Samui

[N47HAN]

Just been over again for a week from Phuket,

Man Samui is like a ghost town,

Never seen the place so empty, how the bars / shops turn a profit is beyond me.

Cant bloody move in Phuket for tourists , like bloody ants !

[maccaroni man]

we are full and over booked. phucket was dead last week when i was there.

[koheesti]

Alot of bars have been closed this weekend because of the alcohol ban.

[lazeeboy]

Alot of bars have been closed this weekend because of the alcohol ban.

up until this weekend i was on a record december

[MonkeyNuts]

Went down Fisherman's Village for some food tonight and most restaurants were busy, and plenty of people walking around.

[mattias33]

Just been over again for a week from Phuket,

Man Samui is like a ghost town,

Never seen the place so empty, how the bars / shops turn a profit is beyond me.

Cant bloody move in Phuket for tourists , like bloody ants !

??????????????

<deleted> are you talking about???

My only answer to that statement would be that you probably where walking around either in the mountains in Thong krut area, or you where walking around 5:30 in the morning??? Right???

[emmezeta]

Just been over again for a week from Phuket,

Man Samui is like a ghost town,

Never seen the place so empty, how the bars / shops turn a profit is beyond me.

Cant bloody move in Phuket for tourists , like bloody ants !

??????????????

<deleted> are you talking about???

My only answer to that statement would be that you probably where walking around either in the mountains in Thong krut area, or you where walking around 5:30 in the morning??? Right???

it's raining again....not one sunny day in a week.

I'm sure Lamai beach is full of turists....

[quiksilva]

I was on Samui and Phangnan last week, Samui seemed okay but Phangnan was very quiet indeed. Many retailers at Thongsala were complaining at the lack of tourists.

A hotel owner explained that the high season doesn't start until next week, is this true? What's it like the rest of the year?

[mattias33]

Just been over again for a week from Phuket,

Man Samui is like a ghost town,

Never seen the place so empty, how the bars / shops turn a profit is beyond me.

Cant bloody move in Phuket for tourists , like bloody ants !

??????????????

<deleted> are you talking about???

My only answer to that statement would be that you probably where walking around either in the mountains in Thong krut area, or you where walking around 5:30 in the morning??? Right???

it's raining again....not one sunny day in a week.

I'm sure Lamai beach is full of turists....

The hour it rained we all went under roof on Lamai beach today. Since i (very rare) was spending most of my day there. Yes it was full and after the short rain we all went back out in the lovely sunshine. Now its raining again and im home........jesus crist what a ghost-town.....................And btw "not a sunny day in a week"????????????????????????????????????????????? Where? In your toilett?? Its been a week of sunshine. What are you talking about???

<edit>

Samui is not a ghost town and at the moment EVERYBODY in tourist-buisness on this island is happy. Highseason is here bigtime and i dont speek to anybody that are not fully booked, no matter what they do: resorts, vehicle-rentals. Restaurant/barowners are also fully seated every night and make a load of money right now. Shure theres always the overpriced highbeleivers but at this point even some of them have some bookings around here. Being empty and not seing much tourists at this point is a receipt that ones own buisness-idea and pricing/advertising is out in the blue. Samui is full at this point and me and my friends are making money and turning down requests......

Ghosttown my ass.....

Edited December 20, 2007 by Totster
flame removed

[breezein]

Yes Samui is quieter than it has been for many years and will stay that way until greedy people stop over charging and discriminating against visitors. The Bubble has burst and many business owners are feeling the pinch and would sell up in a heartbeat if they could.

[lazeeboy]

Yes Samui is quieter than it has been for many years and will stay that way until greedy people stop over charging and discriminating against visitors. The Bubble has burst and many business owners are feeling the pinch and would sell up in a heartbeat if they could.

samui is bustling ,my figures are up on last year ,mind you down on 2005

[Khun Jean]

Poor unaware tourists, seeing some of the remarks by business owners it looks like a few bars/restaurants/resorts are owned by foul mouthed people.

I always liked Samui before the influx of tourist. Brings out the bad elements too much.

An Matt, were is your bar so i can avoid it and recommend people to not go there.

Take an example to other posters who just say it isn't true without using strong language.

Edited December 19, 2007 by Khun Jean

[Noodles]

I think its quiet, and its samui's own fault. Rediculous room rates (compared with other islands), Rediculous air fairs, over charging

with taxis and violent taxi drivers both physically and verbally. Poor roads compared to the rest of thailand.....using the excuse..well this is a

tropical island should have gone out the window when this was stated to be a world class 5 star destination.

I do think tourists take all these things on board when re-booking their vacations. My dad wants to come back over with his wife next september.

He wants to stay at the amari again, but was shocked to see the rom rates have gone up by nearly 50% from a year ago, and what with the return flight

from BKK x2 persons.

Its a shame, I do love this island, but so many things need to change for it to get its full potential.

And as for all bars being busy, we had the worst oct, nov and so far dec in 6 1/2 years.

