Tourist Arrivals On Samui Down 50%

[Samuian]

Any update on the Samui situation?

2009 seems not so bad as forecasted, at least until end of chinese year.

now it is getting worse, lot's of bike to rent everywhere......

horrible....hotels, bars, restaurants...empty...it is a ghost-town. kind of nice though, reminds me a bit of Samui 20 years ago.

Got to be a parallel universe ou there!

think I am on a different Samui then....

yesterday Bar and several Restaurants in Chaweng packed on the 12th Anniversary of the RP packed out,

never ever before I saw that many people there!

Green Mango Square, not packed but still enough of People around..

Last weekend Mae Nam the live Music event @ lazy Coconut - packed!

And Yes, at certain times Beach Road pretty busy...

Define "packed"...so WHAT...a few folks at an event...at a venue that is small...like ALL venues on Samui, including Mango and Reggae...so WHAT...a few folks on beach road "at certain times" (read: 12:37 a.m. to about 2:48 a.m.)...ya, THAT is money for Samui. What is with you guys, why do feel so dedicated to denying the truth?? EVERYONE I know here and talk to says business is DEAD...but you don't even have to ask, just walk around. eh hem...when is the last time you saw a cement truck on ring road? ...

For the rest of you, "Samuian" has his head in the sand or he's just lying (probably a property agent or developer or resort want to be owner ) the TRUTH is that Samui IS a ghost-town, business is dead....AND...it's kind of nice again

PACKED as in "FULL", full i mean People just All over the place, the RP itself inside by midnight hard to make your way through!

Certainly NOT a FEW!

EVERYONE I know here and talk to says business is DEAD

well., I hear and see different things...

when is the last time you saw a cement truck on ring road?

Ah well, you're in the Cement truck sales business, well then...

well as to the rest of your post.... got to be a parallel universe out there!

[Birdman]

You can eat and drink cheap again. If it was not for bangkok airways scam and the taxi scams i would start reccomending this island for tourists now. Bu those 2 factors are still there to rob the hel_l out of you.

PG TIX are already included in the holiday package and almost no tourist complains about taxi prices, because songtaeows are very cheap and/or many tourists stay at their resorts or nearby and/or they have their own (free or cheap) hotel shuttle bus.

Why do you care about the taxi clique so much? If you have your own car/motorcycle, you have absolutely nothing to do with them.

Situation on Samui: Not packed like every Feb., but not quite too. Certainly cannot call that dead or a ghost city.

[mattias33]

You can eat and drink cheap again. If it was not for bangkok airways scam and the taxi scams i would start reccomending this island for tourists now. Bu those 2 factors are still there to rob the hel_l out of you.

PG TIX are already included in the holiday package and almost no tourist complains about taxi prices, because songtaeows are very cheap and/or many tourists stay at their resorts or nearby and/or they have their own (free or cheap) hotel shuttle bus.

Why do you care about the taxi clique so much? If you have your own car/motorcycle, you have absolutely nothing to do with them.

Situation on Samui: Not packed like every Feb., but not quite too. Certainly cannot call that dead or a ghost city.

I made myself unclear, sorry for that. I have my own transportation and do not personally care about Bkk air or the taxiscams. What i ment to say is that those two scam the hel_l out of tourists (that assumably dont have their own transportation) and for those two reasons i wont reccomend Samui as a tourist destination over lets say Chiang mai or Phuket. For an expat owning his own vehicles it is a different thing. Clear enough?

[highdiver]

bophud or what ever you "new" nick name is. and for Matias33

you are right I am wrong..

Samui is DEAD there are no people and all the hotels are dying. and samui is doomed..

ok ??

