Have You Had Enough Of Bangkok Airways?

[LaoPo]

I am not a Travel Agent, but my friend in the U.S. tells me that 90% of travelers to Thailand are on a package and the fares are no where near the published price on the airlines site.

Also not many less than 15% of the package tourists change their itinerary once they begin there travel.

So I don't see how the Bangkok Airways prices effect tourists arrivals due to ticket prices to Samui they have no idea what the price is and in most cases don't care, it is all inclusive.

In my many, many trips to the Bangkok Airways ticket office, the whiners seem to be local resident who have not applied for a residents card or don't qualify so pay full fare, those who want to take their new girlfriend on a trip to Bangkok and visitors with no plan or direction/itinerary just spur of the moment decision to go some where else NOW.

As in most countries NOW is very expensive, planning save you money.

I have not seen or heard complaints from any of the 90% who have planned in advance and have had the forethought to purchase a package in their home country.

Correct, about the inbound package tourist which is the large majority, whether from Asia, Europe, Americas or OZ/NZ.

The US counts for 4.71% or 682.000 of total inbound Thai tourism in 2007 and is declining versus 2006 (694.000). US tourism from the US in the first 6 months of 2008 was rising again with a total of 360.000 versus 336.00/2007 first 6 months.

However, I fear that in the end the total tourism in 2008 will lack behind 2007, also what the US is concerned. We have to wait till more details are published.

But the point is that the majority of tourists to Thailand from where ever, let's say France, or Holland or UK, buy and pay for the total package, also if Samui is included and they have no knowledge how much was paid for the BKK>Samui>BKK (or other airport) route.

The same for tourists from Asia.

LaoPo

[highdiver]

Highdiver:

Once again i beg to differ. i am very involved in Samui tourist association as well as being invested in tourist related business.. it is a fact that there are more tourist this year then last year. if you care to dispute this please do provide facts.. not hear say from bar owners..

in the meeting held 2 months ago which was attended by most hoteliers on the island BKA marketing manager has presented the facts (you know numbers) and the facts are that BKA is bringing in more tourist then last year. As for speculations... i am sure there are some of the other members who regard my posts with a bit more credibility then yours.

Samui airport director:

Mr. Sirichai Charoenrat, director of the Samui Airport, said most planes that land on Samui now are half empty. During this time last year, according to him, most Bangkok Airways flights to Samui were fully booked.

There might be people thinking you have credability, but i am certanly not one of them. .

:D

you are really hard work mate.

while i was refereeing to the accumulative number of tourist this year. please read it.

i said that BKA is bring in more tourists this year then it has last year.

the airport manager has responded to the situation now. as in November. (which is low season the same as every year.)

please do try and comprehend.

i know you are desperately trying to prove me wrong.. but this is rediculous.

[mattias33]

Posting "who said what" is redicoulus. It is all there to read. Most of the statements in your first post in this thread, is proven wrong and false already in the article the op in the tourism down thread provide. If you dont see that, you can go on thinking of yourself as a man with much knowledge and insight and credabillity. Fact remains that tourist numbers are going terribly down on Samui. You have some reason to claim otherwise but i doubt anybody beleive you. At least i don´t.

Reason for edit: mixed up the threads.

Edited December 5, 2008 by mattias33

[Nirvana]

Posting "who said what" is redicoulus. It is all there to read. Most of the statements in your first post in this thread, is proven wrong and false already in the article the op in the tourism down thread provide. If you dont see that, you can go on thinking of yourself as a man with much knowledge and insight and credabillity. Fact remains that tourist numbers are going terribly down on Samui. You have some reason to claim otherwise but i doubt anybody beleive you. At least i don´t.

Reason for edit: mixed up the threads.

I think BKA airways are a pretentious bunch of ...ts

They have played a large role in tourism being increased and will play a large role in its decrease , if they do not wake up. Sos hould others...

They are a monopoly in my view. I have my own problems with them, delays , smashed baggage in samui so many times etc etc, but thats my problem.