[PoorSucker]

Half way down ghost road (bond kai road)????

[BlackWolf]

To day 20.december I walked Chaweng Noi beach at 10 a.m and it was nearly emty. Maybe I could see not more than 100 people including those who still were eating breakfast at the hotels.

3 hours later I was driving Chaweng Beach Road and the same seem to me there. Mostly emty of tourists.

Now there should be the start of the peak season here, but this cannot be normal. What is really happening with Samui?

[mattias33]

He wants to stay at the amari again, but was shocked to see the rom rates have gone up by nearly 50% from a year ago, and what with the return flight

from BKK x2 persons.

Yeah. Thats a true sign of hotels in a place with no people, "ghost-towns". All the hotels double their prices because they dont have any bookings, and a normal behavior when you are empty is to double your price, that is the page 1a in the book of buisness, it will fill you up in a minuite.

You guys are not serious are you?

An Matt, were is your bar so i can avoid it and recommend people to not go there.

I dont have a bar, just spend my time as a consumer. But if i had one i would point it out and make sure you avoid it.... !

Soi reaggae is a bit empty, i give it that, maybe its more famylies touristing i dont know. Chaweng noi is a bit empty aswell. Ban rak village had a "highseason" for a month already and now it is really filling up. So, im villing to take some people up on their word, because i am turning down bookings for resorts every day, and vehicle-rentals aswell, anybody got something worhty for rent?? Pm me then...

Another point of notice: I got some dutch friends waiting around in Bangkok already for five hours for a flight to samui. Its booked out. If they are lucky they get a stand-by flight but the promise they got from Bangkok airways is third flight tomorrow. Also another typical sign of a ghost-town is it?

Get real guys. There is a lot of tourists in town. We just need to open our eys and see them. Fact being im happy for the tourists because they have alot to choose from now. They will not take a crap-deal on anything, rooms, bikes, taxis, if they are awake there is bargains around and they can have a cheap, good holiday around here now. The full seated restauants and bars are the ones that realised there is competetion around and set the pricing thereafter. Same with resorts, hotels, bikerenters. Yes, the dreamers might be halfbooked but please dont call Samui a ghost-town. Thats far from the truth. At least my truth.

[OlRedEyes]

Get real guys. There is a lot of tourists in town. We just need to open our eys and see them. Fact being im happy for the tourists because they have alot to choose from now. They will not take a crap-deal on anything, rooms, bikes, taxis, if they are awake there is bargains around and they can have a cheap, good holiday around here now. The full seated restauants and bars are the ones that realised there is competetion around and set the pricing thereafter. Same with resorts, hotels, bikerenters. Yes, the dreamers might be halfbooked but please dont call Samui a ghost-town. Thats far from the truth. At least my truth.

Your truth sort of blows my mind. Tourists have a lot to choose from but Samui is bustling? There are bargains around because everything is filled up? Resorts upped their prices because they are fully booked but they "realised there is competetion around and set the pricing thereafter"?

...OK....

Edited December 20, 2007 by OlRedEyes

[Mark Wolfe]

I don't understand the "Lamai is full" comments. It isn't. Period. Not only that, while it isn't a ghost town, it is very quite. Compared to last year, at any rate. I might take a stroll down the beach and ask about current occupancy rates, just for kicks.

[Noodles]

Just been shopping in cheweng and its looking busy, most of the restaurants were full, as were some of the

bigger bars, solo, islander and the one on the corner of soi mango. Also quite a few people walking, and this was the whole stretch

of cheweng beach road, not just cheweng noi.

[mattias33]

Your truth sort of blows my mind. Tourists have a lot to choose from but Samui is bustling? There are bargains around because everything is filled up? Resorts upped their prices because they are fully booked but they "realised there is competetion around and set the pricing thereafter"?

Hi, kindergardenteacher mattias online.

Resorts upper their prices because they are fully booked on the price they had. The once that where not fully booked but overpriced lowered their prices and are also booked up. Even the once that are completely overpriced are now filling up. Or at least halfway because we are running out of rooms. At least north part of the island. And yes, tourists do have alot to choose from, especially the once who are a little bit ahead in planning their vacation. Alot of people booked by me already in september by deposit and at that time the whole island where empty and i culd find a bargain in whatever area/style the customers wanted. Am i still blowing your mind Mark? Do you want private kindergarden lessons??

As far as lamai i have to take the posters word for it, im not a regular visitor that far out. But yesterday the beach was filled. Resorts i dont know about, i dont work in that area, but i imagine it would be a bit more quite than chaweng/choeng mon/ban rak/bophut.

The northcoast / northeast coast of the island is obviously the one that fill up first.

Op topic is a guy from phuket calling samui a ghost-town because its very,very quite and no people around. Kind of a joke to me when everybody around me is talking about how busy it is nowadays. Well, well, i leave you guys to it.......

