My Heart Cries For Phuket

[olsen]

I have just returned to Sichon after a 3 day vacation in Phuket.

Now my heart is crying!

What has happened to the good, old, beautiful and wonderful Phuket I discovered on my very first trip to Thailand in 1997?

OK….I know things changes in Thailand with the flourishing tourism in mind. But please correct me if I am wrong:

The tourists mainly come to Thailand because of the beauty of the nature and the beaches, right? And because of the friendly and helpful Thai people and the good and cheap food no? And of course because Thailand in general is a cheap country!

So why do they ruin Phuket like this?

Because that's what they're doing…!

Well then…who are "they"? Who am I talking about?

I am talking about the Governor and the Thai Government in general.

Those people who allow the overcrowded roads and traffic jams, those people who allow the overpopulation and those people who allow the never ending construction at green areas that will soon disappear from Phuket.

Everybody know very well that Phuket and its infrastructure is NOT geared for a growth like this. But instead of construction and repair the roads before allowing new projects, they decide to allow the projects and then start constructing and repairing the roads when it is NECESSARY ….but then it's too late!

When I first visited Phuket in 1997 it was a sleepy small town with a wonderful beach and only a few hotels. Bangla Road was a small soi with wooden houses that was used for the shops and bars.

Later when I relocated to Phuket for good for working in 2003 I of course got surprised by the changes that had happened to the island.

The whole Phuket Charm was almost gone….

I had to settle in Chalong to find some of that old Phuket Charm.

Patong, Kata and Karon was already somewhat ruined back in 2003.

It was also on that time they started renovating the roads in Phuket.

And they're still renovating!

I lived 4 years in Phuket and every single day I felt like living on a construction site in the middle of Bangkok!

Construction everywhere you went …dirt and noise everywhere….and the traffic and the pollution were terrible!

At last I had ENOUGH…and I decided to relocate to Sichon, where I live now with my wife and son.

This was the best decision I've ever made in my life….I was simply so terrible tired on Phuket!

Now I am back in Sichon after a short 3 days vacation in Phuket.

And my heart is still crying!

It was actually my intention to stay with my wife and son at Phuket for 1 week, as I was still convinced that Phuket was a nice place to relax and enjoy some of the shopping possibilities that we lack here in Sichon.

But after only 2 nights at our hotel both I and my wife were ready to leave Phuket for good! We had booked a hotel in Phuket Town to stay away from the overcrowded tourist areas. But I somehow forgot the terrible traffic that has been even worse since I left Phuket 2 years earlier. We visited some friends in Patong one day. It was a trip lasting 1 hour….each way….even it was only a stretch of 15 kilometers from Phuket Town. So we spent 2 hours in a weird traffic jam just to visit friends for 1 hour. That's crazy, no? We couldn't stand it…!!

We left Phuket 2 years ago and settled in Sichon.

Since then they are still not finished renovating and building the new roads! They're still working at it at this very moment! And they still construct new hotels, villas and shopping centers….all over the island. Today you can't see where Phuket Town is ending and where Chalong begins….it is just one big town now….same as Kata and Karon….and soon Karon and Patong.

Soon there will be no green areas where you can build a small house. It will all look like Singapore and Hong Kong!

But even new and wider roads will not help Phuket in the future….right now at the vey moment it will of course ease the traffic …but the growth of the island happens too quickly, so in a few years time Phuket will be back to its normal traffic jams…..

I can see only one solution to the problems in Phuket:

A total stop of constructing hotels, resorts and private villages so no more people will settle in Phuket and add to the overcrowding!

I really don't understand why tourists keep coming to Phuket!

I have heard from many people visiting Phuket. When they leave, they say: "Phuket….NEVER AGAIN!!!"

And what about the kind and helpful Thai people at Phuket?

Well…they are still here…but they don't speak English!

Those Thais who speak English they are also kind and helpful...but just as far as they can earn money...they regard you as a walking wallet!

Phuket has now converted into a huge money factory. Everything is about money here. And I am not just talking about the bar girls. I am talking about every single business and Thai person working on the island! Only money counts!