The government should have seen it coming did not and thats why they now have an airport which is a strategic asset as well as a money making machine...

Personally they are a necessary evil but I will not smile while they screw me and my family members over and over..

[LaoPo]

Posting "who said what" is redicoulus. It is all there to read. Most of the statements in your first post in this thread, is proven wrong and false already in the article the op in the tourism down thread provide. If you dont see that, you can go on thinking of yourself as a man with much knowledge and insight and credabillity. Fact remains that tourist numbers are going terribly down on Samui. You have some reason to claim otherwise but i doubt anybody beleive you. At least i don´t.

Reason for edit: mixed up the threads.

I think BKA airways are a pretentious bunch of ...ts

They have played a large role in tourism being increased and will play a large role in its decrease , if they do not wake up. Sos hould others...

They are a monopoly in my view. I have my own problems with them, delays , smashed baggage in samui so many times etc etc, but thats my problem.

The government should have seen it coming did not and thats why they now have an airport which is a strategic asset as well as a money making machine...

Personally they are a necessary evil but I will not smile while they screw me and my family members over and over..

Bangkok Airways, playing a big role in tourism decrease..? And how are they doing that ? By not cutting the seat prices ?

It's becoming a rather funny thread with people who love Samui so much but bash upon the carrier that brought them here in the first place, (most of them) and wanting to tell BA how to run their business.

Let me ask some of you a question: does BA in anyway intervene with the day to day business you run (if you run one...) ? Do they tell you your prices are too high or too low ?

hmmmm...

LaoPo

[t.s]

......... I would love to fly to bkk from samui for around 1,500 baht which is IHO a fair price

....and would the esteemed gentleman like to have a cookie with his fresh brewed coffee ?

I'm sure everybody on this thread would like to fly for Baht 1.500 but it's not realistic, is it ?

LaoPo

It´s very realisic. I fly surath- bkk for that money and less.

Surat Thani is mainland and not on Samui...so it's not realistic. We're talking Samui here.

And....because of such low fares many price fighters in the airline industry go bust. Let's see how long you will be able to fly for such prices.

No airline in the world can survive and be healthy with such low prices as it showed this year with many small carriers go under. Next year will show even more airlines go bankrupt.

Just watch the news.

LaoPo

1500 baht one way? ok ill give you that.

how do you get to the mainland? how much is the boat?

how do you get to the airport once in sura tand how much does that cost?

does a flight from surat have airport tax included in the fare?

finally, what is your time worth?

Are you really saving that much?

do you enjoy taking a boat at this time of year?

it is a false economy mate.

[maccaroni man]

......... I would love to fly to bkk from samui for around 1,500 baht which is IHO a fair price

....and would the esteemed gentleman like to have a cookie with his fresh brewed coffee ?

I'm sure everybody on this thread would like to fly for Baht 1.500 but it's not realistic, is it ?

LaoPo

It´s very realisic. I fly surath- bkk for that money and less.

Surat Thani is mainland and not on Samui...so it's not realistic. We're talking Samui here.

And....because of such low fares many price fighters in the airline industry go bust. Let's see how long you will be able to fly for such prices.

No airline in the world can survive and be healthy with such low prices as it showed this year with many small carriers go under. Next year will show even more airlines go bankrupt.

Just watch the news.

LaoPo

1500 baht one way? ok ill give you that.

how do you get to the mainland? how much is the boat?

how do you get to the airport once in sura tand how much does that cost?

does a flight from surat have airport tax included in the fare?

finally, what is your time worth?

Are you really saving that much?

do you enjoy taking a boat at this time of year?

it is a false economy mate.

if a destination is a hot spot i.e las vegas, sfo, san diego airl ines will often run hourly flights at bucket prices to keep the planes full and the money rolling in. it was not that long ago when you could get a 39.00 from sfo to vegas hourly. phuket bkk is under 1k baht surat bkk can be gotten fou under 1k baht so isnt it fair to assume that lower air fares would translate to increased arrivals, more money coming to the island and more money being made all around. Once again i point to the domestic market from bkk where they can go to bali for less than samui.