Edited December 20, 2007 by mattias33

[SamuiBond]

It is that time of the year yet again. WATCHOUT FOR A TOURIST BIKERS sign should be up! And there's plenty on Samui. Got to join one these "Protect local people" clans/gangs/condom designer groups.

[Dingojoe]

Just been over again for a week from Phuket,

Man Samui is like a ghost town,

Never seen the place so empty, how the bars / shops turn a profit is beyond me.

Cant bloody move in Phuket for tourists , like bloody ants !

Seems this guys idea of busy is just differenet to Samui peoples ideas of busy.

Phukett maybe so busy that Samui to him does feel like a ghost town.

But i do believe that no one at all is in Soi Reggie area.

[Mark Wolfe]

Over the last couple of days, at least in Lamai, the Christmas/New Year's tourists have begun to arrive. The beach is more crowded now than it has been in months (including "Italian Month").

I stopped in five resorts in the center of the beach and asked about current occupancy rates. Two were at 50 percent, one was full and the other two were around 80 percent.

All of them have bookings for keep them nearly full on New Year's Eve and day.

However, two of the resorts, who would open up, said that, "Many people are talking" about how slow it has been this year compared to last.

Also, it was noted that some places generally do a better business than others - the cheaper resorts are more solidly populated than the top end resorts during slow times.

This is just what I was told, so don't kill the messenger.

By the way, one of the resorts mentioned that many of the people staying in Lamai chose to spend their evenings in Chaweng rather than Lamai; that might explain the appearance of fewer people in Lamai.

One that score, I wonder if the "girlie-barification" that is going on in Lamai -- 10 new bars, 8 on the way and possibly more -- are having a negative impact on some tourists, eg those with families/children and couples.

But i do believe that no one at all is in Soi Reggie area.

If you mean where Reggae Pub is, you need to go there in the middle of the night to see the people. And what is the large structure going up in front of that establishment? There is a big "T" on the front. Let me guess, there's a big "A" on the back....

Edited December 21, 2007 by Mark Wolfe

[goldfish]

Apparently gonna be a restaurant, owned by the same guy as the reggae bar. Personal opinion, soi reggae is dying a slow death

[Hex]

I wonder if the "girlie-barification" that is going on in Lamai -- 10 new bars, 8 on the way and possibly more -- are having a negative impact on some tourists, eg those with families/children and couples.

That certainly does make sense. When I was in Samui earlier this year, Lamai did have plenty of tourists walking around in the day. But at night times most of the bars seemed empty and many were closing at 1am because no one came in the bar. Girls I know have talked about this, they keep wondering where the hel_l all those people they see in the day go to in the night.

[BigC]

i agrea i have never seen samui so quiet so has all the islanders they all agrea with me. i asked a lady in a travel shop. she said that people were complaining about high airport fares, high hotel prices rip off taxis. just people trying it on all the time. people are feed up with it. rain don't help.

forangs and thai's. everybody loses. hopefully things will pick up after elections good luck samui

[RAZZELL]

Yeah. Thats a true sign of hotels in a place with no people, "ghost-towns". All the hotels double their prices because they dont have any bookings, and a normal behavior when you are empty is to double your price, that is the page 1a in the book of buisness, it will fill you up in a minuite.

Don't you know...this is Thailand?

RAZZ

[Rooo]

Came on the ferry yesterday.Seatran packed with tourists. Raja running special charter to KPG.Surat private charter Fin Air 6 bus loads,Things are bad.

[ClaudeFeller]

Samui has more hotels than last year, more tourists are coming. My wife is working in a middle class hotel, it is fully booked until mid of january. I believe that many guest dont like to go out of the resort/hotel because Chaweng/Lamai/Maenam is not attractive apart from the beach. Restaurants and bars might suffer under this.

[BigC]

this argument will go on forever. half say it is ful the other say it is empty. people beleive what they see. i came on the ferry i was the only forang. yet all flights were full.

maybe samui is attracting different customers than before. i don't know. but as an island i would have to say the quality of service compared to the rest of thailand is pretty poor. i will go through a list of plus side and bad side.

bangkok airways airport. very beautiful very expensive.

the roads. as soon as u leave the new pier in natong you go straight into an island of pot holes.

can many people afford the taxis. i can't cheaper to rent a motor bike and get killed or nearly killed.

business wise. from my experience. i can find harly and compaies that want to give me vat receipts. even if i pay there tax for them. FUSTRATING cause i get the blame when the auditors come and have to pay a fine.

electric lines are a mess.

alot of traffic. too much for these small roads.

i get less reception of people that before. Just smile money then back turned.

I feel myself drifting away from samui. just me peronally becuase i have travelled round these last few months and i have found better places for me.

yet samui has alot to offer but i feel greedy will be its down fall and everyone will lose. yet again the economy round the world is not so good with the house prices in America so and the elections. might just be going through a bad patch. maybe things will pick up in a few months.

these things happen every so while. i suggest that business and govment officals learn from this bad patch and make it 10 times better.\

Khrap Khrun Khrap