Phuket struggles to attract tourists in 2023 low season

[webfact]

“He said there’s been a noticeable decline in tourist numbers, as evidenced by hotel reservation rates of only 40-50% from both domestic and foreign visitors.”

 

The Phuket Tourist Association is putting together proposals to the new government (whoever that may be), aiming to revitalise the island’s tourism economy and restore the impressive 400 billion baht in income it reached back in pre-Covid 2019.

 

In a Bangkok Post article, PTA president Thaneth Tantipiriyakij, emphasised the importance of tourism as one of the island’s key economic drivers, alongside exports.

 

“The new government should prioritise tourism policies across all sectors by collaborating with organisations such as the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Culture Ministry, and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau.”

 

By Peter Roche

Top picture: A quiet Kata Beach on June 16 at 1pm.

 

Full story: https://phuket-go.com/phuket-news/phuket-news/phuket-struggles-to-attract-tourists-in-2023-low-season/

 

-- © Copyright Phuket GO 2023-06-17

 

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[proton]

Well getting scammed by taxi drivers as soon as you leave the airport is a bit of a turn off for a start, i'd never go back there.

[GeorgeCross]

where's Putin with another draft when ya need him??

[flyingtlger]

Word is out.....Just another tourist trap.

There are so many other beaches that are a lot more reasonable and not over developed.

You just have to do some research.

[Hamus Yaigh]

Time to get out the airport water cannons to welcome the next batch of Russian draft dodgers.

[ChipButty]

Its hit rock bottom around Rawai, nobody in Amazon this morning usually busy, the roads quiet,

 

I know of a 5 star hotel in Karon only 5 rooms booked, 

[Geoffggi]

Hardly surprising given everyone has the *hits .........................LOL

[BE88]

I returned to Thailand a recently and for the first time I passed immigration speed, not even 60 seconds.

 

I assume that the tourists have all diverted to other more welcoming beaches.

[NativeBob]

Oh! classical: there's problem - we got solution. It will cost you mere __________ that much. 

This is MO of TAT since BOI fair. They're always on it.

Tourism is not "one of the island’s key economic drivers" due to massive tax evasion and other creative financial schemes to avoid them. 

[chuang]

They deserved it, during peak period hotels increased rates up to three fold....

[Jumbo1968]

If I remember during Covid the government said they didn’t need tourism to boost Thailand GDP, they could get by with domestic tourism ?

The main reason is the price of airfares, until the flights have a few empty seats fares won’t come down. The high season if there is one will determine wether people have deserted Thailand.

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Time to get out the airport water cannons to welcome the next batch of Russian draft dodgers.

Why such poor treatment for the heroes of the Russian nation? Fleeing a horrific war, waged by a madman, serial killing dictator, and refusing to slaughter women and children, is something to be very proud of.

[spidermike007]

They must have forgotten, that during covid, we were all getting amazing bargains on hotels. Now? Prices have gone up to the point where they do not seem to reflect the low occupancy rates, or reality. Standard Thai marketing. Ignore supply and demand.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, proton said:

Well getting scammed by taxi drivers as soon as you leave the airport is a bit of a turn off for a start, i'd never go back there.

6,000+ having the sh*ts without the knowledge of where it's emanating from is a worry for some.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, flyingtlger said:

Word is out.....Just another tourist trap.

There are so many other beaches that are a lot more reasonable and not over developed.

You just have to do some research.

Always been a tourist trap, doesn't have anything else to offer much

[Chongalulu]

3 hours ago, proton said:

Well getting scammed by taxi drivers as soon as you leave the airport is a bit of a turn off for a start, i'd never go back there.

Not even in your own vehicle? I find that stops the scamming in its tracks! ????

[Chongalulu]

28 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Why such poor treatment for the heroes of the Russian nation? Fleeing a horrific war, waged by a madman, serial killing dictator, and refusing to slaughter women and children, is something to be very proud of.

Although I'm sure they're not doing it for altruistic reasons,more for their own self preservation,not that I blame them for that either.

[Chongalulu]

26 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

6,000+ having the sh*ts without the knowledge of where it's emanating from is a worry for some.

When I have the sh1ts???? I know where it's emanating from in no uncertain terms! ????

[chalawaan]

But... all those predictions! 

From various billionaire run authorities and councils!

 

The Chinese ???? mostly crime syndicates and celebrities.

The Russians ???? mostly crime syndicates and rich men's draft dodging sons.

 

The Kazakhs ???? god knows what brings them here en masse suddenly, either government officials mass laundering money, or did they find oil in Borat's village?

The Indians, dripping in gold and yet wandering around in packs sharing two bottles of chang at every bar. 

 

I'm sure the real upper end are doing well for the elite hotel franchise owners, but they don't feed the mouths here that people who arrive in Economy class do. 

