Attitude!

[khall64au]

It may seem like I have a lot to say lately... and I DO!

I normally keep it to myself as the flamers are just waiting for any negativity... then, whammo! eat me alive, eat my liver with a good chianti! (if you can afford it - haha)

But, you know what ... since I've been hanging out these past two weeks with my visiting "tourist" family - who are on a hard-earned vacation from Oz - I can see that Phuket is going downhill real fast!

Phuket now has a BAD ATTITUDE - and the service sucks - from hotels to restaurants. I don't understand it...

What is wrong with these people? Two years ago - Phuket was begging the world to come back after the tsunami - and now... it's just one rip-off and bad attitude after another.

I have lived here for 5 yrs and members of my family have visited an average of three times each - but this time they are very unhappy! and so am I ... ( I will include many examples if I must) * sigh

WAKE UP PHUKET!!!

[britmaveric]

Hmmmm Khall - me mum/dad just went to Phuket stayed for 3weeks. Only grumble was the tuk tuk drivers.

[londonthai]

it's a hight turnout of the seasonal workers in the travel industry which makes for the poor service - owners are not willing to pay higher wages to the locals and give them pay rise every year.

not many of those workers has much of the formal education and sometimes their thai language command is very basic with even poorer level of spoken english.

jus after the tsunami many workers left the area because of not much work, trauma from the events or being afraid of the next tsunami.

if phuket can't change where it's going - you can change where you live.

[solo siam]

Same here, only bad experience is from Tuk-Tuk drivers. I continue to really enjoy Phuket. Where are your family staying?

[khall64au]

Same here, only bad experience is from Tuk-Tuk drivers. I continue to really enjoy Phuket. Where are your family staying?

Ok, ok - it started 7 mths ago when my sister booked rooms at a resort she stayed in last year on the south end. The price per room changed every email. She finally booked for ten people in my family (ranging from a week to a month - & there was no breakfast included, mind you) and a wedding party - with fingers crossed that she would get a good deal for a group paying for 3-star accommodation, plus ordering up to 3 meals a day and lots of holiday drinkies...

But the resort owner forgot to inform us that he was conducting major construction to expand his resort. After a week, she could not stand the construction noise any longer - even on her wedding day the builders were there until 11pm. We looked everywhere for a few days to find a decent family resort nearby a beach, with swimming pool, etc.

They moved to Patong to appease the teenagers in the group ... one of which is my darling 16 yr old niece. The girls were then abused by street hawkers while out shopping and even I was shocked when they were called 'molls' for not bartering on a cheap handbag.

I dunno - where is one to put there family on Phuket?

Phuket - the upmarket, quality family destination!!!

[solo siam]

Can't think of many hotels down south or in Patong that are upmarket, at the very least you should be looking at Laguna etc...

[britmaveric]

Meant to ask, Khall how did your sis's operation go?

[cobra]

Would have to agree,

A friend who has been staying at the same place for years reported complete staff turn-over,

unfriendly, arbitrary quotes, booking issues, rooms not ready, not available ...

Touts and hawkers unusually aggressive, attitude from tuk drivers,

Canceled rest of stay and relocated to Samui for remainder.

Lets hope this is isolated, and not symptomatic

[Padkapow Guy]

I have not been to Phuket since 2004 and vowed then never to return. While it is one of the most beautiful places on earth the attitude and prices of the place were enough for me to stay away from there. The hawkers actually got pissed off at us for not buying from them. IMHO there is a definate distinction between the good people of Thailand and the people of Phuket.

This attitude they have " You buy from me, no ! <deleted> YOU" is not going to get me to buy the overpriced goods. The same goods you can get a lot cheapier in Bangkok or else where.

It just my opinion, but for me and my family, we will give PHUKET a pass and go to Krabi.

I am sure the people of Phuket could care less but they have seen the last of me.

PKG

[khall64au]

Meant to ask, Khall how did your sis's operation go?

she got her boobs - bigger than her order - doh!

[britmaveric]

Meant to ask, Khall how did your sis's operation go?

she got her boobs - bigger than her order - doh!

555555555, well I'm sure she is pleased. What did you think of the job they did??

[taxexile]

i believe that you are a travel writer , i hope and trust that you are already penning a suitable column to inform your readers of your experiences.

preaching to the converted on a web forum like this may help to let off some steam , but will not help to address the problems in the big resorts that so many people complain about , but never get mentioned in the travel press.

thailand , and especially the tourist industry , is very sensitive to the perception of its image abroad , yet all we seem to read about is the smiles , the wonderful sights , the seafood and the spas.

the taxi mafias , double pricing , the poor safety standards , the vagaries of the laws , the useless police , the hordes of aggressive street vendors and the take it or leave it attitude of businesses and some hoteliers never seems to make it into the press.

