroaching whether legal or illegal is selfish and inconsiderate, and there is no reason to do so.

when I pay thousands of $...... but you haven’t been for the last 20yrs right? So what exactly are you paying thousands for?

[Tropicalevo]

osted 28 minutes ago

30 minutes ago, corkman said:

  On 10/1/2020 at 12:50 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

When I pay thousands of $ to go to LOS ( visa, flights, insurance, hotels, transport, restaurants etc ) I don't expect to be blocked from walking along the beach at any tide level.

Some things are IMO very bad in LOS,  some being

-the lack of consideration for pedestrians everywhere ( IMO because the officials responsible think only low class people walk )

-the legal or ignored destruction of Thailand's beaches.

It would not hurt anyone to leave the beaches walkable at all times. Encroaching whether legal or illegal is selfish and inconsiderate, and there is no reason to do so.

'when I pay thousands of $...... but you haven’t been for the last 20yrs right? '

The above poster is a troll.

It did not cost 'thousands of $' to come and stay on Samui 20 years ago. Unless - you flew first class and stayed in the one 5* resort on the island.

(If you stayed in that resort, the beach was and still is pristene. No encroachment.

Back then, Bangkok to Samui return was 3,000 baht and there was only economy.

Visa on arrival - free.

Airport tax 200 baht

[Tropicalevo]

   

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

osted 28 minutes ago

'when I pay thousands of $...... but you haven’t been for the last 20yrs right? '

The above poster is a troll.

It did not cost 'thousands of $' to come and stay on Samui 20 years ago. Unless - you flew first class and stayed in the one 5* resort on the island.

(If you stayed in that resort, the beach was and still is pristene. No encroachment.

Back then, Bangkok to Samui return was 3,000 baht and there was only economy.

Visa on arrival - free.

Airport tax 200 baht

5555555555555555555555555555555555

20 years ago the beach wasn't encroached.

The beach is encroached NOW, and it would cost me thousands of $ NOW.

 

[corkman]

15 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

osted 28 minutes ago

'when I pay thousands of $...... but you haven’t been for the last 20yrs right? '

The above poster is a troll.

It did not cost 'thousands of $' to come and stay on Samui 20 years ago. Unless - you flew first class and stayed in the one 5* resort on the island.

(If you stayed in that resort, the beach was and still is pristene. No encroachment.

Back then, Bangkok to Samui return was 3,000 baht and there was only economy.

Visa on arrival - free.

Airport tax 200 baht

Yup, that's my point. When he did visit it did not cost 1000's...... and now hasn't visited for 20yrs or more so really has no idea about the place. Troll, as you say.

 

Good old days with the 3000 baht fares, and international fares half the price too. 

[thaibeachlovers]

21 hours ago, corkman said:

Yup, that's my point. When he did visit it did not cost 1000's...... and now hasn't visited for 20yrs or more so really has no idea about the place. Troll, as you say.

 

Good old days with the 3000 baht fares, and international fares half the price too. 

Has to take the prize for the dumbest post about me on TVF ever, and apparently doesn't realise that I would not be traveling alone- obviously doesn't know as much as thinks does.

 

Cost of flight to Thailand ( over $1000 )

Cost of travel insurance + age surcharge

Cost of visa, plus travel to/ from consulate, plus accommodation while waiting for it.

Cost of travel to airport and accommodation for 1 night.

Cost of travel to hotel in Bkk

Cost of accommodation in Bkk

Cost of extras for duration of holiday

Cost of travel from Bkk to Samui x 2

Cost of travel to accommodation in Samui x 2

Cost of restaurants in Samui x 2

Cost of local travel and tours x 2

Cost of bars x 2

Cost of everything in reverse.

 

Go troll yourself.

[khunPer]

Just for comparison, my 2001 costs of my first visit to Samui, together with friends travelling on backpacker budget...????

