The Kata and Karon areas in Phuket are still struggling with few tourists, say local business operators

[webfact]

 

By Goong Nang(GN)

 

Phuket- The Kata and Karon sub-districts in the Mueang Phuket district have not recovered like other areas in Phuket after many Covid -19 restrictions had been relieved, said local business operators yesterday, May 26th, 2022.

 

Business operators in the Kata and Karon area told the Phuket Express, “Many businesses in Kata and Karon were shut down in the past two years since the Covid -19 pandemic started. Many of these businesses are shut down even now for a variety of reasons, stemming from still ongoing restrictions around nightlife or having returned to their home provinces during Covid-19 and never returning.”

 

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“More tourists are coming to Phuket daily but not in Kata and Karon when compared to nearby areas like Patong, which has seen a significant recovery, much of it driven by nightlife converted to restaurants. With bars legally opening on June 1st in Phuket we expect Patong to get even busier but are concerned about Kata and Karon.” the local operators explained.

 

Full story: https://thephuketexpress.com/2022/05/27/the-kata-and-karon-area-in-phuket-are-still-struggling-with-few-tourists-say-local-business-operators/

 

-- © Copyright The Phuket Express 2022-05-28

 

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[CANSIAM]

Excellent, low long term rental rates and hotel rates......returning soon !

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuket- The Kata and Karon sub-districts in the Mueang Phuket district have not recovered like other areas in Phuket after many Covid -19 restrictions had been relieved, said local business operators yesterday, May 26th, 2022.

Too far south for weekend domestic travel and not enough foreign tourists to go around.

[RichardColeman]

Course not. The tourism incoming figures are a complete construct, built on returning expats, returning Thais, businessmen and Thai government officials going in and out of jolly freebie meetings abroad. That beach looks the same as Pattaya beach to me at midday for the last few months.  

[KhunLA]

Don't know why that would surprise anyone.  Nobody is going to invest, especially during rainy season, when few tourist are arriving.

[shackleton]

Yes considering its time for the rainy season coming up what tourists will be coming 

You are lookinging at November through January cool time and tourist high season 

[berrec]

Prohibited by the rip-off taxi fares charged to tourists to and from Kata and Karon.

[spidermike007]

The entire nation is suffering from a lack of tourism. 

 

You shoot the Golden Goose with 1400 rounds of lead, and it is hard to bring it back to life. You don't just announce we are open again, and tourists come flocking back. Tourism has been decimated. On Samui right now, and though it is alot busier than a year ago, it is quiet. The fortunate hotels are at 30% occupancy. 

 

The pain will be felt for years to come. If Thailand tourism recovers, it will be slow. A year or two? Three? And 5 million tourists a year by 2026? Maybe. 

[Tropposurfer]

Yep its very depressed still. Went down to Rawai to Wilsons Cafe the other morning for breaky (top Aussie styled fusion food) and both these spots was still ghostly quiet. 

[Chongalulu]

Was in Karon about 2 months ago for 11 days. A lot closed but from a tourist perspective enough restaurants and a number of bars open to suffice,so if you like relative peace and not bothered about the buzz from many being around it was better than a normal situation. Also negotiated a great discounted rate at the hotel reception after an initial 2 day booking via Booking.com which is generally unheard of ! 
Strangely though on both our speedboat tours to Similans and Phi Phi the boats were absolutely full . I thought they were good value too with discounted rates via the stall (agent) in Karon . 
 

[geisha]

I spent January and February in Kata , high season. I have many old friends there, foreign and Thai, since 1984. Business is nearly zero, the few Russians have long gone and now it’s the rainy season.

 The local authorities have done zero, nothing, to help the situation!!!!! Still no pavements, drains, I waded in water and sludge the days it actually really stormed ( unusual for this time of year too). Very little lighting at night, and with all the shops etc closed/ abandoned, I actually felt a little uneasy walking back to my condo at 9 pm after dinner. 
i would have thought the authorities would have fixed all these problems in the the 2 years of being closed down. No, they sat on their fat backsides and twiddled their thumbs. About three decent restaurants open, tho I rarely ate the seafood as it was stacked high outside and no customers to order it. Spent one day in Patong, where at least there is a bit of life. Shops, Starbucks. The two malls closed !!! Can you believe it ! 
of course, rents sky high and mean property owners rather have their shops closed than lower the rent !!!
From what I hear, Bangla rd is very busy evenings and the bars are open and have been for a while!! So I suppose the younger tourists go ther at night. 
Kata beach is beautiful, water is clean, but so are the others , even Patong. Phuket town dead, though Central Mall has all the shoppers, especially foreigners.  I was heart broken for the Phuket people who are still suffering and living from handouts, lots of foreigners help them, food banks. It all made me so depressed I cut short my stay and left for Bangkok, where I must admit I really enjoyed, nice restaurants and “ life”.