As for those of us who live in the parallel universe.

same story every year for the past 9 years. first there is a the peak season of December new year until the beiging of january then 10 days quieter then there is the European vacance and Chineese new year season and then a slow down again till the end of February then it picks up until after the end of Easter then it will slow down for may and june till mid july...

nothing has changed over the past 3 years...

and every year every time it slows down we get the dooms day predictions and samui is dead announcements.

and still there are those who refuse to understand that there are tourists coming but they have a larger choice and that competition is the name of the game.

if you let your business stay the same as it was 5 years ago you will not attract tourists who will favor the new design and new concepts as well as better quality and service for the same or even higher price.

those who will not be able to compete will soon be out .. and those who will compete will be making the buck.

just as an example... why should i go to a old rotten beach bar with lousy service in lamai when the new beach republic is state of the art, new exclusive, and is more attractive... so his neighbor is not seeing any tourist while the republic is jammed packed.

why is arc bar and Salinas packed.. why is the Irish bar always packed?? why is the new bamboo beach club packed?

even the Thai locals are filling up the Bier camp

Hotel bookings on Samui soar to 90%

Written by Chat Anupan

Wednesday, 28 January 2009 15:24

While tourism across the country has been in a slump from global recession and domestic political problems, hotel bookings on Samui have soared to 90 percent in the run-up to the Chinese New Year.

Mr. Phanu Woramit, head of the Suratthani office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said local tourists, along with thousands of Chinese from neighboring countries, would be coming to Samui for the Chinese New Year.

He said 90 percent of the island’s 25,000 hotel rooms are booked. Other nearby islands like Koh Phangan and Koh Tao also had high occupancy rates at the moment.

Mr. Phanu said tourist arrivals on the island had been on the upswing since before the recent Christmas and New Year holidays.

The current wave of Chinese tourists, Mr. Phanu said, could be the direct result of the recent visit to Guangzho in mainland China by governor Phornsiri Manoharn of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

During her Guangzho visit, Mrs. Phornsiri made a pitch for Samui, along with other places in the country, as a perfect island destination for Chinese tourists, particularly during the Chinese New Year.

Tourism in the country took a dip after antigovernment protesters laid siege on Bangkok’s two airports – Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang — late last year.

[mattias33]

bophud or what ever you "new" nick name is. and for Matias33

you are right I am wrong..

Samui is DEAD there are no people and all the hotels are dying. and samui is doomed..

ok ??

As for those of us who live in the parallel universe.

same story every year for the past 9 years. first there is a the peak season of December new year until the beiging of january then 10 days quieter then there is the European vacance and Chineese new year season and then a slow down again till the end of February then it picks up until after the end of Easter then it will slow down for may and june till mid july...

nothing has changed over the past 3 years...

and every year every time it slows down we get the dooms day predictions and samui is dead announcements.

and still there are those who refuse to understand that there are tourists coming but they have a larger choice and that competition is the name of the game.

if you let your business stay the same as it was 5 years ago you will not attract tourists who will favor the new design and new concepts as well as better quality and service for the same or even higher price.

those who will not be able to compete will soon be out .. and those who will compete will be making the buck.

just as an example... why should i go to a old rotten beach bar with lousy service in lamai when the new beach republic is state of the art, new exclusive, and is more attractive... so his neighbor is not seeing any tourist while the republic is jammed packed.

why is arc bar and Salinas packed.. why is the Irish bar always packed?? why is the new bamboo beach club packed?

even the Thai locals are filling up the Bier camp

Hotel bookings on Samui soar to 90%

Written by Chat Anupan

Wednesday, 28 January 2009 15:24

While tourism across the country has been in a slump from global recession and domestic political problems, hotel bookings on Samui have soared to 90 percent in the run-up to the Chinese New Year.

Mr. Phanu Woramit, head of the Suratthani office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said local tourists, along with thousands of Chinese from neighboring countries, would be coming to Samui for the Chinese New Year.

He said 90 percent of the island's 25,000 hotel rooms are booked. Other nearby islands like Koh Phangan and Koh Tao also had high occupancy rates at the moment.

Mr. Phanu said tourist arrivals on the island had been on the upswing since before the recent Christmas and New Year holidays.

The current wave of Chinese tourists, Mr. Phanu said, could be the direct result of the recent visit to Guangzho in mainland China by governor Phornsiri Manoharn of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

During her Guangzho visit, Mrs. Phornsiri made a pitch for Samui, along with other places in the country, as a perfect island destination for Chinese tourists, particularly during the Chinese New Year.

Tourism in the country took a dip after antigovernment protesters laid siege on Bangkok's two airports – Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang — late last year.