[Gatorade]

......... I would love to fly to bkk from samui for around 1,500 baht which is IHO a fair price

....and would the esteemed gentleman like to have a cookie with his fresh brewed coffee ?

I'm sure everybody on this thread would like to fly for Baht 1.500 but it's not realistic, is it ?

LaoPo

It´s very realisic. I fly surath- bkk for that money and less.

Surat Thani is mainland and not on Samui...so it's not realistic. We're talking Samui here.

And....because of such low fares many price fighters in the airline industry go bust. Let's see how long you will be able to fly for such prices.

No airline in the world can survive and be healthy with such low prices as it showed this year with many small carriers go under. Next year will show even more airlines go bankrupt.

Just watch the news.

LaoPo

1500 baht one way? ok ill give you that.

how do you get to the mainland? how much is the boat?

how do you get to the airport once in sura tand how much does that cost?

does a flight from surat have airport tax included in the fare?

finally, what is your time worth?

Are you really saving that much?

do you enjoy taking a boat at this time of year?

it is a false economy mate.

A point well made. My son recently flew to Surat from Bangok.

Virtually the whole day was spent travelling. Time versus cost.

No saving in my book.

[koheesti]

Questions for you tourism experts...

Doesn't each time someone enters the country count as a tourist entry? In other words, if in the old days I made 12 border runs each year then I would count as 12 towards the overall number of 690,000 Americans who visited Thailand. And since the visa regualtions have changed and I had to get an actual visa and now only cross the border 4 times a year, that would mean that my personal contribution to tourism has decreased by 3 times.

Or does Thailand count each unique person only one time no matter how many times he or she enters the country?

Or do they only count how many are staying at hotels/resorts?

Also, do tourist counts include any foreigner that comes into the country for whatever reason, even if on business? If not, how can they tell by counting plane tickets, border crossings or hotel rooms how many came as tourists and how many for other reasons? If they count the number of visas issued, again, does that mean someeone adds to the total each time they enter the country?

[samuibeachcomber]

too much to think about and does it really matter,someone in the tourist dept. probably throws the dice and multiplies by 1 million or 2.dont they go on the blue slip everyone has to fill out on arrival,and yes they probably count each border crossing as one visit.many ways to skin the cat though.

[mattias33]

Questions for you tourism experts...

Doesn't each time someone enters the country count as a tourist entry? In other words, if in the old days I made 12 border runs each year then I would count as 12 towards the overall number of 690,000 Americans who visited Thailand. And since the visa regualtions have changed and I had to get an actual visa and now only cross the border 4 times a year, that would mean that my personal contribution to tourism has decreased by 3 times.

Or does Thailand count each unique person only one time no matter how many times he or she enters the country?

Or do they only count how many are staying at hotels/resorts?

Also, do tourist counts include any foreigner that comes into the country for whatever reason, even if on business? If not, how can they tell by counting plane tickets, border crossings or hotel rooms how many came as tourists and how many for other reasons? If they count the number of visas issued, again, does that mean someeone adds to the total each time they enter the country?

I realy dont know, but i guess what matters is that when they all in tourism buisness have the oppinion that numbers are down they are down. Hotels, have stats over their last 10 years, airlines same, and travelagents, motorbikerenters, restaurants etc, etc.

With your teori maybe the numbers will go up with the new 15 day VoA-rules. .

And yeah, i drove chaweng beachroad yesterday evening and i have to say i never seen that road empty on people. Was actually pretty nice. Even the tailors didnt bother to stand outside their shop since there were rarely anybody to disturb. After a few beers offcourse i had to do my regular negoitiating with the Taxidrivers before i took my bike and drove home. Chaweng-fishermans village 400 baht. I said "i´m a tourist, when i arrived to samui they told me that i should ask for taxi meter, do you have that?" they say nobody have it in samui. I said "ok, then i was told that if you dont have a taximeter you should have a set fare pricelist on your passenger seat". They knew very well what i was talking about and when i said "set" they filled in with "pricelist". They told me that the reason they didnt have it was that after midnight nobody use it. I went throught this discussion with 3 drivers. They all said if i wanted to go to fishermans it is 400 baht.

