Phuket Named World’s Most Overcrowded Destination Amid Tourism Boom

[LivingNThailand]

3 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I go down to Nai Harn beach most mornings, it's not busy, 

Yes, in September with rain every day.   But December/January.  Ugh.  I have friends coming on December 20 and staying in Nai Harn,  I like them, but not enough to drive to Nai Harn during the Russian  Fest that goes on every holiday season.  

[LivingNThailand]

3 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Couple of days ago when I was there they built a new car park it was empty but for a few bikes, I didnt go this morning it is raining heavy, the beach is quiet, I'll take some photo's next time, 

It's been pouring rain for weeks.  At least in Chalong. 😂  Not much need to go to the beach for a few more weeks.  

[Kinok Farang]

4 hours ago, StandardIssue said:

Alas, the once great and beautiful destinations in Thailand played out already. 20-30 years ago Phuket was absolutely wonderful. I remember my 1999 trip. Fantastic, not crowded, had the beach practically to myself. Small humble bar scene.. now. Well over tourism and a tourist ghetto. Same with Pattaya and Jomtien. Outrageous over building and place is over run by Russians, Chinese and these young Middle Eastern hoodlums illegally renting bikes and terrorizing the locals. Pattaya now the favored destination for Indian scammers operating scam centers setup in larger older condo units. Place is played out and unlivable for me. To each his own but I've been living here on and off since 2012. first few years were great.. about time they disallowed the income affidavits for long term Non O visas it started getting played out. Now Jomtien which was once a quiet get away from downtown Pattaya is worse than Pattaya. Time to head out and check out South America, Eastern Europe or Phils I think.

Visited quite a lot of places in my time and have always been told, "yes,but you should have been here 25 years ago" Nothing changes for the better.

[GammaGlobulin]

MACAU has been an absolute MESS since around the mid-80s.....

It was FINE in 1979.

 

The locals left a long time ago....most of them that could....

Maybe the same will happen to Phuket ?

 

 

 

[Gabor]

Trustable source.... Hurghada - Turkey.... 

[ozfarang]

6 hours ago, madmitch said:

Id like to know where they get their information from. For a start the article mentions the 300 baht tourist tax, which has yet to be implemented, and the top three destinations all being Thai looks fishy to me. No mention of certain Greek or Spanish islands and major cities..

 

I think the data may be based on a ratio of tourists to locals. It is well known that Phuket's so- called population is undercooked as most residents are registered elsewhere in Thailand. That's probably true of Pattaya and Krabi too.

 

Phuket is overcrowded in high season but so are many others. Worst in the world? I doubt it 

Also mentions Hurghada is in Turkey. which is incorrect

[crazykopite]

It’s not tourists Phuket has become an overspill for Russians escaping conscription their are 1,000s upon 1,000s of them including Samui , Phangan and Koh Tao 

[kwilco]

6 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Tell all the Phuketians to leave the island = problem solved! 

as there 118 tourists to every resident, that won't make much of a dent.

[Sandboxer]

Pearl of the Andaman 555. More like the Mallorca (yuck) of SEA.

 

Overpriced Thai (and non-Thai) food that is often not very authentic tasting. Paying 120-180 for a pad krapao, that would cost 40-60 in "expensive" Bangkok lolz......

 

Counterfeit alcohol galore.

 

Transport/taxi ripoffs.

 

Lots of trash on road/hillsides.

 

A-hole ay-rab tourists on big bikes endangering everyone.

 

Generally unpleasant demographics of any nationality.

 

Locals' driving habits/traffic even more dangerous/idiotic than anywhere else in the country.

 

Condo sales prices laughable considering the overdevelopment.

 

Ugly construction sites (condos/estates) all over the island.

 

Hookers/bar owner pimps think their poop is made of gold bars. Too many trannies.

 

Most beaches no longer pristine.

 

Noise pollution everywhere.

 

Weed shops every few meters for the millennial losers who are unable to get it up.

 

Here's my lunchtime walk on 2 Oct 2024 on Patong beach. Kilometers of trash/flotsam. Picked up a few items and there's quite a variety of countries it comes from.

 

 

[Sandboxer]

31 minutes ago, kwilco said:

Tell all the Phuketians to leave the island

 

Most Thais on Poocrap are not Phuketians.