Highdiver. It would be easier to follow your bs story if you at least wrote it down and read it before you post it. And made up your mind how you are gonna present this lie. You sound like a very bad polititian when you in the same sentence say "nothing has change the last 3 years it is exactly the same as the last 9 years".

Nobody beleive you, (and i dont even know your reasons) but what we do see is that samui is dead. And Bkk airways, seatran and lomprayha ferry is here to confirm that they never ever sold so little tickets to samui in februari as this year, and the hotels say the same. Bkk air even cancelled two flights per day during late januari and it for sure was not because they where overbooked! Get real highdiver. You are not convincing anybody with this bogus.

I am getting more and more convinced you are trying to get a job at samui tourism assosiation. But even they dont go this far. Even they say now it is slower than previous years. You have to have a little touch with ground in your lies if you want anybody to read your posts and beleive them. You are making a fool of yourself at this point.

[mattias33]

He said 90 percent of the island's 25,000 hotel rooms are booked. Other nearby islands like Koh Phangan and Koh Tao also had high occupancy rates at the moment.

Well, that just proves that this guy dont know anything he is talking about so please stop reffering to this guy in future posts highdiver. 90 % of the islands 25000 hotelrooms are booked, hahaha. Yeah, right! .

[samuibeachcomber]

for what its worth,as i'm no expert,was in chaweng last night early(valentines day) and i thought it was very busy,traffic jammed up going into the beach road,beach road packed,restuarants doing good business,i would think everyone would have been happy, and it was nice to see.

[Mark Wolfe]

Boputed

horrible....hotels, bars, restaurants...empty...it is a ghost-town. kind of nice though, reminds me a bit of Samui 20 years ago.

Lamai is still going pretty strong, more so than I would have thought at this time.

[Rooo]

He said 90 percent of the island's 25,000 hotel rooms are booked. Other nearby islands like Koh Phangan and Koh Tao also had high occupancy rates at the moment.

Well, that just proves that this guy dont know anything he is talking about so please stop reffering to this guy in future posts highdiver. 90 % of the islands 25000 hotelrooms are booked, hahaha. Yeah, right! .

Mattias, why don't you back your statements? All I can see from your posts are pure refutals of any sensible posts bscked by available data & statistics.

[angiud]

For what I can see on Koh Phangan, there are tourist like always, February is a good month. Full moon was full, and a lot of people coming from Samui too.

About the crisis, I can guess a 10/20% less from last year, but just a sensation based on the people you can see in Haad Rin and what other tourist operators say to me.

If the international economical crisis reflect in this way in KPG, I am more than satisfied (we have our profit, less then usual, but we have it)

[Boputed]

bophud or what ever you "new" nick name is. and for Matias33

you are right I am wrong..

Samui is DEAD there are no people and all the hotels are dying. and samui is doomed..

ok ??

THANK YOU for finally saying something intelligent, logical and correct.

[Boputed]

He said 90 percent of the island's 25,000 hotel rooms are booked. Other nearby islands like Koh Phangan and Koh Tao also had high occupancy rates at the moment.

Well, that just proves that this guy dont know anything he is talking about so please stop reffering to this guy in future posts highdiver. 90 % of the islands 25000 hotelrooms are booked, hahaha. Yeah, right! .

Mattias, why don't you back your statements? All I can see from your posts are pure refutals of any sensible posts bscked by available data & statistics.

Rooo, WHAT "sensible posts backed by" WHAT "available data & statistics"???

[samui04]

Boputed

horrible....hotels, bars, restaurants...empty...it is a ghost-town. kind of nice though, reminds me a bit of Samui 20 years ago.

Lamai is still going pretty strong, more so than I would have thought at this time.

Yes, people are around but they spend very little....street vendor very pissed off....

All expensive restaurant are nearly empty, and nobody increased as usual the price 10/15% as every december.

Of course 500bht for a pizza means they have to keep price at this level for 5 years before eating that pizza is not close to a robbery...

Also hi-end resorts seems empty, but only a rich idiot can prefer Samui to Maldives at 10.000bht per night...

[koheesti]

First of all it was their 21th anniversery, and second of all it is always packed. You offer free food and free drinks and you get all the expats to go there and celebrate what they dont even know they are celebrating.

If you had gone you would have known that the free stuff was for the VIPs and at least half of those in the new section where it was all being offered were Thais, not expats.

