By Peter Roche
 

The dream of being able to simply drive to Koh Samui, from Thailand’s mainland by the end of the decade, has made more progress after EXAT, the Expressway Authority of Thailand, is preparing to contract the formal feasibility study for the project.

 

The 15 kilometre bridge (closest point on Koh Samui to the mainland) would be a major boon to the island that is only serviced by a car ferry and one airline with expensive fares.

 

Koh Samui tourism stakeholders are always complaining that the island is hampered by a monopoly by Bangkok Airways who own and manage the only airport on the island – a cash cow for the airline but the high fares have been a major impediment for growth of tourism.

 

The road transport, on a new bridge, would be open 24 hours a day and drastically improve transport logistics to and from the popular Gulf island, the second largest island in Thailand.

 

The car ferry trip can take up to two hours and is at the mercy of the weather and sea conditions, a problem during the annual monsoon.

 

The EXAT governor spoke to island stockholders over the weekend, laying out a schedule of feasibility studies, approval, start of construction and opening of the bridge by the end of the decade.

 

Source: https://phuket-go.com/phuket-news/islands/next-steps-for-road-bridge-to-koh-samui/

 

-- © Copyright Phuket GO 2023-01-17

 

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The low volume of visitors to Koh Samui is not attributable to Bangkok Airways.

 

Prior to 2017, when Samui's tourism industry was booming, nobody had any complaints.

 

The government's 2016 takedown of firms, outrageously high taxi fares, scams, and ripoffs are also to blame. Military trucks and soldiers were practically demolishing structures in front of your eyes. Since then, this has stuck in people's minds.

 

It's great that now there have been significant initiatives taken to restore the infrastructure and the roads. But once more, the island is too pricey for most people to visit, which is why just a small number visit. Perhaps that is the appeal, but in actuality Bangkok Airways has nothing to do with this. If you book early, you can almost always get good deals.

 

Additionally, the monsoon season, which lasts from November through the end of February, is not the best time to travel to Koh Samui. The worst month is December. Maybe the issue is with marketing? People travel to islands expecting sunshine and pristine oceans, but when they arrive in the middle of December, the island is drenched with rain.

 

Nothing will be fixed by building this bridge to nowhere; on the contrary, it will simply make matters worse. The island can't support so much traffic, and the pollution will put off many people. An island should be just that—an island. We all know how much corruption is involved, therefore all of this money will be wasted.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The 15 kilometre bridge (closest point on Koh Samui to the mainland) would be a major boon to the island that is only serviced by a car ferry and one airline with expensive fares.

They won't be happy, losing their upper hand to gouge people.

3 hours ago, racket said:

An island should be just that—an island. We all know how much corruption is involved, therefore all of this money will be wasted.

Money gets wasted on delusional schemes even before the corruption gets a look in.

 

Nearly £900,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on a study commissioned by Boris Johnson that found it would be too expensive to build a bridge or tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/20/research-into-johnsons-planned-irish-sea-bridge-cost-taxpayers-900000

4 hours ago, racket said:

An island should be just that—an island.

Yepp, plug the Euro tunnel!

The infrastructure on Samui is more important, it cannot take a huge number of more visitors, nor can the roads take more the cars.

Just build an airport all plane companies can use instead of Bangkok Airways having a monopoly.

 

Prices will go down and the crazy idea of building a bridge will die down. 

1 hour ago, MrJ2U said:

Just build an airport all plane companies can use instead of Bangkok Airways having a monopoly.

 

Prices will go down and the crazy idea of building a bridge will die down. 

Any airline can fly into Samui.

Before Covid, there were up to 7 different airlines flying in.

Cambodia Air was flying into Samui last year.

Now, if the airlines choose not to fly here.........

At the moment there is a shortage of planes and crews thanks to Covid but there is no barrier as you allude to.

1 hour ago, MrJ2U said:

Just build an airport all plane companies can use instead of Bangkok Airways having a monopoly.

 

Prices will go down and the crazy idea of building a bridge will die down. 

Every airline can fly to Samui Airport, but as it was built without government support, the users must pay the costs. What would Samui have been as business without the private initiative, when there was no government support..?

Living here I have to say in a way it is a blessing that the flights are more expensive. We don't get the charter flights with the riffraff causing commotion at every corner of the island. As mentioned by others, at high season the infrastructure can't cope already. Adding a bridge will just make this a problem all around the year. 

 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Any airline can fly into Samui.

Before Covid, there were up to 7 different airlines flying in.