I have to assume that 90% of the buisness on samui is depending on tourists? Maybe even on this forum? So, how can there be such a support for the things that scare tourists away? High airfares, no real taxiservice, overpriced hotels?

Beats me.

[Birdman]

It is clear, that tourist numbers will decrease day by day now. Many tourists, who were stuck here because of the BKK chaos can go home now. The majority of new tourists cancelled their trips for the next 2 weeks fearing another chaos. Arrivals afterwards cancelled partly as well or make their decision to come or not in the next days.

But the traffic on the island is still like nothing happened. Almost like in a city during daytime between Bangkok Hospital and Menam. And it is low season as well...

The taxi price to fisherman's village can be bargained down to 300 THB, if you bargain right. Still expansive for Thailand, but not for the majority of tourists. And almost every local or expat has own transportation.

[mattias33]

It is clear, that tourist numbers will decrease day by day now. Many tourists, who were stuck here because of the BKK chaos can go home now. The majority of new tourists cancelled their trips for the next 2 weeks fearing another chaos. Arrivals afterwards cancelled partly as well or make their decision to come or not in the next days.

But the traffic on the island is still like nothing happened. Almost like in a city during daytime between Bangkok Hospital and Menam. And it is low season as well...

The taxi price to fisherman's village can be bargained down to 300 THB, if you bargain right. Still expansive for Thailand, but not for the majority of tourists. And almost every local or expat has own transportation.

I know. I was more trying to get the price the general tourist is offered as a experient for my friend who is doing a newsthing about this stuff. Not good bargain, only the simple truth about taximeter and set pricelist. If i where about to take the taxi i would bargain better.

[LaoPo]

if a destination is a hot spot i.e las vegas, sfo, san diego airl ines will often run hourly flights at bucket prices to keep the planes full and the money rolling in. it was not that long ago when you could get a 39.00 from sfo to vegas hourly. phuket bkk is under 1k baht surat bkk can be gotten fou under 1k baht so isnt it fair to assume that lower air fares would translate to increased arrivals, more money coming to the island and more money being made all around. Once again i point to the domestic market from bkk where they can go to bali for less than samui.

The airlines flying to Vegas didn't built the airport, nor did they built 2 other airports -total 3- like Bangkok Airways did.

They built the airline from scratch in a niche market and took the risks. Now it's time to build and extend, which they do and try to survive in a very difficult market on top of the present crisis.

Because they took a different road in the airline business and didn't have to compete with other air carriers, flying to Phuket for instance, they did a good job but they took the huge risks, building the airport which nobody else did.

BTW: tell me which airline flies to Bali for less than Samui; I might be interested !

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

Questions for you tourism experts...

1.Doesn't each time someone enters the country count as a tourist entry? In other words, if in the old days I made 12 border runs each year then I would count as 12 towards the overall number of 690,000 Americans who visited Thailand. And since the visa regualtions have changed and I had to get an actual visa and now only cross the border 4 times a year, that would mean that my personal contribution to tourism has decreased by 3 times.

2. Or does Thailand count each unique person only one time no matter how many times he or she enters the country?

3. Or do they only count how many are staying at hotels/resorts?

4. Also, do tourist counts include any foreigner that comes into the country for whatever reason, even if on business? If not, how can they tell by counting plane tickets, border crossings or hotel rooms how many came as tourists and how many for other reasons? If they count the number of visas issued, again, does that mean someeone adds to the total each time they enter the country?

1. yes.

2. no.

3. they count that separate; the inbound tourism numbers are supplied by the Immigration Police. The hotels have to supply lists with guests as far as I know but member Samuian will know; he's in the business.

4. no. tourism and business are registered apart.

The 14,4 million tourists to Thailand are by far not the actual number. It's much less. For instance there are 1,5 million Malaysian ''tourists''. many of them cross the border x-times; The same for ''tourists from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar...quite high numbers but if they are real tourists remains to be seen.

