'Affordable Phuket needs a change of image'

By The Nation

 

 

Phuket needs to rebrand its “expensive” image to stimulate tourism, as its natural environs have been rehabilitated during the lockdown, Pikun Srimahunt, chief SME Banking Officer at Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), said.

 

The price of accommodation and restaurants in Phuket now has become more affordable than before, but it is not well publicised as a result Thai people were missing an opportunity, she said.

 

SCB has launched “SCB IEP Bootcamp: The Hospitality Survival” project, which is a collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to train local entrepreneurs for three days to help them rebrand Phuket’s tourism business.

 

“Thai people believe Phuket is expensive. We have to communicate that it is no longer true since you can book three days in a Phuket hotel for around Bt4,000,” she said, adding that some places had dropped their price from Bt2,000 to Bt750.

 

The training will guide entrepreneurs to reduce 35-40 per cent of the cost and expand the market by targeting digital platforms, while SCB will help sustain the business until international tourists return.

 

Phuket normally depends on international tourists, and 10 million out of 14 million are foreigners, annually generating Bt470 billion.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/travel/30395386

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-10-01

 

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They also need to plan ahead.

Make public transport available in and around,Patong,Karon,Kata,surin and into the old city. The system that currently operates this is way to expensive. If the government operated a decent modern air conditioned small bus operation that the tourist could use without getting scammed 300 baht for a 300 meter trip,this would go a long way to improving the cities reputation. Plus start putting some of the revenue earned from this back into the local area. Tourism is a huge part of the money making machine for areas like phuket,Pattaya,but when the money goes into the hands of people that don’t put that money back into making the area a better place you end up in the situation your in now. I remember going to Singapore for a holiday and the public transport was excellent,cheap and easy to get around. Even had double decker buses with an open top,you could take a tour of the city,hop on hop off type deal. They would have different routes you could take to view the local attractions. Plus the taxi system was fair if you decided to use that option. Phuket is a fantastic place to live and visit,but the scams and overpricing destroy the image of the island. That’s another reason I assume Thais avoid the area.

To late it's in the DNA

Problem with Phuket is that they catered almost exclusively to foreign tourists. It's just not the high prices for rooms. If you wanted any kind of decent Thai food, in many places, you can't find any, just expensive watered down Thai food if you're lucky. Then you have the expensive tuk tuks and taxis, etc. It became a classic tourist trap that locals will avoid.  

Yesterday there was a post on FB a guy wanted a taxi to go from Chalong to the airport he called Grab 1700 Baht they said fares are higher due to high demand 

Phuket might get cheaper but so will the mediterranean...and the cruises....

 

Phuket was far too expensive for what it was. And even if you paid the full price it was still a half decent stay..there's only Patong, compare that to Barcelona to name something.

10 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Yesterday there was a post on FB a guy wanted a taxi to go from Chalong to the airport he called Grab 1700 Baht they said fares are higher due to high demand 

Id seriously question that comment on FB its definitely not the price on their app!

13 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Yesterday there was a post on FB a guy wanted a taxi to go from Chalong to the airport he called Grab 1700 Baht they said fares are higher due to high demand 

Anyone who pays that much is an idiot.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

'Affordable Phuket needs a change of image'

 

So that’s the problem….

 

The absence of tourists is not because the country is closed or that Phuket can be absurdly overpriced….it’s simply because they've sadly neglected to ‘rebrand their image’.

 

Once that pesky image thing is fixed…complete recovery, economic prosperity, and happiness for all is just around the corner.

 

 

17 minutes ago, Youlike said:

Phuket might get cheaper but so will the mediterranean...and the cruises....

 

Phuket was far too expensive for what it was. And even if you paid the full price it was still a half decent stay..there's only Patong, compare that to Barcelona to name something.

Considering that, in area, Patong is only 1/35th of Phuket Province, how do you justify that statement?

Is it the only place you've stayed? 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuket needs to rebrand its “expensive” image to stimulate tourism

 

translation: now the mugs have gone we need to charge fair prices

 

9 minutes ago, Hayduke said:

 

So that’s the problem….

 

 

The absence of tourists is not because the country is closed or that Phuket can be absurdly overpriced….it’s simply because they've sadly neglected to ‘rebrand their image’.

 

 

Once that pesky image thing is fixed…complete recovery, economic prosperity, and happiness for all is just around the corner.