[FairwayJack]

I'm going down on 27/02 to play golf at the Santiburi course. Hope it is a pleasant experience. I've only heard good things about the place before. I'm a bit wary now after reading these posts.

[koheesti]

yesterday Bar and several Restaurants in Chaweng packed on the 12th Anniversary of the RP packed out,

never ever before I saw that many people there!

This was taken at 01:30...

[limbos]

Photoshopped.

Case closed

[samuibeachcomber]

I'm going down on 27/02 to play golf at the Santiburi course. Hope it is a pleasant experience. I've only heard good things about the place before. I'm a bit wary now after reading these posts.

you'll have a great time,this threads been going on for quite a while about samui being busy or quiet,right now there's a good number of people here having a good time and the weather's fantastic.

[OnTheSnap]

bophud or what ever you "new" nick name is. and for Matias33

you are right I am wrong..

Samui is DEAD there are no people and all the hotels are dying. and samui is doomed..

ok ??

As for those of us who live in the parallel universe.

same story every year for the past 9 years. first there is a the peak season of December new year until the beiging of january then 10 days quieter then there is the European vacance and Chineese new year season and then a slow down again till the end of February then it picks up until after the end of Easter then it will slow down for may and june till mid july...

nothing has changed over the past 3 years...

and every year every time it slows down we get the dooms day predictions and samui is dead announcements.

and still there are those who refuse to understand that there are tourists coming but they have a larger choice and that competition is the name of the game.

if you let your business stay the same as it was 5 years ago you will not attract tourists who will favor the new design and new concepts as well as better quality and service for the same or even higher price.

those who will not be able to compete will soon be out .. and those who will compete will be making the buck.

just as an example... why should i go to a old rotten beach bar with lousy service in lamai when the new beach republic is state of the art, new exclusive, and is more attractive... so his neighbor is not seeing any tourist while the republic is jammed packed.

why is arc bar and Salinas packed.. why is the Irish bar always packed?? why is the new bamboo beach club packed?

even the Thai locals are filling up the Bier camp

Hotel bookings on Samui soar to 90%

Written by Chat Anupan

Wednesday, 28 January 2009 15:24

While tourism across the country has been in a slump from global recession and domestic political problems, hotel bookings on Samui have soared to 90 percent in the run-up to the Chinese New Year.

Mr. Phanu Woramit, head of the Suratthani office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said local tourists, along with thousands of Chinese from neighboring countries, would be coming to Samui for the Chinese New Year.

He said 90 percent of the island's 25,000 hotel rooms are booked. Other nearby islands like Koh Phangan and Koh Tao also had high occupancy rates at the moment.

Mr. Phanu said tourist arrivals on the island had been on the upswing since before the recent Christmas and New Year holidays.

The current wave of Chinese tourists, Mr. Phanu said, could be the direct result of the recent visit to Guangzho in mainland China by governor Phornsiri Manoharn of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

During her Guangzho visit, Mrs. Phornsiri made a pitch for Samui, along with other places in the country, as a perfect island destination for Chinese tourists, particularly during the Chinese New Year.

Tourism in the country took a dip after antigovernment protesters laid siege on Bangkok's two airports – Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang — late last year.

Samui Express used as a legitimate news source? I know a few local hoteliers that got a big laugh out of that headline.

The new issue now says Samui numbers will decline "as much as" 27% (worse than the projected average of 15-20% nationwide)- believe what you will.

Please spare us the ridiculous "facts" being purported by the local rag.

[highdiver]

He said 90 percent of the island's 25,000 hotel rooms are booked. Other nearby islands like Koh Phangan and Koh Tao also had high occupancy rates at the moment.

Well, that just proves that this guy dont know anything he is talking about so please stop reffering to this guy in future posts highdiver. 90 % of the islands 25000 hotelrooms are booked, hahaha. Yeah, right! .

Mattias, why don't you back your statements? All I can see from your posts are pure refutals of any sensible posts bscked by available data & statistics.

