Phuket hotels fighting for their lives as domestic tourism fails to support the island

[Sean60]

The crises is not only in Phuket. It is also in Pattaya and Koh Samui.

Here is Samui we are suffering from lack of tourist and the island is also disappearing.

On top of it we have the beloved Bangkok airways with high ticket prices which has put a dead hand on this island for long time.

Perhaps it is time to change strategy.

We need large amount of tourists to come to Thailand in order for economy to boost. We also know that there WILL not be a significant number of tourists coming if we have quarantine in place.

There is no vaccine yet and it will take another year before we can have it available for people once we have a vaccine.

The strategy must be that we need to live with covid-19.

Boost the hospital beds. Make sure tourists have sufficient insurance and start allowing people in.

Perhaps not from USA but Germany and england and some other European countries would be good countries to open the doors to.

Waiting and doing nothing will not help.

[EvetsKram]

Forget about all the tourism operators,  that's dead for quite a while yet.  Why not help the huge numbers of ordinary Thai  people who have lost everything they had

[JaneM]

3 hours ago, TTSIssues said:

With all the hospitality staff out of work, rather than just giving them cash handouts, I wish the government would give them some other employment instead, in areas that are badly needed. For example, collecting rubbish, repairing / repainting schools and buildings, making the island look much more attractive than it currently does. 
 

the govt should also use this period to be sorting out infrastructure - build some new water collecting dams, expand and fix the sewerage systems, replace all the hanging wires and bury them underground, install a proper public transport system (a proper bus network like we have in Hong Kong for example)

 

personally I think it’s great that construction has stopped on most of the new hotels which are clearly not needed, and never were. So we have armies of construction workers out of work. For goodness sake use them, and fix the infrastructure during this once in a lifetime opportunity !

 

 

I agree, but it's asking way too much insight from those government clowns. 

[mickymouse1]

What help did they give the poor and how much contributions did all these hotels give to the community and islands when they were making big profit? Why should the government help them now? 

 

[anthos]

Meanwhile Turkey is open to foreign tourists as if nothing happened. They know they wouldn’t survive an empty high season.

Maldives are also welcoming tourists now.

Italy, Greece, Spain allow EU customers. UK allow even non EU travelers.

Can also go to Egypt, Tanzania.

We shall have to live with the virus for quite a while now.

Cant efficiently isolate a whole country anyway, need to adapt somehow.
Thailand had plenty of time to prepare - build an efficient testing and tracking systems, build new hospitals, develop all necessary protocols etc. Nothing has been done unfortunately.

Now facing a difficult choice - to lose the whole tourism industry or lose a supposedly virus free status.

 

Also sounds quite weird that everyone is talking about Phuket only as if Samui and other destinations don’t exist. 

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by anthos

[mejomini]

Overbuilding hotel and rental capacity, and perennial gouging of visitors is not a sustainable business model. Many will fail. I feel sorry for the many employees losing their jobs. They are the ones who should get the help. As for the owners, let them fail. The strong will survive. 

[IamNoone88]

The 17% that tourism contributes to GDP is the tail trying to wag the other 83% of the Thai economy which is recovering well. No wonder the Government does not want to risk the 83%. Phuket hotels have had it good for a long time and if they had not built up a reserve from profits during the fat period, then that is bad planning and management is accountable. Rather than hotel organisations asking for hand outs, the entire Phuket economic ecosystem needs a reset away from tourism which is clearly too many eggs in one basket. There are many other avenues the island can follow with Government investment incentives to encourage other non-tourist reliant business. 

[P100]

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

All of Thailands resorts are going to feel this for a long time to come.

It's only hope is for Phipats idea of turning them into leper colonies, but that's only if they come.... not if they're open!

End of this year is going to witness many facilities nationwide closed for good.

Exactly. And by adding lots of requirements and producing high costs almost nobody will come despite having "reopened". And just wait, more countries are planning to reopen. And then those will catch the tourists who don't go crazy about expensive insurances, lots of documents, multiple expensive tests, etc.