Cambodia Air was flying into Samui last year.

Now, if the airlines choose not to fly here.........

At the moment there is a shortage of planes and crews thanks to Covid but there is no barrier as you allude to.

Seems like I was mistaken. 

Edited January 18, 20233 yr by MrJ2U

6 hours ago, khunPer said:

Every airline can fly to Samui Airport, but as it was built without government support, the users must pay the costs. What would Samui have been as business without the private initiative, when there was no government support..?

Show another flight from another airline that fly's into Koh Samui. 

7 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Any airline can fly into Samui.

Before Covid, there were up to 7 different airlines flying in.

Cambodia Air was flying into Samui last year.

Now, if the airlines choose not to fly here.........

At the moment there is a shortage of planes and crews thanks to Covid but there is no barrier as you allude to.

I do see two international arrivals.

 

I've never see other airlines offering domestic flights to the island.  But I guess Thai Airways has a ticket counter there.

 

I've always been put off by the high flight prices,especially with a family of 5.  I end up driving and taking the ferry.

 

 

7 hours ago, khunPer said:

Every airline can fly to Samui Airport, but as it was built without government support, the users must pay the costs. What would Samui have been as business without the private initiative, when there was no government support..?

do see two international arrivals.

 

 

 

I've never see other airlines offering domestic flights to the island.  But I guess Thai Airways has a ticket counter there.

 

 

 

I've always been put off by the high flight prices,especially with a family of 5.  I end up driving and taking the ferry.

 

Anyways I was mistaken 

 

37 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

I do see two international arrivals.

 

I've never see other airlines offering domestic flights to the island.  But I guess Thai Airways has a ticket counter there.

 

I've always been put off by the high flight prices,especially with a family of 5.  I end up driving and taking the ferry.

 

 

There are no other airlines that fly domestically.

The other airlines were all International. (Tibet Airlines, Silk Air, China Airlines, Malaysia Airlines etc.)

The low cost carriers cannot cope with the landing/handling fees at their usual prices.  The fees are higher because the tax payer is not subsidising the airport.

The airport is wholly funded by Bangkok Airways.

17 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

Show another flight from another airline that fly's into Koh Samui. 

See @Tropicalevo's reply – before Covid-lockdown there were a n umber of other airlines flying to Samui, Tropicalevo is up-to-date with the present situation  all airlines are welcome at USM...????

On 1/17/2023 at 12:27 PM, racket said:

The worst month is December. Maybe the issue is with marketing? People travel to islands expecting sunshine and pristine oceans, but when they arrive in the middle of December, the island is drenched with rain.

As someone who has been visiting Koh phangan in early mid-december for over 20 years, is not the worst time of year to visit the gulf islands, it is when the monsoon begins to abate.  November is far worse 

 

6 minutes ago, khunPer said:

all airlines are welcome at USM

All airlines may well be "welcome" at USM but at what cost? bangkok Air has a monoploy and as such can charge any fee they desire. This makes flying into Samui at competitive rates nearly impossible. 

12 minutes ago, n00dle said:

As someone who has been visiting Koh phangan in early mid-december for over 20 years, is not the worst time of year to visit the gulf islands, it is when the monsoon begins to abate.  November is far worse 

 

All airlines may well be "welcome" at USM but at what cost? bangkok Air has a monoploy and as such can charge any fee they desire. This makes flying into Samui at competitive rates nearly impossible. 

Same fees as Bangkok Airways, it's a private airport owned by an separate company limited, built and serviced without taxpayer funding, so the users pay for the costs...????

7 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Same fees as Bangkok Airways, it's a private airport owned by an separate company limited, built and serviced without taxpayer funding, so the users pay for the costs...????

Quit while you are ahead.

 

Bangkok Airways built, owns and maintains USM. Or rather the Samui Property Fund, of which Bangkok Air is a major shareholder does.

Edited January 19, 20233 yr by n00dle

Just now, n00dle said:

Quit while you are ahead.

 

Bangkok Airways built, owns and maintains USM. 

It's an independent company limited, It's been up several times and also mentioned in the news a while back. Part of the land is leased and it was renewed for another 30 years. The users pays the cost for building and maintaining the airport – i.e. same fixed fees for all – no matter what name is painted on the tail of the airplane...????

40 minutes ago, khunPer said:

It's an independent company limited, It's been up several times and also mentioned in the news a while back. Part of the land is leased and it was renewed for another 30 years. The users pays the cost for building and maintaining the airport – i.e. same fixed fees for all – no matter what name is painted on the tail of the airplane...????