 

 

 

plus its too far from bangkok to ever have sustainable local tourism in the numbers required

 

 

I'm not arguing against the reality that Phuket is/was very expensive and that there are/were too many selfish individuals snuffling in the trough. 

As one of the most visited places on the planet they could ask the astronomical prices because there were millions coming who paid it. Thais have never been good at long term planning when there's money to be made now. It was too expensive for the average Thai, and the Isaan farang on a pension.

It would be nice to think these unprecedented events could cause the place to evolve into a different version of itself, but I don't hold much hope that will happen.

26 minutes ago, prism said:

Problem with Phuket is that they catered almost exclusively to foreign tourists. It's just not the high prices for rooms. If you wanted any kind of decent Thai food, in many places, you can't find any, just expensive watered down Thai food if you're lucky. Then you have the expensive tuk tuks and taxis, etc. It became a classic tourist trap that locals will avoid.  

I agree 100%. 200 baht for 40 baht food. 

 

Have cheap food in Phuket, but difficult for tourist find where. 

 

Phuket tourist, generally speaking, IMO, want more than basic Thai style, plastic chairs restaurant  etc. = be more expensive. Also normal Thai food size to small for farang. They want big serve

 

80-100 baht ok for that. Big serve in design restaurant.

200 baht is to much.

16 minutes ago, Sharp said:

Id seriously question that comment on FB its definitely not the price on their app!

I would have done but he did post the page from the app

26 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

plus its too far from bangkok to ever have sustainable local tourism in the numbers required

What!  

A bit over an hour on a plane costing almost nothing. Not to mention it has it's own very busy international airport with direct links to the world. Most of the 8-9 million (pre-covid) tourists, made it one of the visited places on the planet, didn't go via Bangkok.

 

 

 

Also what drives the prices up is the rents even in the south of the island where I live and workers dont work for 300 Baht a day down here

36 minutes ago, Youlike said:

compare that to Barcelona to name something

OMG, have you been to Barcelona? There is nothing in Thailand that can compare to Barcelona, or any other city on mainland Spain. 

 

41 minutes ago, prism said:

Problem with Phuket is that they catered almost exclusively to foreign tourists. It's just not the high prices for rooms. If you wanted any kind of decent Thai food, in many places, you can't find any, just expensive watered down Thai food if you're lucky. Then you have the expensive tuk tuks and taxis, etc. It became a classic tourist trap that locals will avoid.  

It's all true but it starts with the rent and the land prices. 

And the corruption of the police and preb and the other people who think phuket belong to them. 

And they can do as they like. 

It's like levels each level each mind and sure the tuk tuks are one level somewhere. 

And now it's going to be worse as tax is applied to property after value and phuket has the highest land prices. 

Taxes like this is insane as it could possibly destroy more than it benefits especially with this government.. 

But the change have to come from the top and until now its not going to happen. 

I lived here many years but I would never spend my holidays here so why should the thais. 

But phuket have the best clima of all of Thailand 

And it's the best place for foreign tourists too if they have money for it. 

But for thais it's not like this and expensive 

And the second problem is the people with big land and money are uneducated farmers and you can't hardly expect them to fully understand what they are doing. 

And it doesn't help much that they try to educate there children it takes generations. 

Just too much for them to understand can not just look at the government that's also uneducated people who believe they actually know something as they been together with other people who are even less if possible educated. 

So not a chance they have to sit it over or go bankrupt 

 

I agree with the above poster.  Endemic corruption drives up prices for everything.  Add to the fact that land owners think renters will pay whatever price is charged and in the past they did.  This cost was passed on to the consumer.  All these "associations" need to be disbanded as a start as well as turf for said associations.  Supply and demand should eventually take care of the greedy landlords who will suddenly see their properties sitting empty for years at a time.

46 minutes ago, Yinn said:

I agree 100%. 200 baht for 40 baht food. 

 

Have cheap food in Phuket, but difficult for tourist find where. 

 

Phuket tourist, generally speaking, IMO, want more than basic Thai style, plastic chairs restaurant  etc. = be more expensive. Also normal Thai food size to small for farang. They want big serve

 

80-100 baht ok for that. Big serve in design restaurant.

200 baht is to much.