[geriatrickid]

Wow, you and I agree on something. There are just so many things that the local government and tourist industry could do that are low cost, but would reap enormous immediate benefits. 2 things come to mind; Rubbish bins so that tourists and locals could discard trash in them instead of on the street or on the beach. (Man it so pi$$es me off to see the litter at the end of the day on the beach) and proper pedestrian crossings to facilitate beach access. Sit near the beach road in Karon or Patong and count how many elderly people or parents with kids nearly get creamed trying to cross. WOuld it kill the municipality to put up a pedestrian crossing with lights or even a stop sign?

Well this year, instead of dealing with the onslaught of tourist season, we're going to try something unconventional - a trip to Issan. I am going with my Thai friends that are treating this as a journey into the badlands. They have never been there and have been telling me stories all month just to scare me - sort of like Englishmen that go to Germany expecting some teutonic villian to greet them, or Americans that go to Canada expecting igloos and roaming hungry polar bears.

[El Taco Loco]

The people of Phuket are light years away from what a lot would consider "normal" Thais. Particularly in areas of tourism, where greed prevails.

You want the old Siam back? Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lopburi, even the southern provinces south of Surat Thani. Otherwise, the rest has been westernized to death and you will never enjoy it.

You knew full well that your family would be accosted by touts, etc etc. So why complain now?

[taxexile]

been westernized to death

if thailand had been westernized to death ,as you suggest , then the law and those who implement the law would see to it that those incidents would not happen. service providers would respect the law.

its down to greed , and the knowledge that the law can be bought here.

[donna]

i do have to agree on some points here.

most hotels will not tell a guest before hand that they are renovating for fear of losing the entire reservation. this is common practice. not right, mind you, but common practice.

many of the touts in patong are not thai, and i find these the most pushy of them all. if i want to look, i will look, and i dont need them following me around waving other items in my face.

hotel and restaurant staff are becoming more and more cocky and demanding high salaries, but there is a lot of competition around demanding their services especially now the new hotels in patong are opening. their attitude shows to the guests in many cases unfortunately.

we ALL feel the same about tuk tuk drivers so no need to mention them.....

[smartecosse]

The people of Phuket are light years away from what a lot would consider "normal" Thais. Particularly in areas of tourism, where greed prevails.

You want the old Siam back? Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lopburi, even the southern provinces south of Surat Thani. Otherwise, the rest has been westernized to death and you will never enjoy it.

You knew full well that your family would be accosted by touts, etc etc. So why complain now?

that has nothing to do with it at all on Phuket

as another poster pointed out its sheer greed and if you don't want to pay the overinflated prices you are then subject to a mouthfull of abuse

Its a shames that "rules" don't seem to apply to the scum that continue to ply their trade (Patong in paticular) I am just glad that I live at the south of the island and only rarely have to put up with it

Having said that there's been many a time when I have just kept walking when what I really wanted to do was turn round and knock the daylights out of the <deleted> that assumes that you can't understand what he's gobbing off about

Tuk Tuk drivers don't actually bother me anymore as I have decided to simply feel sorry for them being low life scum and cease to let it annoy me

I think tourists should be given those noise cancelling head phones when they arrive at Phuket airport that are specially designed to tune out

"Tuk TUKKKKKKKKKKKK"

"TTTTTAAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXXIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"

"Hey man, want suit/rolex/massage"

[simon43]

The problem with hotel staff turnover is a big headache. I've managed to minimise this problem by employing members of my wife's family from Issan. This changes the problem from one of arrogant, unfriendly, high-priced staff to one of friendly but inexperienced, little-English-speaking, but loyal staff!

I find it's better to stick with my family members, who are very happy to work in the family business. We have no staff turnover, and the staff slooooly get the idea, with assistance from me and my wife. The hotel reviews seem to indicate that we're not doing that bad

Simon

[BillStickers]

Having said that there's been many a time when I have just kept walking when what I really wanted to do was turn round and knock the daylights out of the <deleted> that assumes that you can't understand what he's gobbing off about

Tuk Tuk drivers don't actually bother me anymore as I have decided to simply feel sorry for them being low life scum and cease to let it annoy me

A curious statement! Perhaps you need a break back in Scotland

[nonthaburial]

For the first time in many years, I was in Patong last weekend, not a place for me I am sorry to say, I agree with the comments on the pushy vendors, but it appeared as if most were of Indian heritage !!!