Also there are lots of expat border runners and tourists who fly only 1 time to Thailand but cross the border to visit one or more of the neighboring countries.

I would say that a number of around 9 million is more realistic.

LaoPo

[pokerface1001]

Bangkok Airways is directly responsible for the destruction of the middle class in Samui. If you are loaded and can pay 9000+ Bhat and stay in a 5 star you are fine, if not you just go somewhere else. A family of 4 is paying over 35000 to get here. from bangkok. Or 10000 to go to Phuket or Chiang mai. They are going to keep the surplus 25000 and spend it on a nicer hotel rarther than a 45 min flight....arent they???

[LaoPo]

Bangkok Airways is directly responsible for the destruction of the middle class in Samui.

Was there a middle class before 1989 ?

LaoPo

[maccaroni man]

if a destination is a hot spot i.e las vegas, sfo, san diego airl ines will often run hourly flights at bucket prices to keep the planes full and the money rolling in. it was not that long ago when you could get a 39.00 from sfo to vegas hourly. phuket bkk is under 1k baht surat bkk can be gotten fou under 1k baht so isnt it fair to assume that lower air fares would translate to increased arrivals, more money coming to the island and more money being made all around. Once again i point to the domestic market from bkk where they can go to bali for less than samui.

The airlines flying to Vegas didn't built the airport, nor did they built 2 other airports -total 3- like Bangkok Airways did.

They built the airline from scratch in a niche market and took the risks. Now it's time to build and extend, which they do and try to survive in a very difficult market on top of the present crisis.

Because they took a different road in the airline business and didn't have to compete with other air carriers, flying to Phuket for instance, they did a good job but they took the huge risks, building the airport which nobody else did.

BTW: tell me which airline flies to Bali for less than Samui; I might be interested !

LaoPo

so i guess your point is they built the air port which is a bit of a side step from my OP as to the point i was making; cheap airfares fill planes you did fail to mention that BA put the landing fees at such a price that even medivacs were finding it difficult to pay much less other discount carriers hence the lack of competetion was by self design and gave way to price fixing. You are obviously well read so i suggest looking at the bk post in the travel section for package deals to bali and you will see many 3 and 4 day deals with air and hotel in bali that are less than samui finally as a long term resident on samui if i could fly for 3k round trip to bkk i would fly more often so where they do not make the money on the front end they make more on the rear

[koheesti]

finally as a long term resident on samui if i could fly for 3k round trip to bkk i would fly more often so where they do not make the money on the front end they make more on the rear

The year I lived on Samui I went to BKK twice. Once by ferry/bus, once I flew and that cost me 8400 baht. I would have gone several more times if I could have paid 3000 R/T.

It's just common sense that cheaper flights would fill the planes hence the hotels/restaurants/shops on Samui. Good business for all. Maybe Bangkok Air is just run by a former Samui taxi driver?

[mattias33]

Laopao and Highdiver took the angle that "bkk air did the investments and took the risks so therefore they are allowed to rip us off" in this thread. If you are infact only consumers of their service and not involved in any other way, i suppose your holdingpoint is nice. But rare. Look, in my country this monopoly would not be possible. You can buy land, build the only airport around, but never could you forbide competition. It is a well known fact that a situation like that is never good in the end for the paying customer. That the idea from a buisness point of view is smart, building a airport on a island, the only airport, and being alone in pricing, no doubt about it, but i think this thread should really be more about us islanders point of views than the people that live on us.

Those half empty planes they talk about in the op, would be able to fill up if the pricing was better. When me, my wife, and son, go to Bkk, we save a month rent almost if we choose lomprayha compared to Bkk air.

If we go with the car, the savings equals nice stops on the way with hotels and dinners out.

It would be possible for government to put up a difference on Bkk air fare to give people on this island same fares as the mainland. If not, the monopoly should be cancelled. Force Bkk air to stop overcharging this leg only when they fly everything else cheaper.