Rooo, WHAT "sensible posts backed by" WHAT "available data & statistics"???

the same facts and sensible post posted by all those who are members here and have been here in Samui for so long that they know what they are talking about... as well as investing a lot money and effort into tourist related business, so they tend to make sure they know about the facts.

this is opposed to those who every few weeks open up a new member attempting over and over again to spread dooms day predictions... as well as those who have nothing to do with facts sensible posts or being able to conduct a debate with out the use of slander once they are proven over and over again as wrong and ignorant .

[koheesti]

Photoshopped.

Case closed

Not photoshopped and I'd like to point out it was taken over 3 hours after they stopped handing out all that wonderful free alcohol.

[highdiver]

I'm going down on 27/02 to play golf at the Santiburi course. Hope it is a pleasant experience. I've only heard good things about the place before. I'm a bit wary now after reading these posts.

you'll have a great time,this threads been going on for quite a while about samui being busy or quiet,right now there's a good number of people here having a good time and the weather's fantastic.

please don't ruin a perfectly good whining dooms day thread with telling us that there are a good number of people in samui.

its really not fair of you to dismiss those members who take a personal insult that samui has done a good year in 2008 and despite the massive problems in the world economy it will probably do not to bad in 2009.

[Mark Wolfe]

samui04:

Yes, people are around but they spend very little....street vendor very pissed off....

All expensive restaurant are nearly empty, ...

Well, the street vendors that I know, the transplanted Burmese crowd, say things are good -- certainly better than the months before Christmas. I don't know what restaurants you are referring to, but during dining hours places like Mr. Pown's and Salathai, for example, are nearly at capacity.

To be honest, I am a little surprised that there are as many people here now as there are. I thought that around the second week of February people would start to clear out.

[samui04]

samui04:

Yes, people are around but they spend very little....street vendor very pissed off....

All expensive restaurant are nearly empty, ...

Well, the street vendors that I know, the transplanted Burmese crowd, say things are good -- certainly better than the months before Christmas. I don't know what restaurants you are referring to, but during dining hours places like Mr. Pown's and Salathai, for example, are nearly at capacity.

To be honest, I am a little surprised that there are as many people here now as there are. I thought that around the second week of February people would start to clear out.

yes, you can add Golden Wave, always busy and this evening i saw a very nice banner "season discount 20%" at Il Tempio, the most expensive place of lamai to eat, i guess.

The 20% discount move the price to last year level and should be more widespread....

But a lot of restaurant non close to the center are always empty, i guess too many place. Last year WWW was always full, both of them, now one empty, the second demolished...

[highdiver]

samui04:

Yes, people are around but they spend very little....street vendor very pissed off....

All expensive restaurant are nearly empty, ...

Well, the street vendors that I know, the transplanted Burmese crowd, say things are good -- certainly better than the months before Christmas. I don't know what restaurants you are referring to, but during dining hours places like Mr. Pown's and Salathai, for example, are nearly at capacity.

To be honest, I am a little surprised that there are as many people here now as there are. I thought that around the second week of February people would start to clear out.

yes, you can add Golden Wave, always busy and this evening i saw a very nice banner "season discount 20%" at Il Tempio, the most expensive place of lamai to eat, i guess.

The 20% discount move the price to last year level and should be more widespread....

But a lot of restaurant non close to the center are always empty, i guess too many place. Last year WWW was always full, both of them, now one empty, the second demolished...

i totally agree with you on that.

there is an over supply of everything in samui. the tourists now have a much wider selection of everything form accommodations to bars clubs ad restaurants. those who will not be up to the competition will just fade away.

[livinthailandos]

who knew this post could last so long. I am surprised. I see nothing much has changed on here. predictions of doom, gloom. sky is falling

1. lets acknowledge that some of you don't work here for a living. Maybe you just spend your day watching farang.

2. Tourism isn't go to die here or go away. It will slowdown though

3. Most of the hotels here, realize with everything going on, if there smart you lower rates to get people and the majority of hotels work with travel agencies. Rates have gone down or will be going down. Some hotels are even full its called discounting.

