Phuket: Thais in poverty because foreign tourists stopped coming - island's tourism obliterated

[GinBoy2]

10 minutes ago, DUNROAMIN said:

They seem to be forgetting the rest of the world is in the same boat. Nobody is going anywhere until everybody is vaccinated.

Totally agree.

 

To me this a totally a**ss backwards argument.

 

You can vaccinate the entire population, but that in itself doesn't mean tourists return.

 

Western countries are grappling with their own crisis' and outbound travel restrictions.

 

Then couple that with the fact that many Western families will be dealing with the financial disaster that this whole nightmare has wrought for a while. So doubt a trip to Thailand is an the agenda.

 

So maybe, just maybe by the end of the year travel will free up and some sex tourists and guys trying to return to family might show up, but we are a long long way, away from normality, and the 'normal' tourist returning 

[Mavideol]

22 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Thai Rath reported that 10.6 million foreign tourists visited Phuket in 2018

I personally don't feel any sorry for them, they exploited us (tourists & expats) as much they could, if they didn't know how to save/manage their money it's their problem, they have nobody else to blame but themselves and their own government

 

as an example, back November 2019 had some friends visiting, they stayed in Krabi and wanted to visit Phi Phi, they asked me to buy the tickets and at that time was charged (From Ao Nang to Phi Phi) 700 baht round trip speed boat per person and an additional fee of 400 baht per person for a so called "Park entry fee" I asked what that was and the poor unconvincing explanation was that every body has to pay 400 baht to visit Phi Phi, then I ask for receipts and was provided with the speed boat receipts but no Park entry fee receipts available, with us on the boat  were a total of 16 people  x 400 = 6,400  baht and we were asked to pay in cash, where that money went???? now this is from Krabi and when we arrived at Phi Phi maybe 20+ speed boats there and some with more people then ours and some with less as well, I imagine the same must have happened in Phuket and maybe the trip from Phuket is more expensive or maybe the park entry fee is the same, how many boats a day did Phi Phi received and that would be a 7 day a week 30 day month income, all cash, who got that money, quite sure the tour operators got the higher % of it, why are they crying out the blues now, they should revised their way of exploiting tourists/expats and maybe we will start to give them good comments and ratings and that may help some tourists get more confident in coming here because as it stands now many of the people I know don't intend to come back any time soon

 

 

[jak2002003]

34 minutes ago, UncleE said:

People in Chiang Mai just say stuff like this to try and hurt tourism in Phuket and boost theirs.   Those who cut others to gain benefit are well...  Leave it to the readers.

 

Last time I was in Chiang Mai I asked some people who make comments like that how long since they've been to Phuket.    They just sat there looking stupid with thumbs up the U know what.

 

Fact of the matter, I have houses in Phuket and Mae Phim Beach Rayong.   The prices in restaurants are about the same, so on and so forth.  When I've visited Chaing Mai I found no appreciable differences in price if compare apples to apples (you know a restaurant where they actually know what Equal is for coffee sugar substitute etc.).     If you walk into a nice resort in Chiang mai old town you're gonna pay more than Phukets , main tourist areas.   And outside the tourist area it's the same as being outside the tourist area in Phuket.   And then of course there's Makro, and all the mainstream stores where prices are exactly the same in Phuket or anywhere else.

 

Then compare airports, anybody care about standards???   Sure there's the taxi problem, but you can rent a car from Hertz Thailand at the airport for exactly the same price in Phuket as Chiang Mai,  6-700 baht/day.  Anybody who doesn't have that shouldn't be traveling anyway.

 

Guessing with over 15K posts the Op just spends his time spinning off fake news like Trumpers do.

 

Nuff Said.

We have a house in Phuket on the East coast, and a house in Chiang Mai.

 

Our experience is totally the opposite of what you claim.

 

We live similar lifestyles and eat / drink the same foods and drinks at similar style places in both CM and Phuket...and Phuket is more expensive...from the cheap Thai pre cooked foods from local outdoor markets to the price of beer and spirits at local Thai bars outside the tourist areas.  

 

There are very few times we thought we were overcharged or 'conned' in CM, but lost count of the times that happened in Phuket. 

 

Having said that we still like both places. 

[Bobydog]

22 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Dare we ask where all those millions they earned in previous years have gone ?   They are so good at gouging the people that visit but not one thought of 'saving for a rainy day' ever comes to mind.

Aside from that we have always been told down the years that Thailand is not a Tourist reliant country and in fact tourism is a quite small contributor to the overall economy !