Koohesti got a clear point, the bkk air idea is really not that far from the taxiscammers. It is taking advantage of the tourist that dont have any other choice in both cases, and i know for a fact that it do scare many tourists off, not coming back the next year.

If you sit in Bkk, like many do, and plan to go a week to one of the islands in the south. You do the math. A family of 4. Phuket versus Samui. Phuket shaped up. They lower the hotel prices. While samui did nothing. You add the few thousand extra per flight ticket, more exp taxis, more exp roomrates. The family of 4 look at savings up to 100k if they choose phuket instead of samui for their week in the south. At least thats what a family i recently spoke to calculated in their case. so what do you choose then? Add to that the maybe flooded roads, and a powerbrake per day. Garbage situation is also nasty in certain areas of chaweng. Beachroad has a terrible smell sometimes. All this adds up. I think the tourism assosiation needs to sit down and start taking this seriously. Really.

[LaoPo]

To be honest, I'm getting tired of all the complaints about BKK Airways.

First of all you complaining guys decided for yourself to either live here or travel here. You know you're on an island an an island is ALWAYS more expensive traveling to than a mainland, where ever.

Secondly you knew that BKK Airways is the owner of the airport and has a monopoly.

Thirdly: there are a few categories of people living or traveling on/to an island (Farang speaking):

a. you live there in retirement; -by choice-

b. you go there on holiday or -by choice-

c. you are married to a local -by choice also, but more understandable-

d. or a combination of c and d. and own a business. -by choice also-

In most cases it was/is up to yourself to live/travel on/to Samui/Phangan/Tao and you knew on forehand about the hassles of traveling and flying including the pricing of BKK Airways..

So, time and time again you come back here and complain, but if you really feel you should complain, why don't you guys join each other and write complaining letters to Bangkok Airways ?

If I would feel it's a rip-off, flying with BKK Airways I would leave; simple as that.

For my business I flew thousands of times in my life; many of those times HAD TO BE on certain days/dates and I had to pay the price offered to me because I would have missed important appointments; I am talking business/trying to make money.

If there are business people amongst you you knew that flying out of Samui is/was expensive; so you should have considered that in your business plans. If you're living on Samui islands ? exactly the same because you wanted to live on Samui, not in Pattaya, Phuket or Chiang Mai

If you're on holidays, your ticket was most likely bought back home and included in your initial ticketing.

If you bought it in Thailand, well you knew the price and if you don't like the price, there's no law telling you HAVE TO fly.

LaoPo

[Gatorade]

To be honest, I'm getting tired of all the complaints about BKK Airways.

First of all you complaining guys decided for yourself to either live here or travel here. You know you're on an island an an island is ALWAYS more expensive traveling to than a mainland, where ever.

Secondly you knew that BKK Airways is the owner of the airport and has a monopoly.

Thirdly: there are a few categories of people living or traveling on/to an island (Farang speaking):

a. you live there in retirement; -by choice-

b. you go there on holiday or -by choice-

c. you are married to a local -by choice also, but more understandable-

d. or a combination of c and d. and own a business. -by choice also-

In most cases it was/is up to yourself to live/travel on/to Samui/Phangan/Tao and you knew on forehand about the hassles of traveling and flying including the pricing of BKK Airways..

So, time and time again you come back here and complain, but if you really feel you should complain, why don't you guys join each other and write complaining letters to Bangkok Airways ?

If I would feel it's a rip-off, flying with BKK Airways I would leave; simple as that.

For my business I flew thousands of times in my life; many of those times HAD TO BE on certain days/dates and I had to pay the price offered to me because I would have missed important appointments; I am talking business/trying to make money.

If there are business people amongst you you knew that flying out of Samui is/was expensive; so you should have considered that in your business plans. If you're living on Samui islands ? exactly the same because you wanted to live on Samui, not in Pattaya, Phuket or Chiang Mai

If you're on holidays, your ticket was most likely bought back home and included in your initial ticketing.