[oustaristocrats]

8 hours ago, Kinok Farang said:

Anyone who has lived in Thailand can tell the difference.They might look like us but they're not.

 

Not only in Thailand, you pick those types out from a distance of 100m, in a crowd of thousands. 

[geisha]

18 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

Kata Beach looks the usual quiet to me .  I think they are talking about the past time invasion of placed like Maya Beach.

Are you still in Kata ? I lived there through 20 winters each 5 months long. Right in the center opposite the beach. It was wonderful, arrived in 84 and left after the Tsunami to Hua Hin first.

phuket was beautiful, until it wasn’t. 
i go back regularly for a week to visit old friends, last time 2022. Of course it was after the Pandemic. It was in a sorry state, everything closed down and falling apart, still no pavements, no street lights at night , bad garbage collection. 
A friend went a few months ago and said it was unbearable, traffic jams everywhere, imagine an overcrowded beach ,what you see in the above video is nowhere near the realty , it’s much worse .Restaurants full to breaking , no staff, queues to get a table then waiting an hour to get served, unless you’re Russian and click your fingers. Queues in the 7/11 etc etc. Not a life. My Thai friends are devastated, some even moved to the North of Thailand . The original landowner families sold up their land 20 odd years ago for a lot of money, of course today that land is worth 20 times more or plus , and that’s where the hundreds of condos have sprung up . Most of the villas that have been built on the surrounding hills are illegal . The Phuket authorities have bled Phuket dry , take take take and no investment, putting nothing in to the island to keep it the lovely place it was. I have hundreds of beautiful photos from the 80s and it’s enough to make anyone cry. The damage is done. 

[SE23inPhuket]

9 hours ago, TTSIssues said:

Short hair brushed forwards into a fringe, white linen hoodie, eyes too close together and an angry scowl 🤣

…and no manners, consideration for others or ability to drive, whether sober or drunk

[kwilco]

2 hours ago, Sandboxer said:

 

Most Thais on Poocrap are not Phuketians.

even less of a dent,then.

 

The official population of Phuket is about 75,000, the average number of Tourist per month is 1 million.

[DonniePeverley]

CHEAP mass tourism is turning away quality tourists.

 

 

The policiese of this current government to open the doors to tourists from China and India WITHOUT ANY RESTRICTIONS was a disgusting mistake. 

[JoeyMac]

The damage done to Phuket is irreversible. 

 

I remember a college lecturer at my university talking about the dangers of over tourism. It all makes sense now. 

 

A beautiful place, now nothing but some shoddy beaches, no infrustructure that will suffice for cheap Indian tourists, and Russians escaping war. 

 

[Kinok Farang]

1 hour ago, geisha said:

Are you still in Kata ? I lived there through 20 winters each 5 months long. Right in the center opposite the beach. It was wonderful, arrived in 84 and left after the Tsunami to Hua Hin first.

phuket was beautiful, until it wasn’t. 
i go back regularly for a week to visit old friends, last time 2022. Of course it was after the Pandemic. It was in a sorry state, everything closed down and falling apart, still no pavements, no street lights at night , bad garbage collection. 
A friend went a few months ago and said it was unbearable, traffic jams everywhere, imagine an overcrowded beach ,what you see in the above video is nowhere near the realty , it’s much worse .Restaurants full to breaking , no staff, queues to get a table then waiting an hour to get served, unless you’re Russian and click your fingers. Queues in the 7/11 etc etc. Not a life. My Thai friends are devastated, some even moved to the North of Thailand . The original landowner families sold up their land 20 odd years ago for a lot of money, of course today that land is worth 20 times more or plus , and that’s where the hundreds of condos have sprung up . Most of the villas that have been built on the surrounding hills are illegal . The Phuket authorities have bled Phuket dry , take take take and no investment, putting nothing in to the island to keep it the lovely place it was. I have hundreds of beautiful photos from the 80s and it’s enough to make anyone cry. The damage is done. 

Paradise lost,i feel your hurt mate because i have a couple of places from the past and even Sihanoukville from the present that i could cry over.Never go back is a true saying.

[connda]

You couldn't pay me to go to Phuket.

[Kinok Farang]

12 hours ago, kwilco said:

 

They come over here, taking "ARE 'olidays!"

 

What an arrogant and  perverse sense of entitlement.