 

• Arline return-tickets Copenhagen-via Moscow-Bangkok: 4.246 DKK, i.e. $525 (rate 8.10 DKK to 1 US$)
• No visa, 30-day visa exempt entry
• Taxi Don Mueng to Karosan Road 250 baht
• 1 night in BKK, 180 baht (cheap, needed my own bed-sheet and padlock on door)
• 2nd class sleeper train Bangkok Surat Thani, including bus and ferry to Samui, ca. 650 baht (believe it was 580 baht, perhaps it was 680 baht)
• Beachfront fan-bungalow (space for two...????) 350 baht a night x 12 nights = 3,500 baht
• Breakfast and coffee in bungalow resort's coffee shop, approx 100 baht
• Rent of motorbike 100 baht a day (I however changed to rent a small jeep for 500 baht a day for higher survival odds)
• Freight rice chicken including free drinking water was 30 baht a meal (my friends one a day food-budget, apart from modest breakfast and half-a-bottle a night in a Chaweng-bar)
• Half bottle of Meekong (cheap at that time) plus bucket of ice and mixers, 250 baht (easily shared by four)
• Local free-lance guide 1,200 baht a day plus little extra for food (the budget killer expense)...
• Flight USM-BKK circa 3,000 baht (I avoided an extra night in Bangkok by flying; alone, as my friends Samui were long-stayers)

 

It's 19 years ago, but summing up all inclusive for 14 days it was in the spending area of 12,000 baht (excluding local guide and jeep instead of scary motorbike), i.e. $300 (1 US$ = 40 baht) + $525 for air ticket, i.e. total of $825. Additional expenses (guide + jeep instead of motorbike) little more than $400, so all in all around $1,250 to $1.300.

 

That was of course a minor fortune for me by that time... –but also so fully enjoyable that I saved up for a repeat, and another one, and yet one, and so on...????

[khunPer]

I had to check out for a while, but the purpose with above post is to say, that you could easily spend at least some thousand dollars 20 years ago, as @thaibeachlovers says. Had I bought a normal non-stop flight with Thai Airways, a monkey class ticket would have been around $1,000 at that time – I little later typically paid in the 7,500 DKK level, and if the distance is longer than 5,500 miles, the price would have been higher – and with average spending of 1,000 baht a day for one person, without extra hanky-panky or local guide, the budget would hit the level around $1,000 a month; so a with a two month tourist visa $3,000 would easily be gone...

 

I was away 14-days, two of them on a plane to and from Bangkok, one night shared with a famous song, and another sleeping in a slow train, and 10 nights in a Cheap Charlie-style bungalow on backpacker budget, in all for almost a thousand dollars.

 

But it was worth every dime...????????

[Tropicalevo]

On 10/5/2020 at 7:20 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

5555555555555555555555555555555555

20 years ago the beach wasn't encroached.

The beach is encroached NOW, and it would cost me thousands of $ NOW.

 

You just make stuff up at times. Some of your comments are valid and interesting, but others?????

"The beach is encroached NOW,"

No it is not. You have not been here for 20 years. The beach is the same as 20 years ago.

I tried to show a picture of the beach at the 5* hotel but was not allowed.

Search Tongsai Bay hotel and look at the beach. It is NOT encroached (except maybe by towels and deckchairs?)

And forget the hotel blurb. It is not a private beach but it is a nice hotel.

Last time that I looked, a beach bungalow was less than 5,000 baht per night.

 

 

Edited October 6, 2020 by Tropicalevo

[Tropicalevo]

10 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Has to take the prize for the dumbest post about me on TVF ever, and apparently doesn't realise that I would not be traveling alone- obviously doesn't know as much as thinks does.

 

Cost of flight to Thailand ( over $1000 )

Cost of travel insurance + age surcharge

Cost of visa, plus travel to/ from consulate, plus accommodation while waiting for it.

Cost of travel to airport and accommodation for 1 night.

Cost of travel to hotel in Bkk

Cost of accommodation in Bkk

Cost of extras for duration of holiday

Cost of travel from Bkk to Samui x 2

Cost of travel to accommodation in Samui x 2

Cost of restaurants in Samui x 2

Cost of local travel and tours x 2

Cost of bars x 2

Cost of everything in reverse.

 

Go troll yourself.

Tell me where you are starting from and I will see if I can find you a better deal.

[Tropicalevo]

On 10/5/2020 at 7:20 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

5555555555555555555555555555555555

20 years ago the beach wasn't encroached.

The beach is encroached NOW, and it would cost me thousands of $ NOW.

 

You keep going on about encroachment.

Well, I apologise. On one of the three beaches that I walk regularly, there is encroachment. Someone put a swing in the way.

[thaibeachlovers]

21 hours ago, khunPer said:

Just for comparison, my 2001 costs of my first visit to Samui, together with friends travelling on backpacker budget...????