If you bought it in Thailand, well you knew the price and if you don't like the price, there's no law telling you HAVE TO fly.

LaoPo

Well said LP. Couldn't agree more. However, I'm afraid that such reasoning will only generate more and more intransigence and irrational views amongst the whingeing few.

[snakehips]

Is it possible we can put this to a vote???

All of you who believe the prices Bangkok airways charge has a negative effect on the samui economy say " Eye!!"

Those who think Bangkok Airways are well within their rights to charge what they want say "neigh"

EYE!!

[sbk]

its aye and nay, snakehips.

[LaoPo]

its aye and nay, snakehips.

Is tourism that bad, SBK ?

To a more serious note: When the islands were almost sinking, full of tourists, everybody was complaining about too many people, too much building, too many villas, too many hotels, too many bars, too many restaurants; when there's heavy raining the people complain about the sewage (correctly); people complain about the roads (correctly).

....but when everything is fine..everything is fine

So: it's not that good now and I have been telling on other threads: it's going to be a LOT worse in 2009 and 2010...a LOT. Many hotels and bungalow parks will be completely empty, the beaches will be deserted, restaurants and bars will close.

EVERYBODY will complain; just don't -just- complain about BKK Airways because they're not the cause of all this and nobody of you will even notice if they lower the prices or not; unless you're at the airport counting passengers with every single plane.

Last night I had a detailed conversation with some people about the economy in Europe; it's bad...real bad.

Car dealers don't sell anything anymore; Notaries have empty desks because noboby transport houses and mortgages anymore; businesses can't get access to credit lines; shops are warned by their suppliers to pay, or....no deliveries.

Friends of mine with some 100 mens-wear shops have stalled their plans to open 10-15 more shops; that means less employees to hire and a lot less turnover. I could go on for hours.

I warn here and now; PREPARE FOR THE WORST because 80% of you have never ever faced such a bad economy before in your entire life. Since you were born your entire life has been one of growth, growth and growth and you took everything for granted -not your fault of course- but you haven't been prepared for bad times, so:

Stop complaining and start preparing for bad times !

LaoPo

[Rooo]

Is it possible we can put this to a vote???

All of you who believe the prices Bangkok airways charge has a negative effect on the samui economy say " Eye!!"

Those who think Bangkok Airways are well within their rights to charge what they want say "neigh"

EYE!!

I was always complaining about cost of BKK Air,but come to think of it,I come in with my eyes open. Are they really having a negative effect on the island? They have made it what it is,they have built the economy here,they have made the wealthy Samuins & foreigners alike. It might have a negative effect on your business as you see it,because you would like to see more traffic here. You opted to open one of the over supplied eating places, knowing very well the restrictions on flight movements to the island. You have 3 airlines servicing the island, have you ever mentioned the cost of Thai Airways? Have you ever mentioned the other options people have ,EG ferry ( price rise) ,Surat airport?

The island as it is can not cater for what is here ( in good times),roads, electric,water supply etc etc.... & you are saying BKK are restricting your opportunity to make more money.

It sounds to me like a self serving campaign .Please prove me wrong.

[highdiver]

Is it possible we can put this to a vote???

All of you who believe the prices Bangkok airways charge has a negative effect on the samui economy say " Eye!!"

Those who think Bangkok Airways are well within their rights to charge what they want say "neigh"

EYE!!

I was always complaining about cost of BKK Air,but come to think of it,I come in with my eyes open. Are they really having a negative effect on the island? They have made it what it is,they have built the economy here,they have made the wealthy Samuins & foreigners alike. It might have a negative effect on your business as you see it,because you would like to see more traffic here. You opted to open one of the over supplied eating places, knowing very well the restrictions on flight movements to the island. You have 3 airlines servicing the island, have you ever mentioned the cost of Thai Airways? Have you ever mentioned the other options people have ,EG ferry ( price rise) ,Surat airport?

The island as it is can not cater for what is here ( in good times),roads, electric,water supply etc etc.... & you are saying BKK are restricting your opportunity to make more money.