??
You eat in a beach front restaurant that caters to mostly Tourists,  or a restaurant in a large resort, you will pay Tourist prices,

Eat at any of the many local thai restaurants or at ANY of the many food courts in the malls...you pay local prices and get normal sized servings.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Youlike said:

Phuket might get cheaper but so will the mediterranean...and the cruises....

 

Phuket was far too expensive for what it was. And even if you paid the full price it was still a half decent stay..there's only Patong, compare that to Barcelona to name something.

This article is about Thai domestic tourism.

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

I would have done but he did post the page from the app

Wow!

Suprised!!

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

I'm not arguing against the reality that Phuket is/was very expensive and that there are/were too many selfish individuals snuffling in the trough. 

As one of the most visited places on the planet they could ask the astronomical prices because there were millions coming who paid it. Thais have never been good at long term planning when there's money to be made now. It was too expensive for the average Thai, and the Isaan farang on a pension.

It would be nice to think these unprecedented events could cause the place to evolve into a different version of itself, but I don't hold much hope that will happen.

Exactly. Prices are now falling only because of the demand supply effect, not because of the Phuket locals wanting to reduce their prices. They've become used to being able to charge more than you'd pay elsewhere in Thailand, because i) millions of cashed up tourists fly in every year, and ii) this puts a lot of disposable income into the pockets of many Thais. There's nothing unusual about that. It's an economic bubble, like London is in the UK. When there's lots of international business and money floating around, prices go up. 

 

The problem is, if the Phuket locals were to reduce their prices to attract average Thais, as soon as the borders open, they won't be welcome anymore and prices will shoot back up. Phuket is an economic goldmine, but one that is currently suffering from a collapsed main shaft which they're desperately trying to excavate the rubble from. 

 

Sadly, a lot of the less intelligent tourist restaurant owners haven't reduced their prices, and are still trying to charge, for example, 150-180 baht for a Thai curry. Thais aren't stupid enough to pay those prices, and the owners are too stubborn to reduce them, hence they sit there staring at their empty restaurant month after month. 

34 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

??
You eat in a beach front restaurant that caters to mostly Tourists,  or a restaurant in a large resort, you will pay Tourist prices,

Eat at any of the many local thai restaurants or at ANY of the many food courts in the malls...you pay local prices and get normal sized servings.

 

 

 

Not entirely true in Phuket. KFC for example will cost you around 15% more in Junkcelon mall in Patong than in Phuket Town's KFCs. 

12 minutes ago, Promula said:

Not entirely true in Phuket. KFC for example will cost you around 15% more in Junkcelon mall in Patong than in Phuket Town's KFCs. 

I don't go into KFC these days, but what are their prices like in a shop in a residential area away from Patong, particularly with the high rental charged in a place like JunkCeylon?

Phuket leaves a bad taste in the mouth the second you try and get a taxi into the city from the airport. The rip offs just continue throughout your stay. Everything is overpriced and restaurants selling Western food are much more expensive than those in Pattaya. I can't understand why anyone goes to that ripoff city.

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

Also what drives the prices up is the rents even in the south of the island where I live and workers dont work for 300 Baht a day down here

That's why workers flood in from all over Thailand.

The detractors can't get their heads around it, but Phuket was a major contributor to the economy of all Thailand.  

2 minutes ago, JusticeGB said:

Phuket leaves a bad taste in the mouth the second you try and get a taxi into the city from the airport. The rip offs just continue throughout your stay. Everything is overpriced and restaurants selling Western food are much more expensive than those in Pattaya. I can't understand why anyone goes to that ripoff city.

Try reading all the posts in this thread to gain a little enlightenment.

1 minute ago, JusticeGB said:

Phuket leaves a bad taste in the mouth the second you try and get a taxi into the city from the airport. The rip offs just continue throughout your stay. Everything is overpriced and restaurants selling Western food are much more expensive than those in Pattaya. I can't understand why anyone goes to that ripoff city.

You're showing an important problem there - you've referred to "Phuket" and "rip-off city" but you're probably talking about Patong. Most tourists head straight to Patong or another beach conurbation, and never look at the east side of the island where the locals live, and that includes the "city" of "Phuket".

 

Phuket city has a bus service from the airport, which although not cheap, at 100 baht it's entirely reasonable. It also has hundreds of places to eat at and dozens to drink at which are Thai priced.