Can a radical proposal save Phuket’s tourism crisis?

[webfact]

 

In a bid for autonomy, Phuket Mayor Saroj Angkanapilas is leading a daring move to transform the city into a special administrative organisation to save it from a tourism crisis. The current system, he claims, is holding back progress, leaving the island paradise struggling to keep pace with global rivals.

 

“Tourist cities in many countries are far ahead in their development, so Phuket will lose its competitive edge if it continues to use the same administrative system.”

 

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has yet to receive the proposal but indicated willingness to consider it. With over 10 million tourists inundating Phuket annually, the strain on infrastructure is palpable. Current funds, based on registered residents, fall woefully short of meeting the island’s needs.

The proposed Phuket City Administration Act 2018 promises a radical overhaul, envisaging a directly elected mayor and a slew of new laws to tackle pressing issues like waste management and traffic congestion, reported KhaoSod English.

If successful, Phuket could emerge as a global contender in the tourism arena.

 

In related news, as the extended Songkran holiday wrapped up on Tuesday, tourists bid farewell to the sun-kissed islands surrounding Pattaya, turning the Bali Hai Pier area into a buzzing hub of activity. Local authorities ramped up services to cater to the influx, ensuring convenience for visitors throughout the holiday period.

 

Officers stationed at the pier witnessed a remarkable influx of tourists from April 12 to 15, with an average of 30,000 Thai visitors and foreign tourists per day seeking leisure and relaxation on the islands. On April 12 alone, 8,102 tourists set sail on island adventures via 42 ferry services. The numbers surged the following day, reaching 16,885 visitors served by 87 ferry trips.

 

In other news, Thailand welcomed over 10 million foreign tourists this year alone, leading to revenue exceeding 500 billion baht, reported the Tourism and Sports Ministry. The data, up to date as of yesterday, shows 10,723,953 foreign visitors have contributed to an income of 518 billion baht.

 

by Puntid Tantivangphaisal 

Photo courtesy of KhaoSod English

 

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-04-19

 

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[ChaiyaTH]

No, next subject.

[Tropicalevo]

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

Current funds, based on registered residents, fall woefully short of meeting the island’s needs.

Hmm. So where will the new funds come from?

It can only be from expats and/or tourists?

[OneMoreFarang]

I can't imagine a good future for Phuket. It is full of mafia and corrupt officials - some people would say they are the same group.

Everybody is greedy and nobody wants to spend money. Tourists will be milked as long as possible.

 

The taxi mafia is a great example. It should be easy to enforce taxi-meter with decent prices. It should be easy to have public transport with decent prices. When I visited Phuket 30 years ago that problem was already well known. Was it ever solved? No. Why not? See above. 

 

 

As far as I see the amazing thing is that still so many tourists visit that place.

 

[smedly]

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

Officers stationed at the pier witnessed a remarkable influx of tourists from April 12 to 15, with an average of 30,000 Thai visitors and foreign tourists per day seeking leisure and relaxation on the islands

escape would be a better description - avoiding the 7 days of madness

 

why can pattaye not be like Hua Hin and have one day of water madness

[OneMoreFarang]

10 minutes ago, smedly said:

why can pattaye not be like Hua Hin and have one day of water madness

What do you expect from a place full of mad people? 😉 

[ikke1959]

Phuket not the place to be.. and investments in tourist should have been made already many years ago....

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The current system, he claims, is holding back progress, leaving the island paradise struggling to keep pace with global rivals.

From the Op photo it looks like the last place on earth to go visit.

[impulse]

This related Thaiger article piqued my interest when I clicked the OP linked article...

 

Phuket is gearing up for a greener future with the launch of a free air-conditioned electric bus service in the heart of the city.

 

The service, open for both residents and tourists, will initially operate every day as a trial period. The buses will operate along a circular route every 30 minutes, from 11am to 10pm. The bus route comprises 16 stops, with Luang Por Rd being the terminus where buses will be parked.

 

https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/phuket-launches-free-electric-bus-service-for-sustainable-tourism

 

Anyone have any insights into the project, and how the tuk-tuk drivers are reacting?

 

Edited April 19 by impulse

[Thailand]

16 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

From the Op photo it looks like the last place on earth to go visit.

It was fine last time we there. Stayed at the Sheraton.

 

1987-88 If I remember correctly.

[xylophone]

17 minutes ago, Thailand said:

It was fine last time we there. Stayed at the Sheraton.

 

1987-88 If I remember correctly.

Almost everything has become progressively worse since then....but perhaps that was a joke?

[spidermike007]

Phuket is a disaster, it is horrific at this point in time. I was just there several months ago and I couldn't wait to leave. If they keep going with the development Phuket's going to be another Bali within the next 10 years. Bali has become like Midtown Manhattan at rush hour, the whole Southeast third of the island is an absolute abomination. 

[Harsh Jones]

23 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Almost everything has become progressively worse since then....but perhaps that was a joke?

Ah yes. The good ol poverty and squalor in the 80's was great. 

[Captain Monday]

29 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Phuket is a disaster, it is horrific at this point in time. I was just there several months ago and I couldn't wait to leave. If they keep going with the development Phuket's going to be another Bali within the next 10 years. Bali has become like Midtown Manhattan at rush hour, the whole Southeast third of the island is an absolute abomination. 

I vowed to never go to Phuket again more than 20 years ago based on taxi mafia alone ago but did 2 weeks in July 2021.  “Sandbox”

 

Edited April 19 by Captain Monday

[xylophone]

6 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

Ah yes. The good ol poverty and squalor in the 80's was great. 

I wasn't actually here back then so perhaps I should have said, "25 years ago" or thereabouts........