It sounds to me like a self serving campaign .Please prove me wrong.

you are absolutely right.. but there is now ay the BKA wingers will accept that..they hold the point of view that someone else is to blame for everything and as usual they take it out on the most successful.

[mattias33]

Is it possible we can put this to a vote???

All of you who believe the prices Bangkok airways charge has a negative effect on the samui economy say " Eye!!"

Those who think Bangkok Airways are well within their rights to charge what they want say "neigh"

EYE!!

Snake, i consider this a very good post. However, if you want to be a regular poster here with somekind of credability to you, you need to be a little more agressive. For instans you can start by calling another poster "low iq". If this does not do the job, you try to find out were the poster live, and then you go on saying "you been living to long in that area". If you read thai, you could try pitying people that dont, or, even better, try to see if you can telll somebody they forgotten to take their medicin. Whatever you do though, stop the track your on to now. Real facts and common thinking wont make it over here. We are suppose to love that Bkk air screw us over and over again, and if we dont, laopao and HD will not stop til we do. Dont know why, but this is the case. Just leave it.

Ps, if you ever run completely out of arguments you can always pick on the English of the poster. Dosent matter if your a native speaker yourself, its the last way out of it when you loose arguments. Ds.

[koheesti]

To be honest, I'm getting tired of all the complaints about BKK Airways.

First of all you complaining guys decided for yourself to either live here or travel here. You know you're on an island an an island is ALWAYS more expensive traveling to than a mainland, where ever.

Secondly you knew that BKK Airways is the owner of the airport and has a monopoly.

Thirdly: there are a few categories of people living or traveling on/to an island (Farang speaking):

a. you live there in retirement; -by choice-

b. you go there on holiday or -by choice-

c. you are married to a local -by choice also, but more understandable-

d. or a combination of c and d. and own a business. -by choice also-

In most cases it was/is up to yourself to live/travel on/to Samui/Phangan/Tao and you knew on forehand about the hassles of traveling and flying including the pricing of BKK Airways..

So, time and time again you come back here and complain, but if you really feel you should complain, why don't you guys join each other and write complaining letters to Bangkok Airways ?

If I would feel it's a rip-off, flying with BKK Airways I would leave; simple as that.

For my business I flew thousands of times in my life; many of those times HAD TO BE on certain days/dates and I had to pay the price offered to me because I would have missed important appointments; I am talking business/trying to make money.

If there are business people amongst you you knew that flying out of Samui is/was expensive; so you should have considered that in your business plans. If you're living on Samui islands ? exactly the same because you wanted to live on Samui, not in Pattaya, Phuket or Chiang Mai

If you're on holidays, your ticket was most likely bought back home and included in your initial ticketing.

If you bought it in Thailand, well you knew the price and if you don't like the price, there's no law telling you HAVE TO fly.

LaoPo

Well said LP. Couldn't agree more. However, I'm afraid that such reasoning will only generate more and more intransigence and irrational views amongst the whingeing few.

tired & cranky rant coming your way...

Actually, it isn't well said at all. The "you don't HAVE to" argument is about as weak as they come. I don't HAVE to fly from Hong Kong to Samui via BKair. I can fly to Bangkok and take a bus and a ferry extending my trip by almost a day. I can play that "you don't have to" on just about every post you guys make so if you want to play, let's go.

If Thailand had anti-trust laws, the gov't would say "thank you for building the airport, now open it to free and fair competition or kiss it good-bye". Maybe those of us who care should all write a letter to PAD asking them to do something about it. They seem to be the only guys in The Land of Smiles with any real power. One more thing, please quit the whining about how they took such a big risk building the airport. You guys who were around back then, was there much talk about how building it was a stupid move and would fail? More likely there was a chorus of "about time!". Is anyone surprised that the incompetents in the gov't didn't have the vision to build it themselves? You know, the same lack of vision that has resulted in the dismal infrastructure? Maybe some big corp can build proper water treatment plants and install pay toilets in every home. Now that would be worth it.

eh, I feel a little better.