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

[Colabamumbai]

Too many overpriced rooms. Sympathy for the devil. 

[Xonax]

Domestic travel will never make up for the missing overseas tourists, simply because Thai´s will not pay the inflated Farang prices everything is based on. Many hotels and resorts in tourism hot spots have been acquired at inflated prices, with the hope that the possibility of charging inflated Farang prices would never dry out.

Tourism will never be the same again, as a brand new kind of tourists will only travel to areas, where they can keep a safe distance to others, instead of staying in overcrowded places like Patong and Pattaya. In addition they will probably prefer destinations, where they will be able to travel home by other means, if the airports should be closed again. But to me it seems like most tourism businesses in Thailand have done nothing to change the concept of mass tourism.

This weekend I was at a travel fair in Bangkok and saw many representatives for hotels and resorts NOT wearing masks. And one male Thai visitor in a blue shirt walked around coughing like crazy, with the mask placed under his chin.

Edited September 9, 2020 by Xonax

[ChipButty]

One place I know has put up his prices and this is a farang not Thai maybe he has been here to long

[Sharp]

2 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

One place I know has put up his prices and this is a farang not Thai maybe he has been here to long

Oh dear I feel your correct!

[mike1967]

18 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

Phuket is by far the best place to live in Thailand. Stunning beaches, malls and cinemas, clean air, local markets with great food, a beautiful house with private pool for less than 25k a month, motorbike trips to nearby Trang, Krabi and Phang Nga. Nothing beats living in Phuket imho. Especially since Covid, its an absolute paradise. Coming here as a tourist is a totally different story of course. Would never advise people to holiday 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by mike1967
Deleted

[hotchilli]

1 hour 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 !

 

 

A nice thought, but that all takes money to do.

This government is cash strapped... the pot is empty, the family silver is gone, and fresh out of ideas.

As for paying wages to an army of unemployed that ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

[PatOngo]

19 hours ago, Matzzon said:

I am so happy that you hung on to the thought they I didn´t know that.

 

23 hours ago, Matzzon said:

I don´t understand anything!

I admire your honesty!

[Matzzon]

11 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

 

I admire your honesty!

Things taken out of context again. I admire you way of always doing that.

[trainman34014]

1 hour 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 !

 

 

Many Thai's don't like the kind of work you speak of and expect Burmese and Cambodian workers to do those jobs.   Let's be honest; many Thai people think it's below them to bend down and pick up their own rubbish, they will walk over rubbish for days right outside their home and never clear it up !

[ChipButty]

24 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

A nice thought, but that all takes money to do.

This government is cash strapped... the pot is empty, the family silver is gone, and fresh out of ideas.

As for paying wages to an army of unemployed that ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

A lot of them who are unemployed have never paid 1 baht in tax and are complaining they cant get the handouts, I know of one family 

[ChipButty]

6 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

Many Thai's don't like the kind of work you speak of and expect Burmese and Cambodian workers to do those jobs.   Let's be honest; many Thai people think it's below them to bend down and pick up their own rubbish, they will walk over rubbish for days right outside their home and never clear it up !

Or, throw it over the wall

[yellowboat]

What part of being scr*wed don't they get?    There is not a significant middle class in Thailand that can replace all those tourists.   Foreigners do not want to quarantine in Thailand and back home.   There is no "high season" this year.   It is no season, and the government lower tourist numbers for years, picking and choosing who could stay how long, while Vietnam is bouncing back fast.  

[Percy P]

2 hours ago, joecoolfrog said:

Yes obvious , so what is the government doing to help ?

Government,Immigration aren't being helpful with the visa amnesty . They've given until 26th September then get out of Thailand they can't wait for the date to arrive so they can fine tourists 500Baht a day overstay. My be you could get a visa in Phuket .

[lensta]

2 hours ago, joecoolfrog said:

Yes obvious , so what is the government doing to help ?

One of the main problems is that the people making decisions that affect the people of Thailand are not affected by the decisions that they make themselves. Has one government minister lost his job because they locked down the country, imposed curfews etc? This all leads to the next problem, Cha Cha and his band of............ (fill in the blank) just don't give a <deleted> about anyone but themselves.