Spin it anyway you want.  

 

Bangkok Air is/was the sole lease holder and major shareholder in the Samui Airport Property Fund.  This is made clear in  Bangkok Air financial reports and in the following document. It has essentially leased the airport to itself.

 

https://ba.listedcompany.com/misc/ar/20200323-ba-ar2019-en.pdf (most recent i could find)

https://media.kkpfg.com/document/2021/Apr/56-REIT2 (Annual)_SPF_Eng.pdf

 

Then there is this  which suggests that Bangkok Air leased the property to the SPF in the first place. The SPF has been delisted and this suggest the lease had been terminated. 

https://www.dbs.com.sg/treasures/aics/templatedata/article/recentdevelopment/data/en/DBSV/052021/SPF_TB_05312021.xml

 

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/BANGKOK-AIRWAYS-20707453/news/Bangkok-Airways-Public-Company-Limited-Announces-Regarding-the-Termination-of-the-Lease-Agreement-wi-35471621/

Edited January 19, 20233 yr by n00dle

1 hour ago, n00dle said:

Spin it anyway you want.  

 

Bangkok Air is/was the sole lease holder and major shareholder in the Samui Airport Property Fund.  This is made clear in  Bangkok Air financial reports and in the following document. It has essentially leased the airport to itself.

 

https://ba.listedcompany.com/misc/ar/20200323-ba-ar2019-en.pdf (most recent i could find)

https://media.kkpfg.com/document/2021/Apr/56-REIT2 (Annual)_SPF_Eng.pdf

 

Then there is this  which suggests that Bangkok Air leased the property to the SPF in the first place. The SPF has been delisted and this suggest the lease had been terminated. 

https://www.dbs.com.sg/treasures/aics/templatedata/article/recentdevelopment/data/en/DBSV/052021/SPF_TB_05312021.xml

 

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/BANGKOK-AIRWAYS-20707453/news/Bangkok-Airways-Public-Company-Limited-Announces-Regarding-the-Termination-of-the-Lease-Agreement-wi-35471621/

And..?

It's not a question of owner, but that any airline can fly USM on same conditions and fees as Bangkok Airways, which they can. The fees are high, because there is no tax-payer support involved in the building and maintaining the airport...????

31 minutes ago, khunPer said:

And..?

It's not a question of owner, but that any airline can fly USM on same conditions and fees as Bangkok Airways, which they can. The fees are high, because there is no tax-payer support involved in the building and maintaining the airport...????

I believe the free marketforces are not quite as much at work as you suggest. Prior to Covid Silkair did have two flights. I was told that they got the landing rights for the SIN-USM flights under the condition that they could not undercut Bkk Airways fares on that route.  I thought it was fishy but closely following those fairs for quite a few years they indeed were not once cheaper on their basic fare than Bkk Airways but their cheapest fares mirrored Bkk Airways exactly through the various price cycles. 

 

 

4 hours ago, khunPer said:

See @Tropicalevo's reply – before Covid-lockdown there were a n umber of other airlines flying to Samui, Tropicalevo is up-to-date with the present situation  all airlines are welcome at USM...????

Yes. 

 

I thought I replied to you that I was mistaken. 

 

Anyways its unfortunate it's so expensive to fly there (with luggage).

 

I end up driving with the family and taking the ferry.   Fun experience. 

5 hours ago, huberthammer said:

I was told that they got the landing rights for the SIN-USM flights under the condition that they could not undercut Bkk Airways fares on that route.

And for those airlines flying to Samui where there were no competitive PG flights?

Market forces perhaps?

Firefly used to fly Penang Samui and only stopped because there was not a large demand.

19 hours ago, n00dle said:

As someone who has been visiting Koh phangan in early mid-december for over 20 years, is not the worst time of year to visit the gulf islands, it is when the monsoon begins to abate.  November is far worse 

 

All airlines may well be "welcome" at USM but at what cost? bangkok Air has a monoploy and as such can charge any fee they desire. This makes flying into Samui at competitive rates nearly impossible. 

On average, rainfall peaks and is heaviest in November according to data so that's true. Although, that doesn't mean December is without rain. The mean temperature also drops more in December compared to November, followed by January.

 

With that said, December is part of the monsoon season, which typically starts in October and goes through end of January.

 

Below is data from 2016, couldn't find a revised version.

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 20233 yr by racket

Never going to happen.  Not in the lifetime of any of the members of this thread.