If Thailand on the whole is suffering, no need to ask where the fault lies. 

[Pattaya Spotter]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:16 PM, Tropposurfer said:

Yep its very depressed still. Went down to Rawai to Wilsons Cafe the other morning for breaky (top Aussie styled fusion food) and both these spots was still ghostly quiet. 

I live in Chalong and go to Wilson's regularly and believe me they are doing just fine...it's always half to fully full when I'm there. The same with Unnis nearby. That being said, most small businesses and hotels/guesthouses are lucky if 15-20 percent occupancy (and that's not even counting the innumerable ones that have closed for good). The owner where I'm currently staying estimates that overall business activity on her street is 10% or less than it was pre-pandemic.

[spidermike007]

On Samui now there are hundreds upon hundreds of stores, restaurants, massage shops, 7/11s, Family Marts, and hotels shuttered. Some areas worse than others. And the ones that are open are quiet. Many restaurants at the dinner hour without a soul in sight. 

 

The utter decimation is incredible. 

 

 

[billd766]

On 5/28/2022 at 7:11 AM, hotchilli said:

Too far south for weekend domestic travel and not enough foreign tourists to go around.

Welcome to the rest of un-government subsidised Thailand.

[beechbum]

5 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

I live in Chalong and go to Wilson's regularly and believe me they are doing just fine...it's always half to fully full when I'm there. The same with Unnis nearby. That being said, most small businesses and hotels/guesthouses are lucky if 15-20 percent occupancy (and that's not even counting the innumerable ones that have closed for good). The owner where I'm currently staying estimates that overall business activity on her street is 10% or less than it was pre-pandemic.

Pretty sure he's referring to Kata and Karon when he quite rightly said both spots very quiet, not Wilson's.

[KhunLA]

8 minutes ago, beechbum said:

Pretty sure he's referring to Kata and Karon when he quite rightly said both spots very quiet, not Wilson's.

Would imagine, as with everywhere, those businesses that target a good customer base, and provided a good product for good price are doing fine.

 

Those that relied on intern'l tourist, didn't provide value for price ... oh well. 

 

When we were down there a few times, the past 2 ish years, our favorite vendors were doing just fine, when most others were shuttered.

[Pattaya Spotter]

4 hours ago, beechbum said:

Pretty sure he's referring to Kata and Karon when he quite rightly said both spots very quiet, not Wilson's.

He specifically said both Rawai and Wilson's were "deathly quiet." As for his general point, I agreed saying in my area, like others, business is still off up to 90% from pre-pandemic levels.

[Pattaya Spotter]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

On Samui now there are hundreds upon hundreds of stores, restaurants, massage shops, 7/11s, Family Marts, and hotels shuttered. Some areas worse than others. And the ones that are open are quiet. Many restaurants at the dinner hour without a soul in sight. 

 

The utter decimation is incredible. 

 

 

Is this some revelation to you...it's been like this in tourism dependent resort areas for over 2 years now (Gulf islands, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Ko Samed, Phuket-Phi Phi-Krabi-Lanta, Chiang Mai/Rai) and even little Ko Lipe where I am now. It will be up to a decade before these areas fully recover (if ever).

Edited May 29, 2022 by Pattaya Spotter

[beechbum]

6 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Would imagine, as with everywhere, those businesses that target a good customer base, and provided a good product for good price are doing fine.

 

Those that relied on intern'l tourist, didn't provide value for price ... oh well. 

 

When we were down there a few times, the past 2 ish years, our favorite vendors were doing just fine, when most others were shuttered.

Yeah I moved from chalong to Rawai 7 months ago, most cafes are doing ok mainly d/t the high expat population, definitely more tourists about but not the numbers of pre-covid obviously, very different to Kata and Karon, was there yesterday and still very quiet.