Phuket tourist numbers over long weekend low, as expected

[BernieOnTour]

No wonder, Phuket <deleted> it up since years.

 

Interestingly, my Thai friends have the same impression like me from Phuket:

- too expensive 

- constant rip off

- full of Mafia

[jerolamo]

20 minutes ago, malthebluff said:

 

5333 THB, that's a quarter of what a teacher earns. and the 2% doesn't make the number up enough to be influential.

But what you said as a true to look at, this value is the one some farang can use in one day, every day for some of them (and probably for some other rich, in ten minutes, every minute).
It is quite possible that it is the expense of a weekend for a Thai tourist. Not for the month.
The price of a hotel room can fall out of season and into a small hotel at 400 THB per night. Or 2800 THB per week.
The food, per day, is minimum 80 THB per person. Or 600 THB per week by rounding up.
We are 3400 THB.
1900 THB left ...
The Thai people know how to count and even the village chiefs know how to manage a penny wallet (from Bath).
The others who do not know how to manage, make credits and lose everything.
It is a reality that makes them regard foreigners as rich people because they do not visibly have the same standard of living (in addition to not having the same tastes on what seems important to them or not. ).
The point is that one crucial number is missing to understand the figures exposed: the duration.

[SupermarineS6B]

3 hours ago, Olmate said:

 Q.  180.baht too hard

No buses, no public transport. just rip off merchants,  180 bht ?  You're joking........ Luckily i had a car and a driver.......Oooooh.......  But i was looking to come back in the future for a jolly.......  Which i didn't.......  

[geisha]

10 hours ago, GlassWayOverHalfFull said:

The taxi mafia make it impossible to enjoy Phuket. Ridiculous prices mean you are confined to 1 area

That’s why I left Phuket years ago. I rented great condos, loved my friends, but being confined to one area got to me after many years of rip’off taxis and drunk ones too. It’s not worth me renting a car for 4/5 months. 

[stuarty]

34 minutes ago, geisha said:

That’s why I left Phuket years ago. I rented great condos, loved my friends, but being confined to one area got to me after many years of rip’off taxis and drunk ones too. It’s not worth me renting a car for 4/5 months. 

Why not? You can rent a car for 6000 - 8000 THB a month?!

[sekmet]

How much was the taxi fare to Patong? Did they try the jet skis? How about a presentation on time shares, that's always fun. What else? Bar fine a single mom from Isaan, take an expensive tuk tuk ride, speed boat tour to phi phi with an amped up meth induced "captain."

[stuarty]

2 hours ago, jerolamo said:

5333 THB, that's a quarter of what a teacher earns. and the 2% doesn't make the number up enough to be influential.

But what you said as a true to look at, this value is the one some farang can use in one day, every day for some of them (and probably for some other rich, in ten minutes, every minute).
It is quite possible that it is the expense of a weekend for a Thai tourist. Not for the month.
The price of a hotel room can fall out of season and into a small hotel at 400 THB per night. Or 2800 THB per week.
The food, per day, is minimum 80 THB per person. Or 600 THB per week by rounding up.
We are 3400 THB.
1900 THB left ...
The Thai people know how to count and even the village chiefs know how to manage a penny wallet (from Bath).
The others who do not know how to manage, make credits and lose everything.
It is a reality that makes them regard foreigners as rich people because they do not visibly have the same standard of living (in addition to not having the same tastes on what seems important to them or not. ).
The point is that one crucial number is missing to understand the figures exposed: the duration.

What?

[Felt 35]

14 hours ago, Venom said:

Seems the only way in is by air as the Phangna model requires a 14 day quarantine (each way) to pass!

 

The tourism and sports minister ia doing a hell of a job. ????

 

Serious, cant you drive from Bangkok and pass Phangna and further to Phuket?

Felt

[JeffinChonburi]

I think Thais also do not care for the Taxi scams in Phuket. The worst in the entire country. Hopefully the local government will finally revamp the entire taxi system there. Make it more friendly like Pattaya. 

[elgenon]

Dang! I thought that was Biden. He could afford a 14 day quarantine. And being ripped off.

 

Has the government seriously considered tackling the longstanding problems there? Maybe that would help?

[sandyf]

22 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The problem with Phuket is it's geography... too far south for most Thais to bother with.

4 days holiday - lost time at airport arrivals/departures etc etc make it nonviable to do it.

Too far for road travel.

Anyone already in the south has a plethora of alternative beach locations to stay on.

 

 

Quite, They all went to Pattaya instead, traffic congestion on Sunday was a nightmare.

[hotchilli]

25 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Quite, They all went to Pattaya instead, traffic congestion on Sunday was a nightmare.

For 4 days yes... then deserted again.

Hotels, bars, clubs, shops have to staff-up to open then what, stay empty again during the week and pay staff to stay home?

Serious changes have to be made long term, I fear end of this year is going to see many closed permanently.