Everything is more expensive in Phuket than in the rest of Thailand. And I mean EVERYTHING!

The normal Thai price for a plate with rice and chicken in curry is 45 bath at a food stall in Phuket. This is around 100% more expensive than a similar plate in Bangkok….or Sichon.

A beer at a Sichon restaurant costs 35 baht….compared to the prices in Phuket ranging from 65 to 90 baht.

A taxi to the airport in Phuket will cost you some 2,000 baht….compared to the same 45 kilometer stretch from Sichon to our local airport at a cost of only 800 baht.

If you want to take a taxi from Patong beach road to Rat U Thit Road, which is the parallel road to the beach road and hardly a stretch of 1 kilometer then the price is 200 baht. The same stretch would in Pattaya cost you 10 baht with a baht bus. So in this connection Phuket is 2,000% more expensive than Pattaya!!!

Did anyone say mafia?

Well…you're right…the mafia runs all the tuk tuk and taxis in Phuket!

First time visitors to Thailand often chose to visit Phuket because they have a friend who says the island is a nice place. But after their visit many of them never return to Phuket!!!

I think one of the reasons that so many tourists visit here is that the island is very famous around the globe, especially due to the many tour companies in Europe and USA that offers reasonable charter tours to Phuket showing wonderful brochures and tend to persuade their customers to chose Phuket, but of course the agents never tell the FULL story about Phuket…they don't tell about all the bad things! Else they would never be able to sell so many hotel rooms in Phuket!!!

Those tourists who like Phuket must be because of the exiting night life, that is comparable of Pattaya and Bangkok. Or maybe they like to huge shopping centers where they can shop till they drop, without sweating like an elephant in a sauna?

I mean, if the tourists come for the beaches then they will soon realize that the beaches are overcrowded and polluted ….and with beach vendors strolling around disturbing every minute. Not to mention the pollution and noise from the traffic and the shops and bars in the rear of the beaches…!!!

I must say, I don't understand that any tourist will ever visit Phuket…at least not more than 1 time! I ask myself often…WHY???

What do you think?

My heart is still crying over Phuket!

And I am happy as ever because I've made Sichon my home in Thailand!

[ScubaBuddha]

I agree with much of it, although I think your actually crying primarily about Patong, not all of Phuket. My earliest visit was 2001. It has indeed changed much, and definitely not all for the better. It depends on what you, as a tourist, are looking for I think. There are a lot more creature comforts here now, and that is nice at times, but it definitely is no longer the frontier it used to be. I used to have to go to Patong or Phuket town for Pizza Company or KFC. Now there is one each in Chalong.

I hear of a lot of people that were long time expats of Thailand are moving to Cambodia or The Philippines to recapture that frontier feeling. I lived in the middle of Kata in 2001. It was quiet at night. Now, returning after 6 years, I had to find a place away from the beach towns to find some quiet. I suggest if you do ever decide to try Phuket again, go to Nai Harn, Rawai, Kalim, Surin, or any of the northern beaches for relative peace and quite.

[Super Hans]

Bloody hel_l!

[londonthai]

phuket is not paradise, everybody knows it.

you post sounds like an advertising for sichon, but not everybody is interested to be in the middle of nowhere

[Sir Burr]

When I first visited Phuket in 1997 it was a sleepy small town with a wonderful beach and only a few hotels. Bangla Road was a small soi with wooden houses that was used for the shops and bars.

Yeah.....right.

Those of us who settled here in the 80's thought that Phuket had changed so that it was unrecognizable by 1997.

Soi Bangla certainly wasn't how you describe it in 1997. It was already developed by then. I certainly can't remember the "wooden houses".

Anybody who wants to see Phuket as it was 30 years ago only has to go 50 kilometres off the island in any direction.

People in 1995 were lamenting the over-development of Phuket, just as in 10 years time they will be harking back to the halcyon days of 2009.

Edited February 23, 2009 by Sir Burr

[CroBiker]

I hear you Olsen. Sometimes I feel us foreigners care about this island more then locals do.