Not only that but reports in Thai Newspapers reported that from polls taken, foreign visitors were not welcome and not needed. While I was caught up in the shut down in Thailand between March and end May last year, we were referred to as "Aliens". For the record and despite all the <deleted> in your papers, Australians are not allowed to travel overseas without a permit, tourism not allowed. You can thank the utter incompetence of your Government for this problem. Ask the Generals for a hand out and see how far you get on.

[BenDeCosta]

Last time I was in Phuket, I caught them "miscalculating" my bill several times, the taxi fares were crazy and when I asked the taxi driver to take me to a cheap hotel he took me to an Ibis who wanted 3000 a night, no doubt with a kickback to him. It's a shame because the beaches are beautiful, but I won't ever be going back.

[petermach]

22 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Perhaps during these poverty stricken times, Phuket needs to revisit poor treatment of tourists, scams and all the other bad things. 

 

22 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Perhaps during these poverty stricken times, Phuket needs to revisit poor treatment of tourists, scams and all the other bad things. 

 

[daejung]

22 hours ago, andy said:

LOL, you could vaccinate the entire population of Phuket tomorrow and there will still be zero tourists coming as long as quarantine requirements remain in place.  Quarantine = no tourists, what an incredibly difficult concept to comprehend - maybe in 2027 a light bulb will go on and someone in power will get it...

I hoped I could come back before my extension of stay expires. Now it's expired and I have to ask for a new visa so, as long as there is quarantine, whatever the number of days, covid-19 insurance and COE, I will not come back.

[petermach]

Now I can go from Rawai to airport  with taxi for 700 baths which should be  the normal price  with or without Covid , I am not sad at all for taxis asking me between 1000 and 1200 baths before covid.

[spidermike007]

Phuket and Samui have been particularly hard hit by the economic shutdown, and the tourism shutdown. It is not entirely the fault of the collapse of international tourism. Domestic tourism could have been kicking now, if the hapless army had not allowed the 2nd wave to hit. 

 

Prayuth is largely to blame for this, as he was obsessed with the optics of a lockdown, even if it was only one province. This has led to thousands of cases, the loss of millions more jobs, and an utter demolition of the domestic tourism industry. As far as international tourism goes, it is anyone's guess when that will start to revive, and how many years it will take to even get back to 20% of the former levels. I am guessing no more than 5 to 8 million tourists annually, even four or five years from now. 

 

If a tourist wanted to venture to an island destination, they are all devastated by this shutdown. Was recently in Samui. 85% of the hotels were closed. Most restaurants, alot of bars, shops and other businesses were closed many permanently. Granted, there are some great hotel bargains right now. But, that environment is fairly depressing, seeing so much hardship. So, the lame authorities here need to wrap their minds around that. Tourists would be coming to a hugely diminished destination. Free quarantine? Might be a good place to start. Make some sacrifices, you incompetents. Visits without any quarantine? Just testing and vaccination? Smart policy. No program requiring quarantine is ever going to attract more than 20,000-50,000 tourists a year. Period. 

 

Plus, there were issues and problems that were becoming apparent long before Covid. And none were being addressed. That is part of my point. Tourism had been declining for years already. The numbers were up. But the quality of tourist was way down. And according to everyone I spoke to last year, the year before and the year before that, income was way, way down. So, "this blame it all on Covid scenario" is somewhat disengenuous. Sure, Covid is huge. And the drop now is stunning. But, my point is there were plenty of issues prior to Covid. And are any of them being addressed?

Having lived on Samui for nearly a decade, some years back (the golden years of Samui, perhaps), I too felt some of the same sentiments, on my recent visit. Very hard to see the locals suffering like this. Hundreds of hotels, restaurants, stores, galleries, pharmacies, opticians (Samui already had way too many!), massage shops, and other businesses have already closed permanently, and I am told that most which have "under renovation" signs on them, are closed for good too. Lamai and Chaweng are particularly hard hit. Bank Rak, Bhoput, and Maenam do not feel quite as devastated. It does feel a bit like visiting after some sort of apocalypse. 

There does not appear to be any end in sight for the Southern Islands. Domestic tourism has now been wrecked due to a very poor reaction by Anutin and the administration, with regard to the need for a total shutdown of Samut province, which happened far too late, after the latest outbreak. It was total and abysmal failure. Oh, can I go to prison for saying that? 