4. Realize that during the year different people from different countries come at different times of the year.

5. I realize this year won't be easy. But got some ideas for the year. will be watching my expenses more closely. though

6. People are looking for bargins, specials, even I know that

7. We all know bangkok air is NOT a budget airline, so lets quite complaining about it already.

8. Understand chaweng is not the center of the universe for samui. Bophut, Lamai, Maenam also offer other appeals.

9. The ability to rip people off exists because of the system here & lack of enforcement. So why complain about it.

10. Given how things are though, samui probably will always be behind and lacking

11. Overcrowded Marketplace ( as long as people will believe there is money to be made they will still come here, upon that this place has prices for everyone

Restaurants / Stalls price is always right from 30 baht food to 1,000 baht and more

Hotels I've seen a modern hotel minus the beach for 600 baht per night, rates are everywhere

Massage 200 baht to 2000 baht and up.

12. Some of you have this want to relive the past. Samui this and that 20 years ago. the past is past. Today is present. Future is always unknown. Changes are always happening maybe you dislike it because you have almost no control over it. You only have control of certain things in life.

ok to long i know im done.

[samui04]

who knew this post could last so long. I am surprised. I see nothing much has changed on here. predictions of doom, gloom. sky is falling

it was dead, i've resurrected it, the forum was full of really boring post

BTW, my preferred rent a bike, all brand new Yamaha click very cheap, today is full of bike to rent.

Every monday until now was empty.....

Maybe the russian turists have realized that the ruble is down 40% against the powerful baht

[yorkie100]

OK then, for what it's worth here is my two penn'orth.

I had lunch last week in the Ark Bar. It was packed, as was the beach all around.

On the way back from Lamai last Friday, I stopped off at Soi Reggae around 1.00 am to see what was going on. It WAS chok full of people as were all the bars.. OK it was Reggae pub's birthday, but there was upwards of 500 bikes around and a lot of cars. Not proof in itself that Samui is full, I know but shows there are many tourists here at the moment.

Today I went to Choengmon Beach at 2.00 pm. I could not find a lounger free. The beach was busy as were the bars as were the jetskis etc.

I heard many accents, Thai, English, French, German and some eastern european which I don't recognise.

Go to the new pier at Bangrak any day around midday and watch the large number of people arriving on the ferries. Easy to do as the road is blocked solid at that time with all the songthaews, taxis and people carriers.

I don't know how full the planes are, neither do I know anything about hotel occupancy, but just my own observations tell me there are still many tourists coming to Samui.

[ChangMaiSausage]

I'm going down on 27/02 to play golf at the Santiburi course. Hope it is a pleasant experience. I've only heard good things about the place before. I'm a bit wary now after reading these posts.

Hope the course is in better condition than when I played (Dec 08) very disapointed the greens where terrible covered in sand and small stones. You/I do not expect to pay big bucks to play on a brown course I can do this in the middle east.

[mattias33]

I'm going down on 27/02 to play golf at the Santiburi course. Hope it is a pleasant experience. I've only heard good things about the place before. I'm a bit wary now after reading these posts.

you'll have a great time,this threads been going on for quite a while about samui being busy or quiet,right now there's a good number of people here having a good time and the weather's fantastic.

please don't ruin a perfectly good whining dooms day thread with telling us that there are a good number of people in samui.

its really not fair of you to dismiss those members who take a personal insult that samui has done a good year in 2008 and despite the massive problems in the world economy it will probably do not to bad in 2009.

Highdiver, you been trying for as long as i remember reading this forum, to claim that you know facts in every single thread. In tourism threads you are all of a sudden an investor and know much better than everybopdy else how tourism is doing. Well, i tell you what, i am not an investor in tourism related buisness, but i meet fair alot of hotel managers and restaurantowners. And as usuall, your oppinion of busy samui, is not at all what they say. I 2 days ago had a dinner with the chef of the biggest hotel in Fishermans village. He said they manage to keep 60 % occupansy during febuari, but it is only because of special promotions. Stay two nights for the price of one. He been the chef for 6 years and never ever have he seen less than 95% occupansy in febuari. You can bring whatever facts you want, this is still a very dead highseasion for samui. Anybody that claim else is just not experienced enough in the tourism buisness and i am convinced that highdiver for one dont work with tourists. I dont either, but the words from him is just not what you hear experinced tourist related buisnessmen say. Totally not. I am no expert at all. For sure. But one thing is even more sure. Highdiver is absolutely no expert. I seriously doubt you will succed in trying to convince anybody with this bs. But you are welcome to keep on trying.