 

Just an example GREECE. Open for tourism. If you have to do a covid test, it is free of charge. If you got sick, the covid treatment is free of charge. And Greece is one of the poorest European countries... but they need tourism and are willing to do something for tourists! And General Chan O cha's Thailand? They still didn't get the message. They still believe they are so amazing and wonderful that the entire world will come no matter how expensive and difficult it might be. Just wait stubborn Thailand...Even you will wake up at a point in time. Tourists will not let you ripp them off...they have also suffered under Wuhan covid and they too are having tight budgets!

Edited September 9, 2020 by P100

[GeorgeCross]

6 minutes ago, P100 said:

Exactly. And by adding lots of requirements and producing high costs almost nobody will come despite having "reopened". And just wait, more countries are planning to reopen. And then those will catch the tourists who don't go crazy about expensive insurances, lots of documents, multiple expensive tests, etc.

 

Just an example GREECE. Open for tourism. If you have to do a covid test, it is free of charge. If you got sick, the covid treatment is free of charge. And Greece is one of the poorest European countries... but they need tourism and are willing to do something for tourists! And General Chan O cha's Thailand? They still didn't get the message. They still believe they are so amazing and wonderful that the entire world will come no matter how expensive and difficult it might be. Just wait stubborn Thailand...Even you will wake up at a point in time. Tourists will not let you ripp them off...they have also suffered under Wuhan covid and they too are having tight budgets!

 

in a few months we'll be able to ask them if it was worth it:

 

[SupermarineS6B]

20 hours ago, eezergood said:

where was that again? 

Lie land !   Why break the habit of a lifetime ..........

[SupermarineS6B]

13 minutes ago, P100 said:

Exactly. And by adding lots of requirements and producing high costs almost nobody will come despite having "reopened". And just wait, more countries are planning to reopen. And then those will catch the tourists who don't go crazy about expensive insurances, lots of documents, multiple expensive tests, etc.

 

Just an example GREECE. Open for tourism. If you have to do a covid test, it is free of charge. If you got sick, the covid treatment is free of charge. And Greece is one of the poorest European countries... but they need tourism and are willing to do something for tourists! And General Chan O cha's Thailand? They still didn't get the message. They still believe they are so amazing and wonderful that the entire world will come no matter how expensive and difficult it might be. Just wait stubborn Thailand...Even you will wake up at a point in time. Tourists will not let you ripp them off...they have also suffered under Wuhan covid and they too are having tight budgets!

Dead right, i'm seriously thinking about going back to the Med, spent some time in Crete years back, beautiful....... and when the euro sods off it'll be cheap again......     Yeah Thailand's lost the plot big time, but who's surprised ?  

[SupermarineS6B]

59 minutes ago, Sean60 said:

The crises is not only in Phuket. It is also in Pattaya and Koh Samui.

Here is Samui we are suffering from lack of tourist and the island is also disappearing.

On top of it we have the beloved Bangkok airways with high ticket prices which has put a dead hand on this island for long time.

Perhaps it is time to change strategy.

We need large amount of tourists to come to Thailand in order for economy to boost. We also know that there WILL not be a significant number of tourists coming if we have quarantine in place.

There is no vaccine yet and it will take another year before we can have it available for people once we have a vaccine.

The strategy must be that we need to live with covid-19.

Boost the hospital beds. Make sure tourists have sufficient insurance and start allowing people in.

Perhaps not from USA but Germany and england and some other European countries would be good countries to open the doors to.

Waiting and doing nothing will not help.

Vaccine on Samui ? I'd of thought a bullet proof vest would be more useful.......  

[LivinginKata]

3 hours ago, baansgr said:

Me, the Mrs and baby were returning to our house in Patong. Even though the Mrs told him we lived there, the taxi driver had to take us to a shop that try pressuring us to book a hotel...what idiots

 

Driver gets petrol vouchers just to bring punters through the door whether they buy or not.

[Thomas J]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

What is clear is that the 86,000 rooms in Phuket's registered accommodation establishments cannot realistically break-even or even be cash-flow positive with only domestic demand. This realistically could set the scene for 50,000 job losses in the hotel sector this year if there's no support forth coming or international visitors are not allowed in.