 

THhs is a racist perspective - the Russians Chinese and Indians aren't at fault - the Thai ruling elite are - 

Tourist numbers are still 20 to 25% lower than immediately before Covid.

What has happened is regardless of any conservation of resources those who run tourism in Thailand have grabbed as many customers as they could and crammed them into the traditional tourist hot spots - so the density there is out of all proportion to old numbers when tourism was distributed over a far wider portion of the country.

Even government ministers have been saying that other areas should be trying to get more tourists in - but they can't.

Remember too that it is much cheaper to fly to Thailand from Russia, China and India than it is from US or EU.

 

I havebeen sayingfor nearly a year now that centres like Pattay and Phukt are suffering form over tourism - but don't blame other countries, it is THailand that is to blame

THailand aleways goes for the lowest common denominator.

Racist.

[NativeBob]

13 hours ago, Nemises said:

Without hearing them talk, how do you know that they are Russians?

 

 

 

Easy!

They all are wearing khaki T-shirts with dual-headed chicken on back and Tzar Vlad on front

They always drunk

They suddenly start to dance Kalinka

They speak like backward tape player 

Their women are often stunning 

Their faces often purple due to weather difference, not be cause of Viagra

Sometimes they drag parachute behind.

 

Was it difficult?

[Mayhem11]

Patong nice place. Yes overcrowded but not in the hills. Rude Russians a plenty. I like Karon better. More Russians there I have been elbowed out of the way plenty of times. So I like the food in Karon and Kata, but Patong rocks.

[Mayhem11]

5 hours ago, Sandboxer said:

Pearl of the Andaman 555. More like the Mallorca (yuck) of SEA.

 

Overpriced Thai (and non-Thai) food that is often not very authentic tasting. Paying 120-180 for a pad krapao, that would cost 40-60 in "expensive" Bangkok lolz......

 

Counterfeit alcohol galore.

 

Transport/taxi ripoffs.

 

Lots of trash on road/hillsides.

 

A-hole ay-rab tourists on big bikes endangering everyone.

 

Generally unpleasant demographics of any nationality.

 

Locals' driving habits/traffic even more dangerous/idiotic than anywhere else in the country.

 

Condo sales prices laughable considering the overdevelopment.

 

Ugly construction sites (condos/estates) all over the island.

 

Hookers/bar owner pimps think their poop is made of gold bars. Too many trannies.

 

Most beaches no longer pristine.

 

Noise pollution everywhere.

 

Weed shops every few meters for the millennial losers who are unable to get it up.

 

Here's my lunchtime walk on 2 Oct 2024 on Patong beach. Kilometers of trash/flotsam. Picked up a few items and there's quite a variety of countries it comes from.

 

 

So much bs.

[WoodyKenny]

Well PLEASE DON'T COME HERE...Hau Hin...

[Cabradelmar]

Tourism without limits will eventually ruin any location. If Thailand wants to sell out to over tourism sobeit. 

[geisha]

7 hours ago, Kinok Farang said:

Paradise lost,i feel your hurt mate because i have a couple of places from the past and even Sihanoukville from the present that i could cry over.Never go back is a true saying.

I had best friends from home who ran a small hotel, beach and restaurant with the best  French food you  can find in Cambodia  center beach side. They were there a long time , it was a great dusty little village. I went often.They were driven out and lost everything, the bulldozers moved in and crushed the whole village  to the ground . The people lost everything, their homes , lives. Those that had no option stayed to work for the Chinese construct their casinos , hotels and night bars. 
Phuket is heading the same way .

[JoeyMac]

Bali was a paradise back in the 80's and 90's ... such a beautiful place.  It is now a dump, that is solely for cheap tourists who go for a drink up. 

 

With Thailand's beautiful islands they could attract quality tourists ... at least keep away cheap mass tourism. But nope, they simply have done the opposite.

 

Income from tourism is down, so the Thai solution is to get even more numbers in. 

 

The experience from tourists is awful. 

[kwilco]

19 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I can tell by looking at them, 

I wonder what people can tell by looking at you.

[ChipButty]

3 hours ago, kwilco said:

I wonder what people can tell by looking at you.

They can tell Im Russian 

[samui99]

Probably not the most reliable survey Hurghada is not in Turkey

[kwilco]

7 hours ago, ChipButty said:

They can tell Im Russian 

Don't think that's the conclusion they would come to.