 

 

[fdsa]

14 hours ago, sekmet said:

How about a presentation on time shares, that's always fun.

LOL, that's my favourite.

 

[Dermah]

On 9/8/2020 at 11:17 AM, JonnyF said:

I refuse to drink drive so I did on occasion need a TukTuk or taxi. Rarely was I quoted under 500 Baht even if you're going a few hundred metres up the road (a 50 Baht trip in a modern air con car in Bangkok). The place is a total rip off. 

 

 

500 Baht, good grief! I was living in Hong Kong and making several trips to Phuket each year.

Could catch an 8.30 morning flight and be having lunch on the beach.

We sought alternative places, mainly Vietnam which is also a shorter and cheaper flight, when the tuk tuks started being inflexible at 200 Baht a trip. 500 is just disgraceful.

[sandyf]

On 9/9/2020 at 7:43 AM, hotchilli said:

For 4 days yes... then deserted again.

Hotels, bars, clubs, shops have to staff-up to open then what, stay empty again during the week and pay staff to stay home?

Serious changes have to be made long term, I fear end of this year is going to see many closed permanently.

 

 

You mean like Bang Saen, being a Thai tourist resort usually deserted during the week.

Nothing is going to change anytime soon, the tourist sector will have to downsize to the domestic market and the country as a whole look to other forms of revenue.

Every country in the world with a dependence on tourism is facing the same problem.

Edited September 10, 2020 by sandyf

[zaZa9]

Phuket has the reputation of being super expensive amongst the Thais , and corrupt Mayors that directed and then protected the transport system were instrumental in making that happen.

Thais are in awe when they hear a 15 minute taxi ride can cost the equivalent of 3 days basic pay  , and they want no part of the aggression they fear to encounter if they refuse to pay it !

Imagine being a Thai in Bkk , and buying a bargain  600 baht each way ticket to Phuket , then paying 900 baht ( sometimes with threat s)  to get to your Kata Beach Hotel?

None of this could have happened without the protection offered by corrupt Or Bor Tors and other officials who we all know  force up the price by taking  their  %.

The army was supposed to clean this up years ago  , so they 'arrested'  the ringleaders , then pretty much left the system the same.

And what ever happened to the cases against the Mayors of Karon and Patong  accused of running a Cartel btw ? No news ...

When you have taxis charging 3 times the rate of fare that it costs in the big apple , Bangkok , then you cant expect Thais to come here. They see it as a sign that this island must be a complete rip off..

 

[bloodyholly]

39 minutes ago, zaZa9 said:

Phuket has the reputation of being super expensive amongst the Thais , and corrupt Mayors that directed and then protected the transport system were instrumental in making that happen.

Thais are in awe when they hear a 15 minute taxi ride can cost the equivalent of 3 days basic pay  , and they want no part of the aggression they fear to encounter if they refuse to pay it !

Imagine being a Thai in Bkk , and buying a bargain  600 baht each way ticket to Phuket , then paying 900 baht ( sometimes with threat s)  to get to your Kata Beach Hotel?

None of this could have happened without the protection offered by corrupt Or Bor Tors and other officials who we all know  force up the price by taking  their  %.

The army was supposed to clean this up years ago  , so they 'arrested'  the ringleaders , then pretty much left the system the same.

And what ever happened to the cases against the Mayors of Karon and Patong  accused of running a Cartel btw ? No news ...

When you have taxis charging 3 times the rate of fare that it costs in the big apple , Bangkok , then you cant expect Thais to come here. They see it as a sign that this island must be a complete rip off..

 

I believe the case against the Mayor of Patong was dropped after he ‘shuffled off his mortal coil’ a number of years ago. In saying that, according to some local gossip ???? it is said he’s been spotted in Dubai recently (again)????????????????

[KarenBravo]

On 9/8/2020 at 11:10 PM, JeffinChonburi said:

I think Thais also do not care for the Taxi scams in Phuket. The worst in the entire country. Hopefully the local government will finally revamp the entire taxi system there. Make it more friendly like Pattaya. 

The Army tried.............and failed.

[schlog]

47 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

The Army tried.............and failed.

But in 2020 Gov/Army are squezzing their balls. Intersting to watch who will win that game on HKT.

[geriatrickid]

On 9/7/2020 at 8:46 PM, Geoffggi said:

Maybe not, a friend of mine went to Koh Chang and said many Thai's were sharing rooms with 6-8 people in each room ..!!

Adult film production?

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, KarenBravo said:

The Army tried.............and failed.

When they also saw how much money was being made from the extortion/scams/backhanders they decided to join in, rather than fight the powerful people already pulling the strings here.

 

One of the owners of a nightclub was quite relieved because he thought he was going to be put out of business by the army, although he was still paying the BIB hefty monthly sum, however was very relieved when the army folk suggested a similar payment to them would allow him to stay open until the late hours!

 

People say that corruption is endemic in Thailand, I would probably suggest changing that to genetic!