[Jumbo1968]

4 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

But... all those predictions! 

From various billionaire run authorities and councils!

 

The Chinese ???? mostly crime syndicates and celebrities.

The Russians ???? mostly crime syndicates and rich men's draft dodging sons.

 

The Kazakhs ???? god knows what brings them here en masse suddenly, either government officials mass laundering money, or did they find oil in Borat's village?

The Indians, dripping in gold and yet wandering around in packs sharing two bottles of chang at every bar. 

 

I'm sure the real upper end are doing well for the elite hotel franchise owners, but they don't feed the mouths here that people who arrive in Economy class do. 

Kazakhstan is oil, gas and mineral rich, Kazakhstan had proven crude oil reserves of 30 billion barrels as of January 2018–the 2nd largest endowment in Eurasia after Russia, 

The Kazakhstans have a new found wealth, I worked on the oilfields a few years ago, usual story though only a few are gleaning the riches. 

China was booming in 2019, I don’t think we will ever see the influx again of the Chinese not unless the gambling restrictions are lifted.

[chalawaan]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Why such poor treatment for the heroes of the Russian nation? Fleeing a horrific war, waged by a madman, serial killing dictator, and refusing to slaughter women and children, is something to be very proud of.

Surely sarcasm? Even Navalny, so called hero victim of democracy, is known to be down with the re-Russification of Ukraine and other former Soviet states.

 

They're here, Understandably, for pure self-preservation, maybe there's a handful of wealthy liberal Russians at best. 

Also, poor Russian males, are not here, they're refugees in Europe, or they are dead men walking. 

[PETERTHEEATER]

3 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Hardly surprising given everyone has the *hits .........................LOL

Don't let the bottom fall out of your world. Visit Phuket and let your world fall out of your bottom.

[chalawaan]

17 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Kazakhstan is oil, gas and mineral rich, Kazakhstan had proven crude oil reserves of 30 billion barrels as of January 2018–the 2nd largest endowment in Eurasia after Russia, 

The Kazakhstans have a new found wealth, I worked on the oilfields a few years ago, usual story though only a few are gleaning the riches. 

China was booming in 2019, I don’t think we will ever see the influx again of the Chinese not unless the gambling restrictions are lifted.

Thanks, I suspected Kazakhstan oil elites are the new group, but was too lazy to do my homework for this AN post. I'm a keen student of China, and did have modest business interests there, so modest they barely met cost, but I watch a variety of vloggers on China, it's a big place, and it's easy to make one video seem like it's all bad, but I believe it is at least as bad as the videos that I've recently seen. 

 

All nations have deep social issues, but at least our media cover that, so you have to see the dark side of China through private videos made by broke business owners, and unemployed graduates, but they are authentic, and show that there are mass closed factories and Malls even now in Shanghai Beijing Shenzhen. 

God knows what the third tier boonies are like. 

Every desperate directive the CCP issue just seems to create another even worse whack a mole situation!

 

The latest insanity is mass deforestation to plant rice, the mass forestation was in fact a SOLUTION to failed rice projects that were an ecological Mao era disaster! But since they erased their self inflicted disasters from history, they just repeat them! 

Chinese mass tourism is also now history. They're just at the edge of the world's greatest middle class social collapse in history. Worse is coming. 

 

[StayinThailand2much]

Wait, didn't they just announce (again) a huge jump in tourist arrivals? But I guess those Burmese, Cambodian, Laotian, and Malaysian tourists prefer other locations to Phuket.

(I heard, Samut Prakarn and Samut Sakhon are popular holiday destinations this year.)

 

And, not to worry, 50 Chinese airplanes with half a million passengers are on their way...

[shackleton]

Hotels not full as most Russians and Chinese are buying the Condos and property there looking long term to stay in Phuket ????

Plus now coming to low season 

Have to wait until high season  Christmas and New Year ????

[KhunBENQ]

Visiting during COVID in Dec 2021 was a good experience although it was impossible for me to find certain locations in Kata/Karon that I had been in the late 90s.

Sep 2017 during offseason with a mate was also fun. Driving a rental car.

 

But from what I read here and elsewhere there is nothing that attracts me for another visit. Maybe 21 was a final goodbye.

 

[stevenl]

This has always been the case, only the Chinese were year round tourists.

[Pink Mist]

Troll post removed.  Cease and desist or a warning will be forthcoming!

 

[ChipButty]

40 minutes ago, stevenl said:

This has always been the case, only the Chinese were year round tourists.

Prior to covid in our case the Chinese came only in the low season, 

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

Prior to covid in our case the Chinese came only in the low season, 

Maybe not for you, for others they were year round. But that's not the point, the point is that it's normal that in low season occupancy is considerably lower than in high season.