 

• Arline return-tickets Copenhagen-via Moscow-Bangkok: 4.246 DKK, i.e. $525 (rate 8.10 DKK to 1 US$)
• No visa, 30-day visa exempt entry
• Taxi Don Mueng to Karosan Road 250 baht
• 1 night in BKK, 180 baht (cheap, needed my own bed-sheet and padlock on door)
• 2nd class sleeper train Bangkok Surat Thani, including bus and ferry to Samui, ca. 650 baht (believe it was 580 baht, perhaps it was 680 baht)
• Beachfront fan-bungalow (space for two...????) 350 baht a night x 12 nights = 3,500 baht
• Breakfast and coffee in bungalow resort's coffee shop, approx 100 baht
• Rent of motorbike 100 baht a day (I however changed to rent a small jeep for 500 baht a day for higher survival odds)
• Freight rice chicken including free drinking water was 30 baht a meal (my friends one a day food-budget, apart from modest breakfast and half-a-bottle a night in a Chaweng-bar)
• Half bottle of Meekong (cheap at that time) plus bucket of ice and mixers, 250 baht (easily shared by four)
• Local free-lance guide 1,200 baht a day plus little extra for food (the budget killer expense)...
• Flight USM-BKK circa 3,000 baht (I avoided an extra night in Bangkok by flying; alone, as my friends Samui were long-stayers)

 

It's 19 years ago, but summing up all inclusive for 14 days it was in the spending area of 12,000 baht (excluding local guide and jeep instead of scary motorbike), i.e. $300 (1 US$ = 40 baht) + $525 for air ticket, i.e. total of $825. Additional expenses (guide + jeep instead of motorbike) little more than $400, so all in all around $1,250 to $1.300.

 

That was of course a minor fortune for me by that time... –but also so fully enjoyable that I saved up for a repeat, and another one, and yet one, and so on...????

LOL. We might have even been in the same carriage going or returning.

Some might have missed the significance of "extras" in my post, but if I got a takeaway from Nana rather than spending time in Pattaya the "extras" might have been the most expensive part of the entire holiday.

NB "extras" were not optional.

 

I however changed to rent a small jeep for 500 baht a day for higher survival odds

A wise move indeed. I just used the songtheaws or the resort transport. Touts on the ferry always offered included transport if staying at "their" resort.

 

so fully enjoyable that I saved up for a repeat, and another one, and yet one, and so on..

I went twice a year to LOS during the first decade of this century and between visits I was always saving for the next one. Worth every satang.

[thaibeachlovers]

14 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Tell me where you are starting from and I will see if I can find you a better deal.

Sadly those days are gone now I'm in the twilight of my days on earth.

Perhaps Heaven is Than Sadet beach as it was 20 years ago for ever and ever and ever. I hope so.

[khunPer]

 

Raja Ferry Port Public Company Limited offers marketing activities under two Big Surprise-promotions:

Buy a round-trip car ticket. Free outbound passenger ticket Route Donsak - Samui - Donsak, Donsak - Phangan - Donsak starting from 1 Nov - 10 Dec 2020

and

package of bus + boat tickets Bangkok-Samui / Phangan route, special price 399 baht / seat until the end of 2020 to stimulate tourism in Koh Samui and Koh Phangan.

 

The return car ticket is valid within 30 days from the date of travel.

 

Source article in Thai language HERE.

[Tmoney]

On 8/15/2020 at 6:20 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Are the Samui authorities so dim they don't realise that it is the ideal opportunity to repair/ tidy up the public parts of Samui. The photos on this thread should be showing work gangs hard at work repairing pavements, sorting out the overhead wiring etc etc etc. No need to answer that as most of us know the answer.

 

Not only would they be making the island more attractive, they would be providing employment for Thais.

 

It's not as though they haven't been exploiting the tourists for decades- plenty of money to do the work.

Just a quick update on this thread, the re-surfacing of the road from Bophut lights all the way to Choengmon has now been completed with lighting and surface water drainage systems also in place.

I have to say the standard of work is amongst the best I have seen in Thailand.

Work is I would guess more than halfway completed now down Chaweng beach road with all cables underground and presumably fully operational as all overhead cables are being removed as I write.

I am guessing that in not more than a couple of weeks that will be completed as well.

Of course no-one can say when the Thai tourist trade will resume but the local authorities here are currently doing a great job making preparations for its return.

No doubt the cynics will have their responses, but for me Samui, as much as anywhere will be as ready to welcome tourists back at sometime in the future whenever that will be.