Gosh what a shock.  Who could have possibly guessed that. 

[spidermike007]

The dreaming continues. These ministries consider Thailand to be the center of the universe. The world cannot live without Thailand. The level of superiority within Thailand and Thai society on so many levels is obvious. The world sees that, right?

No. Wrong. The world can live without that which Thailand has to offer. And the world is a different place, post Covid. Tourism was already in decline here based on occupancy levels over the past couple of years. Now? The industry will be decimated for a long time to come. Much creativity is needed. Pipat needs to be replaced yesterday. He is without ideas and in way, way over his head. 

 

Billions have been invested  in tourism with the faith and the hope that should anything terrible happen, the government would be there, they would step in and they would do something to assist and to help both Thais and international companies that have invested billions of dollars. Instead what are they getting? Absolutely nothing, sheer timidity and an extreme and pathetic lack of courage and a do nothing attitude.

 

Do anything, just don't do nothing, we are counting on you to do something. Anything is better than what you're currently doing, which is nothing. Pathetic. Cowardly. Apathetic. Grossly incompetent. 

 

[Bobydog]

So Sad, Phuket had so much going for it with various levels of accommodation spread around the many bays etc not forgetting Jungcelon

[ChipButty]

31 minutes ago, SupermarineS6B said:

I'd of thought a bullet proof vest 

Illegal in Thailand

[ChipButty]

1 minute ago, Bobydog said:

So Sad, Phuket had so much going for it with various levels of accommodation spread around the many bays etc not forgetting Jungcelon

Jungceylon still open?

[jerolamo]

all of this speaking to said nothing new.

With some people, the only one thing who can work is to reduce the number of words to the minimum to stay not complicate to understand:

 

Pandemic is at   t h e     e n d      f i n i s h

 

the solution is easy:

1/ no more lie,

2/ no more panic,

3/ no more ASQ and gold jail obligation

4/ open the border

 

And all of this, the same day and don't move anymore.

[Eindhoven]

On 9/8/2020 at 2:39 AM, CorpusChristie said:

I don't think I ever heard anyone say "I had a nice holiday in Phukett" 

Many seem to comment on the unfriendly locals and the high prices , Thais and foreigners alike 

 

I had a nice holiday on Phuket. But I absolutely avoided the more touristy areas and found a magical place to stay, with very nice people managing it.

Wonderful community who rushed to our help in an emergency. 

The exception that proves the rule? ????

 

[0815]

5 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Just this morning we received an email from Booking.com they are in big trouble they need to make redundancy's 

We are waiting for a payment from booking.com since 2 months. No reply on Emails...

[0815]

Did these HiSo managers need half a year to start calculating their situation?

[SymS]

If tourism is not coming back at previous levels anytime soon, it's clear there are too many hotels. The government should not be involved in bailing those out.

[PEE TEE]

Not just phuket all tourist destinations are affected. its very sad  

[Madeline Thompson]

21 hours ago, Emdog said:

Domestic tourists not flocking to Phuket because they know what a rip off it is. International tourists not so much

Seems like even the chickens aren't coming home to roost

International tourists are not permitted - even if willing to quarantine for

14 days, then travel for a longer period of time in Thailand.  Foreigners are

not permitted to enter Thailand, period, end of story.  There is no plan to

lift the foreigner ban, ever.  Pragmatic attention to this nonsense has become

essential.  Change the perspective from the colossal dictates of fear and dread

into a positive one of combination of quarantine, then travel. Tourists would

just need to plan for a longer stay.  This would take clear-thinking and

organization capability on the part of the government, but it is not rocket

science.  And Thai people could get back to making their lives work again.

They're brilliant at that if given the chance.

[JusticeGB]

As long as the Government thinks that tourists will flood back with all the bureaucratic measures put in place including two weeks of effective imprisonment then there will be no tourists willing to come to Thailand. It's cheaper to go to Turkey and the flights are shorter and cheaper. Phuket is over rated and over priced and full of scam artists. 