 

 

[polpott]

22 hours ago, gravity101 said:

However her comparison of Maldives and Phuket being similar is ridiculous. There are travel requirements for Maldives,

Only requirement for a tourist entering the Maldives is a negative PCR test within 72 hours of travel. No quarantine. Far different in Phuket.

[BenDeCosta]

One of my friends here used to work at a restaurant and bar in Samui and used to make fairly decent money by Thai standards, easily enough to support her family, but after pawning everything with value that she owned hoping that everything would recover, she ended up having to return to the family home in a small Isaan village.

 

She left her possessions in Samui, thinking that in a month or two, things would pick up and she could return, but when it didn't happen, she had to return to Samui to collect her remaining possessions and hand the keys back to her landlord. She said the place was devastated and looked like a war zone. It's really sad what is happening to these people, many have literally lost everything and not because of the virus, but because of the worldwide over-reaction to something that is so "dangerous" that you need a test to know that you've got it.

[hansnl]

Yes, the western tourists left, and it is questionable if they will come back.

It all boils down to profit maximisation by the rich, the poor took away too much.....

The western tourists came for the little people, not for the rich.

And Chinese come only one time, they are not coming back time and time again like the western tourists.

Everybody lost, even the Chinese investors..

[cyril sneer]

had planned on visiting there next month on holiday but flights are 6000 baht return each

 

no thanks

[polpott]

4 minutes ago, BenDeCosta said:

She said the place was devastated and looked like a war zone. It's really sad what is happening to these people, many have literally lost everything and not because of the virus, but because of the worldwide over-reaction to something that is so "dangerous" that you need a test to know that you've got it.

If only that were true. more than 2.7 million dead people worldwide would disagree with you.

 

Only 89 dead in Thailand. Why? So called over-reaction which has saved many lives.

[kwilco]

23 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Perhaps during these poverty stricken times, Phuket needs to revisit poor treatment of tourists, scams and all the other bad things. 

I think your logic is a bit flawed, how can they treat tourists better if there aren't any?

Are you suggesting they deserve to be poor because of a perceived failing in customer service?

[kwilco]

11 minutes ago, hansnl said:

Yes, the western tourists left, and it is questionable if they will come back.

It all boils down to profit maximisation by the rich, the poor took away too much.....

The western tourists came for the little people, not for the rich.

And Chinese come only one time, they are not coming back time and time again like the western tourists.

Everybody lost, even the Chinese investors..

Chinese represent about half of all visitors to Thailand....I don't think Phuket is an exception.

[BenDeCosta]

35 minutes ago, polpott said:

If only that were true. more than 2.7 million dead people worldwide would disagree with you.

 

Only 89 dead in Thailand. Why? So called over-reaction which has saved many lives.

 

But it has been shown to only be really dangerous to the elderly, the overweight, and people with pre-existing morbidities. Why couldn't we just have sheltered these people and allowed everyone else to continue their lives, and keep the economies going? When HIV and AIDS were identified, we didn't have these authoritarian lockdowns. When the Spanish flu happened, we didn't have economy-crippling authoritarian measures introduced. The over-reaction in many western countries is killing more than it's saving because people are not being screened for cancer, more people are commiting suicide because they've lost everything, but now it's just covid covid covid, it's insane.

 

2.7 million dead is 0.03% of the worlds population! And I would suggest that most of these deaths have been falsely attributed to covid to bump up the figures so that governments can justify bringing in these crazy measures that they will inevitably use again in the future whenever they feel like it.

 

They was an example of a guy who tested positive for covid in the UK, and died when he fell off a ladder and banged his head. Of course, it was attributed as a covid death.

 

Yes, Covid has apparently killed 0.03% of the world's population and I would suggest that in at least half of these deaths, the death was falsely attributed to covid just to push the figures so it's more like 0.015%. Covid is being used by governments to bring in more powers, more control and to "normalise" lockdowns and draconian police powers.

 

In normal times, 150,000 people die every day worldwide from non-Covid issues. Do your own maths, there are not any extra deaths from covid, it's just that the deaths are all being attributed to Covid to push an agenda.

[baansgr]

11 hours ago, Old Croc said:

The big money that workers earned in Phuket during the halcyon days helped the economy all over Thailand. The majority of tourism workers came from villages and towns in Isaan and many other rural areas. Their high wages flowed back to their families and the local economies. Phuket, Pattaya and other major tourism centers have emptied out because the workers have returned to their villages where all will be feeling the strain of lost income.

