Koh Samui: For sale and gathering dust - island that catered to foreigners is completely deserted

 

Images: Thai PBS

 

Thai PBS went to Chaweng Beach on Koh Samui and found it completely deserted. 

 

 

There were no tourists on the beach.

 

 

Businesses were shuttered or for sale.

 

 

Exchange booths were closed. 

 

 

Rental motorcycles had a thick layer of dust.

 

 

 

Roads and sois were devoid of any people. 

 

 

A cabaret attraction had a sign saying "For Rent".

 

A taxi driver told the media he would normally get 1,000 to 2,000 baht a day. He now gets nothing. 

 

The media suggested that tourism on Samui was highly reliant on foreign tourists. Despite Phase 5 easing of restrictions it has made little difference to Samui as domestic tourists would find it too hard to get to for a short break. 

 

Many pictures published by TPBS showed the desolation; a caption on a beach shot said it was quiet and lonely. 

 

Source: Thai PBS

 

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Funny how the business owners on this forum tell us of great things on the island!

The island that sold its soul for greed got its comeuppance!

I for one have no sympathy.

I stopped going there last century when it went trendy and expensive. Kicked the cheap places out ( like Charlie's hut ), destroyed the old Ark bar and built horrid concrete places everywhere.

Couldn't believe it last time I sailed past on the ferry to Phangan- concrete villas destroying every hillside. Used to be a great place to holiday- Chaweng is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, but ruined by greed and aircraft.

Only people to blame are the Thais that destroyed it to get rich.

It looks great now! Well, the beach does anyway, like when I was last there in 1996.

Stopped going after I was charged Bt600 for a 5km taxi ride from the airport to Chaweng. And the whole place was a building site. Another example of uncontrolled tourism spoiling a Thai resort.

12 minutes ago, thaiowl said:

Stopped going after I was charged Bt600 for a 5km taxi ride from the airport to Chaweng. And the whole place was a building site. Another example of uncontrolled tourism spoiling a Thai resort.

Fare for the songtheaw from the ferry port to Chaweng or Lamai used to be 20 baht. Increased significantly even though prices for fuel etc had not gone up much. Just greed. I used to say to myself that one day it was all going to lead to tears. Seems that day has come.

16 minutes ago, thaiowl said:

Stopped going after I was charged Bt600 for a 5km taxi ride from the airport to Chaweng. And the whole place was a building site. Another example of uncontrolled tourism spoiling a Thai resort.

 

true enough, i was there in the early 90s, stayed in a great bungalow on the beach, cool little beach side restaurants, quiet, clean beach and sea, was like paradise. i returned about five years ago, the place was unrecongisable; awful, over developed, ugly, polluted, i left sharpish. very sad but i guess some people like that sort of place.

it always looks quite the dump by day.

Prachuap Khiri Khan's boulevard was teeming with locals and foreigners yestetday. Beautiful beach promenade, local night markets and plenty of budget hotels. No need for extortionate taxi prices. Just value for money.

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The island that sold its soul for greed got its comeuppance!

I for one have no sympathy.

I stopped going there last century when it went trendy and expensive. Kicked the cheap places out ( like Charlie's hut ), destroyed the old Ark bar and built horrid concrete places everywhere.

Couldn't believe it last time I sailed past on the ferry to Phangan- concrete villas destroying every hillside. Used to be a great place to holiday- Chaweng is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, but ruined by greed and aircraft.

Only people to blame are the Thais that destroyed it to get rich.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Thai greed, no sympathy from me.

kharma is a beach!????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Samui has gone down hill well before covid. I'll say since 2016

It's not AS bad as this shows - not everywhere anyway. Chaweng is deserted yeah; Maenam on the other hand not nearly as much, although there's still a metric crapton of property staying empty. Some hotspots at Maenam are fully booked (Treehouse for example). Actually saw a pretty expensive beachfront villa occupied today to my surprise. Bophut, Lipa Noi are somewhere in between - not a full ghost town like Chaweng, but still even less activity than Maenam. Ban Tai has *some* people at times (non-Thai that is, Thais are often there). Crystal Bay has people at all times, however few they might be compared to normal. 

 

The empty beaches are sure nice though if you don't yearn for the crowded hellhole that's been Chaweng for the past 5+ years. I sure don't.

 

To get a measure of non-Thai activity, just come to Makro Chaweng some time in the evening; it's not crowded but there's quite a bit of farangs. Overall probably in the ballpark of 1/5th of low season numbers.

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

A taxi driver told the media he would normally get 1,000 to 2,000 baht a day. He now gets nothing. 

The strings. On my heart. Are pulled.

 

Is there some sort of donation account set-up so I can donate some money to him. 

Koh Samui is a ghost town. Friday night everything was closed, there are no tourists at all.

RIP ...  KS.

All these islands and towns that have been ruined is a crying shame. Thanks to the idiocy of authorities, the lack of planning permission has turned these places into ugly dumps . They want high class tourism , what a laugh.

11 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Koh Samui is a ghost town. Friday night everything was closed, there are no tourists at all.

RIP ...  KS.

