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Koh Samui: The secret island gem of Southeast Asia’s hospitality scene


snoop1130

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Have you seen the traffic here? It's getting ridiculous. God knows what it will be like if they increase  flights, or even worse, build a bridge.

 

Bangrak is slowly but surely turning  into Chaweng Mk2.

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14 hours ago, swinginglow said:

Flight expensive, off the plane into a rip off mafia taxi onto an over expensive hotel. Samui is a place to avoid in my opinion.

Yes flights are expensive as Bangkok Airways own the Airport so rule the roost.  However, cleaver people like yourself would get a inexpensive flight in to Surat Thani and then take a bus/Ferry to Koh Samui.  But sadly you did not include that in your rant!  As for expensive taxis, we have outsourced taxis for Airport Transfer at 400 baht.  Expensive???? Duh!  clearly this person knows for little what he is talking about.  I have lived on Samui for 18 years and have found the locals (in general) to be nice and helpful people.  Much prefer them to UK/Europeans.  Prices are outrageous and the people (like this Guy) sadly are so miserable looking and often have an attitude.

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I love the people complaining about Bangkok Airways to Samui.

 

They are like the villagers who complain that a local pub is going to close and they whine about local culture and loss of social life. 

 

When asked do you frequent the pub they answer no and that they are not pub people.

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I lived on Samui for 9 years before moving to the mainland. When I first arrived quite some time ago it was an island paradise, over the years it got very developed, traffic became oppressive, and it just was no longer fun to be there. It got very expensive and things changed a lot. Also, alot of the locals left, and there was very little in the way of local pride in the island. It was not taken care of, and sometimes felt like a five minutes year old restaurant dishrag, that had been rung out too many times. We used to fly out of Surat airport, just to say no to BA monopoly, buy it is a haul. 

 

Now, after covid the island is starting to recover but it's still a pale shadow of its former self, so many businesses were devastated, so many restaurants closed, so many of the remaining mom and pop establishments are gone. Now they're just trying to open higher end restaurants and hotels and most of them are fairly slow and have low occupancy. The bar scene, massage scene, and the nightlife has almost entirely disappeared, and there's just not much in the way of fun action on Samui anymore.

 

Been there three times since the start of covid. It's a very, very different place from what it used to be. Will it recover? 

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3 hours ago, cheapcanuck said:

It will always lag behind other destinations in Thailand because of the cost to fly direct to the island. 

 

Yet most flights are full.

Surely, if costs were the reason then flights would be empty?

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7 hours ago, cheapcanuck said:

It will always lag behind other destinations in Thailand because of the cost to fly direct to the island. 

 

 

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Yet most flights are full.

Surely, if costs were the reason then flights would be empty?

Being a private monopoly the Samui airport owned by BangkokAir, has airport fees are set up for profit, not to boost the local economy.

 

Therefore flights to Koh Samui are limited and more expensive than other destinations.


Other local carriers I suggest would find the airport fees too expensive and could not compete with cheaper prices even If BA let them.


Also flights and trains from BKK to Surat Thani then a ferry are inconvenient and time consuming and more expensive than a direct flight to the island.

 

I would suggest the OP's post is valid!

 

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1 minute ago, LosLobo said:

 

Being a private monopoly the Samui airport owned by BangkokAir, has airport fees are set up for profit, not to boost the local economy.

 

Therefore flights to Koh Samui are limited and more expensive than other destinations.


Other local carriers I suggest would find the airport fees too expensive and could not compete with cheaper prices even If BA let them.


Also flights and trains from BKK to Surat Thani then a ferry are inconvenient and time consuming and more expensive than a direct flight to the island.

 

I would suggest the OP's post is valid!

 

Yet before Covid, there were seven other airlines flying into the private airport (which does not receive subsidies from tax payers).

Currently there are two other airlines flying to Samui. One on a regular basis, the other 'as and when' there is demand.

 A lot of visitors used to fly to Suratthani, but Suratthani airport has similar problems to other airports - a lack of planes meaning a lack of regular services.

 

39 flights to Samui today.

9 flights to Suratthani today.

 

I do not think that cost is the main factor.

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On 4/9/2023 at 11:48 AM, Tropicalevo said:

Yet before Covid, there were seven other airlines flying into the private airport (which does not receive subsidies from tax payers).

Currently there are two other airlines flying to Samui. One on a regular basis, the other 'as and when' there is demand.

 A lot of visitors used to fly to Suratthani, but Suratthani airport has similar problems to other airports - a lack of planes meaning a lack of regular services.

 

39 flights to Samui today.

9 flights to Suratthani today.

 

I do not think that cost is the main factor.

After all, high flight prices into samui also keep a lot of the undesirables away. Lot less trouble and shenanigans than in places with cheaper access.  In addition, could the island's infrastructure really cope with 5-10 charter flights a day?

 

quite happy to keep it as it is and let people talk bad about the island where they have no or very little knowledge

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/7/2023 at 7:23 PM, swinginglow said:

Flight expensive, off the plane into a rip off mafia taxi onto an over expensive hotel. Samui is a place to avoid in my opinion.

I went there in the 80s, wonderful experience for a young man (with companion from Patts)....a few visits after, each becoming a little more expensive and the avarice slowly growing in the locals. A pity ...attractive island though. 

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