Phuket is an Island, but not a self contained country hoarding it's wealth within it's borders. Tourism tax dollars flow back to the capital and helps pay for all the roads, trains, and facilities enjoyed in other areas.

To gloat and revel in the loss of a major industry that drew huge international funds into the country shows a lack of critical thinking and a failure to grasp basic economic concepts. What if it was rice exports that were suddenly obliterated? Would that invoke glee because a few make massive profits from it?

Of course Phuket was expensive! There were ripoffs, particularly with public transport. This is Thailand, a few big players will always put self interest and greed ahead of the national good. That's what happens in an autocracy.

Where do you people with your heads in the sand actual live?

I didn't know win taxis were classed as big players...come to think of it nor tuk tuks, souvenir shops, restaurants, bars, beach vendors...all classed as big players..

[Rimmer]

A totally ridiculous troll post has been removed

[Jonathan Swift]

On 3/20/2021 at 7:23 PM, bwpage3 said:

Perhaps during these poverty stricken times, Phuket needs to revisit poor treatment of tourists, scams and all the other bad things. 

mmmmmmm ya think? Hello, Phuket? You listening? . . . . . . . (silence). Unfortunately, I think that those kinds of issues exist on a different plane from the direct effects of the pandemic. Rooting them out would require some cohesive leadership which would HAVE to come from the local business leaders, who would HAVE to acknowledge that part of the problem  and be willing to tackle it head on. By its nature, mistreatment of tourism is a multi headed snake and to even acknowledge it is to lose face. Is there courage enough to look at it anyway? How about courage/business sense being on the same page? Very tough prospect indeed. Needs more publicity methinks

[Ventenio]

change the name from Phuket to Jet Ski Scam and make big money!!

funny how tourists are treated like garbage and ATM......and then people wonder why these ATM's don't want to rush back, quarantine, and get suckered again.

 

Thailand has jumped the shark

[ChipButty]

1 hour ago, petermach said:

Now I can go from Rawai to airport  with taxi for 700 baths which should be  the normal price  with or without Covid , I am not sad at all for taxis asking me between 1000 and 1200 baths before covid.

Baht,

[impulse]

20 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

"Phuket had the highest standard of living in the south in 2019 with average income of 400,000 baht a person. "

Misleading average value.

 

Picture a house on a hill, overlooking a town of 10,000 paupers.  If the guy in the house on top that hill makes $1 billion a year, and the paupers all make $100 a year, the average income in the town is $100,100.  Hardly representative.

 

The most appropriate value to use is median income- where half the town makes more, half makes less-, which would be $100 a year in the hypothetical pauper town with the guy on a hill.  I suspect it's the same in Phuket...

 

[DBath]

“Because foreign tourists stopped going because of the pandemic. 

It relied on foreigners and when they stopped coming their standard of living - the highest in the south - went completely down the pan...”

 

I’m sorry, but is this supposed to be new news to anyone? 

[koolkarl]

Getting rid of the  quarantine is the best start plus cancel the expensive insurance requirements.

This is a huge deterrent.  The Thai government can't have it all ways.  I believe the foreigners who

visit or live in Thailand, pay their medical bills; few don't which is immaterial. 

Governments exist for one main reason, to make all people's lives miserable.

[digibum]

I’ve been reading stories like this for the last year.  The whole country should risk endangering itself so the folks in Phuket (and Pattaya, and Samui, etc) can make money.  
 

A year of seeing TAT propose brain dead ideas in the media only to get shot down by medical officials.  
 

I don’t take joy in what is happening to the people in these areas, but maybe this should be a wake up call that they need to diversify the economies in these tourism hotspots.  
 

It says a lot that in the past year that there has been few proposals to bring other industries to these places, and almost no progress along those lines, but every week there’s renewed demands to turn the tourist faucet back on.  

[DBath]

1 hour ago, cyril sneer said:

had planned on visiting there next month on holiday but flights are 6000 baht return each

 

no thanks

Wow, that’s like $180 USD. Let me know when you can get cheaper than that. 

[sabai-dee-man]

Where are all the TV apologists and Thai officials that claimed tourism was just a tiny insignificant proportion of GDP now?

[rangerboy]

On 3/20/2021 at 7:23 PM, bwpage3 said:

Perhaps during these poverty stricken times, Phuket needs to revisit poor treatment of tourists, scams and all the other bad things. 

Should have saved for a rainy day its not just thais here that are skint what about the farangs thqt have busineses here that have gone to the wall 

[metisdead]

A Covid conspiracy post has been removed.