[Lacessit]

There is not going to be a high season. International tourists are not going to wear all the hoops they have to jump through currently, and the 14 day quarantine here may well be mirrored when they get back to their home country.

The Thai government has a tin ear, as long as they can buy the military toys the rest of Thailand is irrelevant to them.

[Billy Bloggs]

Well saw prices for the Phuket Model and the hotels were doing a great job at price gouging so they will reap what they sow.

 

[Pinot]

I'm a 10 years Phuket resident who is currently living in Ko Samui for a month to avoid Phuket's wettest month. By the way the one bedroom villa with pool is 7000 baht for the MONTH. I live in Kamala and have seen what was a beautiful beach town be completely destroyed by over-building. Kamala is now the most polluted and worst beach on the island. I'm looking to get out. This wash-out of the tourist industry will not save Kamala at this point no matter how many hotels go out of business. It truly is an environmental disaster. The Montazure development has particularly been a culprit in this with multiple hotels and condos projects that still remain under construction with foreign investors. I would love to see these projects shuddered. Som Nom na. 

[fulhamster]

So with zero tourists, Phuket hotels are preparing for a high season that won't ever come, by doubtless increasing prices.

Surefire way to ensure that the hotels stay empty.

 

Also noticed a couple of Pattaya golf courses announcing that high season starts next month........... Good Luck !!!

[ChipButty]

I thought Christmas and New Year might be ok we did have some good bookings, all cancelled, Thanks!

[Susco]

10 minutes ago, Pinot said:

By the way the one bedroom villa with pool is 7000 baht for the MONTH

With private pool for 7000 a month?

 

Possible to post some pictures?

[mjakob007]

2 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. 

Handouts would earn loyalty and justify economic meltdown...

 

creating employment opportunities would lead to enabled and confident populace.

[stuarty]

1 hour ago, Xonax said:

This weekend I was at a travel fair in Bangkok and saw many representatives for hotels and resorts NOT wearing masks. And one male Thai visitor in a blue shirt walked around coughing like crazy, with the mask placed under his chin.

A blue shirt?  How dare he?

[tonysilly]

What about Aonang Krabi?? No tourist, 1,000 of staff not working and no money!!! Samui too. 

[chilli42]

19 hours ago, eezergood said:

where was that again? 

Well, I think we all know that is just one of the many lies and narratives we have been fed.

[Guderian]

Perhaps if the tourism minister hadn't touted turning Phuket into a latter-day plague pit then at least some Thai tourists might go there!

 

Given how busy Pattaya was over the long "Songkran-substitute" weekend, the solution is simple: the government declares a three-day week and then every weekend will be a long holiday weekend. The workers are happy, the hotels are happy (apart from those in the plague pit, lol), and nobody notices any reduction in productivity as most government workers don't do anything anyway. 

[TheFishman1]

The taxi is the hotels everything there is overpriced TIT

[ChipButty]

22 minutes ago, Susco said:

With private pool for 7000 a month?

 

Possible to post some pictures?

Thats including electric

[bkk6060]

Most of the money is in BKK.

Hua Hin and Pattaya are doing OK on these long weekends.

BKK folks can drive in a couple of hours, be at the beach and enjoy a few days off.

Why go thru the hassle of a flight to Phuket or Chiang Mai? They are totally dead.

Domestic tourism will not support these places.

Edited September 9, 2020 by bkk6060

[ChipButty]

3 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Most of the money is in BKK.

Hua Hin and Pattaya are doing OK on these long weekends.

BKK folks can drive in a couple of hours, be at the beach and enjoy a few days off.

Why go thru the hassle of a flight to Phuket or Chiang Mai?  I don't blame them.

Domestic tourism will not support these places.

We had some family drive from BKK to Phuket it's a long trip there and back

[GeorgeCross]

18 hours ago, jaiyen said:

This goes to prove that even the Thai people think Phuket is a sh**hole !  The island has been raped and ruined by developers and hotel operators and greedy people in all walks of life. In the future it will be the quiet island it was 20 years ago.

 

my wife totally agrees lol - try as i might she will not go there for a holiday.

contrary to popular thought there is a section of thai society that decries ripoffs (in all forms) just as much as we do.

 

krabi is about as close as she will go ????