Let me help you with a small geography lesson.

Chaweng is a ghost town. It is just one village on Koh Samui.

The other villages on Samui are carrying on. Bangrak, Bophut, Maenam - the areas where people live instead of the one area where tourists party, are coping.

Nowhere in thailand is a party place at the moment, but all of the places where I eat and drink are still open. These are places that cater for locals instead of tourists.

Yes, they could all use more customers. Tell me anywhere in Thailand that couldn't.

great. i just put a down payment on a beer bar. sight unseen. guaranteed big income they said. 

1 hour ago, Davo369 said:

Samui has gone down hill well before covid. I'll say since 2016

It started long before 2016, right then when the first McSh*t and *sucks turned up.

I used to live there. It was beautiful. Then life happened. 

I agree with most of the negative comments. For those who have seen Samui over the past 10-20 years, the current Samui is a bombed out Beirut. I’ve been visiting for the past 15 years, and the trend was for rich thai corps to buy out small resorts, rebuild, and triple prices. (And also for foreign "developers" to come in and plant overpriced “villas” all over pristine hillsides). There seems to be no control on building, and there are at least 3 times the amount of abandoned, decrepit buildings than buildings that seem to actually have someone attending to them. Currently, it seems that 80% of the businesses are currently closed.

 

Currently, I go to a Samui beach every day with my father and his assistant, whether it’s bang rak, maenam, or bang po, and I seldom see more than 20 people on the entire beach over an hour period.  Chaweng and Lamai are more populated but still very sparse. Bantai and Bang Po remain very nice beaches but the water is much less clear than it was years ago -- fish / shrimp farms? general pollution?. (Don’t believe the tourist photos, they are ALL photoshopped). 

 

For anyone who has traveled the world, there are at least a hundred islands that are better than samui for living or visiting; many of those are in the Caribbean. What Samui does still have are some nice thai people, and their thai culture, modest prices (e.g. bangkok prices) AND very good weather (for Thailand) 10 months of the year. But it’s sad to see what wanton development has done to the place. A lot of the wiser folks have moved on. 

 

HOWEVER, speaking of “wanton” or “wonton” rather, compare Koh Samui to most Chinese cities and it’s a paradise. So one possibility is that the mainland Chinese will come in and buy things up and make it their own, complete with new security laws….haha (not!).

 

PS: any other recommendations? I was in Phu Quoc last year, and it was 1/2 the price of Thailand and there were some very nice beaches, however, wanton development is occurring there too, to a bizarre extreme. 

It may be an overpriced and spoiled/soiled place.

 

But many of the posts here seem to imply that the reason it's deserted is somehow because of that, and that it's doom is guaranteed because of that.

 

It's deserted, temporarily, because of COVID.......that's all.

 

 

Is Kho Samui hospital getting many foreigners not paying their bills now? prolly none

1 hour ago, ayahuasca said:

I agree with most of the negative comments. For those who have seen Samui over the past 10-20 years, the current Samui is a bombed out Beirut. I’ve been visiting for the past 15 years, and the trend was for rich thai corps to buy out small resorts, rebuild, and triple prices. (And also for foreign "developers" to come in and plant overpriced “villas” all over pristine hillsides). There seems to be no control on building, and there are at least 3 times the amount of abandoned, decrepit buildings than buildings that seem to actually have someone attending to them. Currently, it seems that 80% of the businesses are currently closed.

 

Currently, I go to a Samui beach every day with my father and his assistant, whether it’s bang rak, maenam, or bang po, and I seldom see more than 20 people on the entire beach over an hour period.  Chaweng and Lamai are more populated but still very sparse. Bantai and Bang Po remain very nice beaches but the water is much less clear than it was years ago -- fish / shrimp farms? general pollution?. (Don’t believe the tourist photos, they are ALL photoshopped). 

 

For anyone who has traveled the world, there are at least a hundred islands that are better than samui for living or visiting; many of those are in the Caribbean. What Samui does still have are some nice thai people, and their thai culture, modest prices (e.g. bangkok prices) AND very good weather (for Thailand) 10 months of the year. But it’s sad to see what wanton development has done to the place. A lot of the wiser folks have moved on. 

 

HOWEVER, speaking of “wanton” or “wonton” rather, compare Koh Samui to most Chinese cities and it’s a paradise. So one possibility is that the mainland Chinese will come in and buy things up and make it their own, complete with new security laws….haha (not!).

 

PS: any other recommendations? I was in Phu Quoc last year, and it was 1/2 the price of Thailand and there were some very nice beaches, however, wanton development is occurring there too, to a bizarre extreme. 

modest prices?you having a giraffe?

An off topic post about China and a reply has been removed.

 

A post trolling about prostitutes and the replies have been removed.

Look on the bright side, Bangkok Airways will be losing a bundle.

10 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The island that sold its soul for greed got its comeuppance!

I for one have no sympathy.

I stopped going there last century when it went trendy and expensive. Kicked the cheap places out ( like Charlie's hut ), destroyed the old Ark bar and built horrid concrete places everywhere.