I did a little digging into Patong and came up with a few little interesting details. Permanent population is registered at only 15,000. and there are over 31,000 hotel rooms available, meaning in peak seasons, tourists outnumber the locals 4-1.

Can the figure 15,000 be correct ??

[smartecosse]

Having said that there's been many a time when I have just kept walking when what I really wanted to do was turn round and knock the daylights out of the <deleted> that assumes that you can't understand what he's gobbing off about

Tuk Tuk drivers don't actually bother me anymore as I have decided to simply feel sorry for them being low life scum and cease to let it annoy me

A curious statement! Perhaps you need a break back in Scotland

whys it curious

after two years on Phuket i still think its a great place to be. Otherwise myself and my family would not be here. HOWEVER, the tuk tuk mafia are complete scum and deserve to be hounded off the island. Its not just the outrageous prices its the fact that they think they are allowed to do whatever they want to anyone they want with impunity.

I don't need a break in Scotland to realise that the tuk tuk scum in no way reflect the real people of thailand and yes, regardless of how it may offend your sensibilities, there have been several occasions when i have had to make an effort to keep walking rather than turn around. I'm sure that you are the "perfect" sticks & stones etc but i tend to take offence when low life talk about me and my family

**edited to add**

but as I've said I have moved past that now and simply regard them as something nasty in the gutter best to be avoided

perhaps you would care to socialise with them etc but most of the residents here including thai's don't see them as anything but a nuisance

[LeungKen]

O.K. Everybody......Let's hear it for the Patong Tuk Tuk Drivers

Now where's that emoticon for rasberry

[smartecosse]

we need one of these with cu in the middle

[mikethevigoman]

Meant to ask, Khall how did your sis's operation go?

she got her boobs - bigger than her order - doh!

Any photos available, ? for research purposes !

[mrsouza]

i believe that you are a travel writer , i hope and trust that you are already penning a suitable column to inform your readers of your experiences.

preaching to the converted on a web forum like this may help to let off some steam , but will not help to address the problems in the big resorts that so many people complain about , but never get mentioned in the travel press.

thailand , and especially the tourist industry , is very sensitive to the perception of its image abroad , yet all we seem to read about is the smiles , the wonderful sights , the seafood and the spas.

the taxi mafias , double pricing , the poor safety standards , the vagaries of the laws , the useless police , the hordes of aggressive street vendors and the take it or leave it attitude of businesses and some hoteliers never seems to make it into the press.

TIP! Have a look at the latest issue of My Phuket. We list all the scammers, skimmers and pests in and around Phuket.

[Captain Chaos]

we need one of these with cu in the middle

What's "spcuam" when it's at home then?

Seriously, I went to Phuket for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Stayed near Patong at the Le Meridien. Hotel was OK, at a price, though the rest of the place was a complete dump. I know there are supposed to be some very beautiful areas of the island - Patong obviously ain't one of them. Frankly, if that's the kind of scene you like, I think Pattaya does it sooooooo much better than Patong, but each to their own...

My doubts started with the minibus driver at the airport stating fairly aggressively and definitely without a smile "you pay me now" - 1,300 baht for a one-way transfer to the hotel. Just about OK given the distance and the fact there were a few of us. But the tuk tuk driver who wanted 400 baht to take us 5 klicks from Patong back to the hotel in the evening and then said "no tip?" in an aggrieved manner was just taking the p*ss and I told him so.

I had viewed my trip as a recce mission for future visits for my parents - who have now been to most other seaside resort areas in Thailand - there is no chance in hel_l I will take them or anyone else to Phuket now, and I have booked Koh Lanta for my wife and I for New Year instead.

But whilst the masses continue to go to Phuket and spend, spend, spend, it will continue to behave like it does ... which is fine by me so long as there is always somewhere better I can go instead!

CC

[Sir Burr]

The words "Patong" and "Phuket" are not interchangeable.

[Captain Chaos]

The words "Patong" and "Phuket" are not interchangeable.

Eh?

[Sir Burr]

You stayed in Patong, didn't like it, so, you write off the whole of Phuket.

Patong isn't a good example of the rest of Phuket.

Is that clear enough?

[smartecosse]

bit like glasgow and the rest of scotland, i mean they can't even eat chips the right way there

salt n sauce!!!!

salt n vinegar!!!!!