[Caldera]

Upcoming high season? 2022?

 

[aussienam]

One of the green shoots is the Alternative Local State Quarantine program, with over 60 island properties applying. While this program is meant to emulate the ASQ program in Bangkok, given there are no direct international flights to Phuket, the government needs wider support of a return of international travellers at a local level and implement inter-ministerial coordination before it could materialise. But this may take months.

 

The continual vacillating of decisions, lack of inter-ministerial coordination, bi-polar opinions and hence no consensus and no confirmed plans, are all immensely ruinous to the Thai economy.  

The planned number of people coming to Phuket is a drop in the bucket.  It will help a handful of hotels only.  The amount of arrivals is rather insignificant.  

All along, thousands and thousands of retirees who were permanently residing in Thailand, but abroad in March have been locked out with no warning.  We are renting and owning places all over Thailand including Phuket.  But the incredibly slow ASQ process, barring most retirees from returning is just adding to the economic fallout.  Collectively billions of baht from expats being lost from barring us from coming back, but keeping retiree bank deposits.  Tourists are always mentioned, but never retirees who stay high and low seasons, spending annually much more than the average 2-3 week tourist.  

Open more ports, more ASQs, get the expat retirees back on the chartered and commercial flights - at least our misery will have ended and at least we can add our bit to the Thai economy.  Please stop ignoring us.  

 

I won't be surprised if and when I can get back that due to increasing mass poverty and hence increased crime, my place will probably have been robbed, motorbike stolen, all my the personal items taken.  Covered in mold, cockroaches and vermin probably everywhere.  I cringe to imagine.  

 

[connda]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Anthony Lark, president of the 78-property strong Phuket Hotels Association, said: “The math simply doesn’t work with single-digit occupancies being reported. No amount of induced local demand can prevent the continued loss of jobs and rapidly eroding financial crisis for owners and operators. We strongly advocate a safe, pragmatic, and strategic reopening for foreign travellers.”

He might have as well said, "We strongly advocate a safe, pragmatic, and strategic noose be tightened around our necks until we lose consciousness and expire."
That's closer to what is about to transpire.

 

This may resolve over the course of two to five year although I personally doubt it.  World leadership has chosen to jump over a cliff and drag humanity and society over the edge with them.  And interestingly enough, most people not only are not putting up a fight, but are active participants in throwing everyone else who is attempting to resist over the edge with them.
The most businesses in the Thai tourist venues aren't going to survive the next year.  All the happy talk from various ministries isn't going to change that one iota.  That doesn't mean that Thai tourism isn't going to survive in the long-run.  It will.  A "New-Normal" version that doesn't resemble anything from the past.  And guys like Anthony Lark and friends?  Unless they are very wealthy multimillionaires they aren't going to weather this storm.  Their properties will be picked up at a huge discount on the open market, through foreclosures, and via bankruptcy. And then, a new class of wealthy property owners will shape Thai New-Normal Tourism in the image that fits their business model.

Everything between now and then.  Fluff.  In the short-term it's going to continue to be "Same, same and not different" from right now.  No tourists, no income, failing business, out of work employees.  Economic downturn.  Poverty.  Except for the rich - they'll be fine. 

[SupermarineS6B]

1 hour ago, jerolamo said:

all of this speaking to said nothing new.

With some people, the only one thing who can work is to reduce the number of words to the minimum to stay not complicate to understand:

 

Pandemic is at   t h e     e n d      f i n i s h

 

the solution is easy:

1/ no more lie,

2/ no more panic,

3/ no more ASQ and gold jail obligation

4/ open the border

 

And all of this, the same day and don't move anymore.

Dead right...... Throw the doors open, drop a crate of cold beers on the floor, Pi&*, PuS^%$ and good company and the rest will follow......  As simple as that......     Everyone that used to drink at Cheap Charlies will tell you that one....... Packed every night, and all it was was basically a bar tacked onto a wall........  Packed out.......     Closed of course by the morons in green......  Thailand was never about the country, it was about the characters it attracted..........