Couldn't believe it last time I sailed past on the ferry to Phangan- concrete villas destroying every hillside. Used to be a great place to holiday- Chaweng is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, but ruined by greed and aircraft.

Only people to blame are the Thais that destroyed it to get rich.

Agree 100%. First went there in 87 and spent 2 months in a hut on Chaweng. The only nightlife place was a shack called Madonna disco. If you wanted western food or a day old Bangkok Post, a trip into Na Thon was needed.

The huts and bungalows were still owned by the locals.

In the 90s, sfter the airport was built (a death knell) the rich Thais and international investors moved in and completely changed the look and feel of the place. Professional expat types opened property agencies in cahoots with the Thai mafia who arrived from the southern provinces. The local police became an extension of the mafia.

Once a dream island was destroyed by greed as they coveted high end tourists.

 

Been back once since 2000 on a big bike southern tour and just stayed the night. Couldn't wait to leave.

 

Looking at those images in the OP, all I can think of is som nam na.

The tsunami in 2004 didn't hit Samui, but it ended up hurting it in the end.  There were about two years (less, really) of big numbers as much of the Phuket business went to the east coast instead- rather than looking at it for what it was (a temporary bump that would decrease when Phuket came back), everyone acted like it was going to last forever, with existing hotels adding rooms, new hotels entering the market, and already inflated land prices and rents going even higher.  When the inevitable downturn hit, the bank loans still had to be paid back, business owners still had to make rent, and the overpriced land had pretty much topped out, leaving speculators to hold on to an asset that wasn't making them any money.

 

Sure, the big players showed up and pulled the 5-star crowd and the high-end villas pulled decent occupancy, but the mid-level places became less profitable and the low-end places got squeezed out, and the businesses that depended on the mid/low market like small bars and restaurants likewise started doing worse, and in some cases went under (often due to big rent increases that were agreed to during the boom times).

 

IMO, that was the beginning of the real decline of Samui.

1 hour ago, H1w4yR1da said:

Agree 100%. First went there in 87 and spent 2 months in a hut on Chaweng. The only nightlife place was a shack called Madonna disco. If you wanted western food or a day old Bangkok Post, a trip into Na Thon was needed.

The huts and bungalows were still owned by the locals.

In the 90s, sfter the airport was built (a death knell) the rich Thais and international investors moved in and completely changed the look and feel of the place. Professional expat types opened property agencies in cahoots with the Thai mafia who arrived from the southern provinces. The local police became an extension of the mafia.

Once a dream island was destroyed by greed as they coveted high end tourists.

 

Been back once since 2000 on a big bike southern tour and just stayed the night. Couldn't wait to leave.

 

Looking at those images in the OP, all I can think of is som nam na.

I first went in 92, so it only took 5 years to go from your experience to 5 * resorts and the big Reggae disco etc.

Still couldn't get Bkk Post without a special order though.

Great though- nothing higher than the palm trees and low key buildings set back.

I stayed in JR Mansion first time which had a wonderful and huge open air restaurant. Burnt ( I heard by arson ) some years later. Replaced by a horrid modern shopping mall now I believe. Plenty of nice cheap places to stay and over the years I stayed in many of them, normally Chaweng village which had individual huts; cold water shower, no tv or AC which was the norm.

It was a very nice beach stay spoiled only by the aircraft flying in to land right over the middle of the best area.

Had a wide range of places to stay from 5* to cheapie bagpacker places like Charlie's Hut. I even got to visit the Ark Bar while it was the original thatch roof version

Sand was wonderful to walk on, unlike Lamai, and I used to walk half the beach each morning before most were awake.

 

I thought when I posted my first on here that I'd be slagged off by loads of posters that love Samui, but there have been surprisingly few that defend the place.

It was a great few years visiting it, but that stopped when they went trendy, expensive and stopped showing VDOs in the restaurants.

Then it was time to move over to Phangan, even though none of the beaches there had a patch on Chaweng.

Great days before greed ruined it, but they live on in my memory.

7 hours ago, Enoon said:

It may be an overpriced and spoiled/soiled place.

 

But many of the posts here seem to imply that the reason it's deserted is somehow because of that, and that it's doom is guaranteed because of that.

 

It's deserted, temporarily, because of COVID.......that's all.

 

 

I understand that, but I'm just happy that the greedies are getting it bad, even if only for a year or so. It'll never go back to what it was the first time I walked on Chaweng sand, but nature lovers lost because of greed. If they go broke it's entirely deserved, IMO.

10 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Let me help you with a small geography lesson.

Chaweng is a ghost town. It is just one village on Koh Samui.

The other villages on Samui are carrying on. Bangrak, Bophut, Maenam - the areas where people live instead of the one area where tourists party, are coping.

Nowhere in thailand is a party place at the moment, but all of the places where I eat and drink are still open. These are places that cater for locals instead of tourists.

Yes, they could all use more customers. Tell me anywhere in Thailand that couldn't.

If Cambodia and Vietnam ( and perhaps Burma ) play it right, Thailand will never recover to what it was. I'm sure the horde will be back but that's even more reason not to go there.