[paul1804]

6 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I can't imagine a good future for Phuket. It is full of mafia and corrupt officials - some people would say they are the same group.

Everybody is greedy and nobody wants to spend money. Tourists will be milked as long as possible.

 

The taxi mafia is a great example. It should be easy to enforce taxi-meter with decent prices. It should be easy to have public transport with decent prices. When I visited Phuket 30 years ago that problem was already well known. Was it ever solved? No. Why not? See above. 

 

 

As far as I see the amazing thing is that still so many tourists visit that place.

 

You mean Thailand is full of Mafia & corrupt officials!

[OneMoreFarang]

1 minute ago, paul1804 said:

You mean Thailand is full of Mafia & corrupt officials!

It seems to me Phuket is a lot worse than the rest of Thailand.

There is another infamous island which is maybe worse than Phuket...

[paul1804]

3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It seems to me Phuket is a lot worse than the rest of Thailand.

There is another infamous island which is maybe worse than Phuket...

Yes thats what happens when the island Mafia is a single very wealthy family as opposed to several families!

[mancub]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Current funds, based on registered residents, fall woefully short of meeting the island’s needs.

Perhaps the 518billion baht contributed by tourists could be tapped into ?

[bkk6060]

Controlled by rip offs, scams and Mafia.

Will never change. Good luck.

[ChipButty]

I don't know who does the planning of the roads, they really need to bring in some experts, Because this is only going to get worse, It's no fun going for a drive no more, we don't do it. 

The circle at Chalong must have had millions spent on it over the years, they have built a tunnel, it hasn't improved it.

 

[BarraMarra]

Please explain to me Khun Angkanapilas why am I only allowed to stay in Phuket for 30 days yet you allow Mr Popov a free visa with no leaving expiry date, and why do you allow your Tuk Tuk drivers to intimidate threaten, and attack Tourists coming to your Island.

[Peterphuket]

Well, sorry to say, but it is now 20 years too late for that.

[rexpotter]

Oblast Moscow

[ChipButty]

Phuket is pricing it's self out of business, have you seen the rents being asked for? 

[Peterphuket]

7 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I can't imagine a good future for Phuket. It is full of mafia and corrupt officials - some people would say they are the same group.

Everybody is greedy and nobody wants to spend money. Tourists will be milked as long as possible.

 

The taxi mafia is a great example. It should be easy to enforce taxi-meter with decent prices. It should be easy to have public transport with decent prices. When I visited Phuket 30 years ago that problem was already well known. Was it ever solved? No. Why not? See above. 

 

 

As far as I see the amazing thing is that still so many tourists visit that place.

 

You forget to mention the Russians, which has now also become a major problem, but of course should not be named.

 

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, Captain Monday said:

I vowed to never go to Phuket again more than 20 years ago based on taxi mafia alone ago but did 2 weeks in July 2021.  “Sandbox”

 

Prior to my last trip late last year I hadn't been there in 10 years, and it really felt like it had declined significantly. Especially the nightlife which was utterly pathetic. There was really no appeal to the place other than the Andaman, which is fantastic, but it's just not enough. 

 

And now with the Russian takeover, it's just one more reason never to go again. 

Edited April 19 by spidermike007

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Phuket is a disaster, it is horrific at this point in time. I was just there several months ago and I couldn't wait to leave. If they keep going with the development Phuket's going to be another Bali within the next 10 years

 

39 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

I don't know who does the planning of the roads, they really need to bring in some experts, Because this is only going to get worse, It's no fun going for a drive no more, we don't do it. 

The circle at Chalong must have had millions spent on it over the years, they have built a tunnel, it hasn't improved it.

 

Yes, a lack of planning, money siphoned off for this very purpose goes into other "pockets" and the powers that be hope that the tourists keep coming, but as these two posts have pointed out, things are getting pretty dire in Phuket.

 

Just a couple of hours ago I was making my way back by car, from Bangkok Phuket hospital to Patong and the traffic on the hill from the Kathu traffic lights up to the shrine and just beyond, was stopped nose to tail, so obviously I thought there had been an accident, as often happens in this dreadful piece of road.....but no, it was because there had been a really heavy downpour, where the heavens opened up, for about an hour previous to my journey, and the road being slippery, combined with the lack of driving ability of the everyday Thai, saw quite a few trucks and vans on that hill spinning their wheels in an effort to move, but to no avail.

 

I didn't realise that this was the case until a Fortuna a couple of cars ahead of me was skewing a little sideways in an effort to get some traction, so everything behind him stopped and a good 50% of the trucks and vans started to do the same thing, and as no one would let anyone else in to the other lane to get away from these potential disasters, everything came to a standstill – – and this was the reason for the nose to tail traffic!!

 

As most will know, half of this road on the hill slid away a few months back, and there was talk then, as there has been for many years previous, of building a tunnel, or of finding another route out of Patong in order to bypass this hill. However nothing has become of this although the problems with this piece of road have been known for a couple of decades previously.

 

Add this to that which @ChipButty has mentioned, and no matter what has been done to improve the roads here, it has inevitably ended up being a disaster and causing more problems than it tried to solve.

 

So the solution of the people in power has been to open up the likes of Patong/Phuket to more tourists with visa free entry, or ease of extended stay, or whatever else you want to call it, whilst the whole place has turned into a nightmare.
 

[OneMoreFarang]

46 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

You forget to mention the Russians, which has now also become a major problem, but of course should not be named.

I would be very surprised if the Russians are independent. Thais will make sure that they get their "fair share" - or else.

[soalbundy]

500 billion Baht !  If the system aint broken don't fix it.