I came here first time back in 1994, fell in love with island instantly. People were much kinder then. Some local elements bleeding Phuket dry; their logic is to milk tourists and don't care if they ever come back because there are 6 bilion other people on this planet.

As for construction sites all over the place.....well, that's the price we pay with ongoing development. Still, not good enough reason for me to look for alternative place anywhere else in Thailand. Most likely staying here for the rest of my life.

[BIGTOE3]

Good post, I have only been there once and I agree with discription not somewhere I will be visiting again soon.

Very SAD.

BT

[cotambear]

You wouldn`t be the `Olsen` that runs THIS http://sichon.info/forum/index.php?PHPSESS...=108.msg119#new

Sichon website would you?

Forgive me for being cynical, but peeps who run local websites like these usually have their wares to peddle be it a bar, hotel, property business etc. But I`m happy to be proved wrong

Edited February 23, 2009 by cotambear

[thaiwanderer]

a tourist bemoaning the affect of tourism

[mrukman]

Agree fully with the 1st post i 1st went to patong in 2006 and it was fantastic ist time on the beach sun factor 5 result severe sun burn. Answear trip to the massage everyday no more sun or swimming but hey the bangla. Went back next year what a diff, ripped off and scammed every minute i stepped out of my hotel went foe a road side snack me and the tirac 2 piece's chicken 30 baht for her 80 baht for me being farrang. same with tuk tuks taxi's indian tailors with aussie asscents couldn't walk 10 yards without getting hassled by over bearing touts or unfriendly bar girl's ive never seen a place change so fast. Now we have farrang murders and balcony jumpers ???? on the increase now it seems to be daily. Why should you have to ride to Rawai or surin to get away from the hastle at patong if the mayor knows the problems why are the big boys on the tourist council not doing anything to put these problems right. Like 1 poster said it doesn't matter if they complain theres plenty more tourist well the latest figure's and jet ski opps sitting on the beach will give you the answear. Patongs greed will and has put a lot off people off traveling there now.

[harleyclarkey]

First went in 1993 and loved Patong. Cool, calm, really friendly place. Bangla was a mere dot compared to today... and no, no wooden huts then either.

I spent many a happy night in a bar called Pepe...owned by a really nice guy called Tony Bellis and his lovely wife Dao...2 doors up from Bangla on the beach road. Stayed for half nothing in the hotel that is still there ...right on the beach. can't remenber the darn name!

.

Yep....big changes now. Far too much trouble and danger. The total lack of any service or protection for foreigners is a disgrace and really bugs me. Trouble with a tuk tuk? Business? Hotel? Forget it...Back in '93 these just did not happen. Evolution? Sure, but not for the better.

As an aside.....trip to Phi Phi to stay in the beach huts for 50-100 Baht a night and if I remember ..again!...hardly a concrete building on the whole island. Nearly every building between the pier and the beach were wooden/straw huts and coconut trees everywhere.

[Ping]

When I first visited Phuket in 1997 it was a sleepy small town with a wonderful beach and only a few hotels. Bangla Road was a small soi with wooden houses that was used for the shops and bars.

Yeah.....right.

Those of us who settled here in the 80's thought that Phuket had changed so that it was unrecognizable by 1997.

Soi Bangla certainly wasn't how you describe it in 1997. It was already developed by then. I certainly can't remember the "wooden houses".

Anybody who wants to see Phuket as it was 30 years ago only has to go 50 kilometres off the island in any direction.

People in 1995 were lamenting the over-development of Phuket, just as in 10 years time they will be harking back to the halcyon days of 2009.

Agreed. No 'wooden houses' in Bangla when I first visited Phuket in the 80s. There was the Nordic Bungalows place - but I think that was well gone by 97. There were the open sewers/drains - a feature I certainly do not miss - but I'm not sure if they hadn't been covered over by then, too. Perhaps the OP is confusing Bangla with some other location? Perhaps he's thinking of the west side of Ratuthit, south of Bangla/Sansabai. That was mainly housing in those days and there was very little building on the other side - none at all as you moved towards the end of Ratuthit/200 (apart from one or two derelict houses in the paddocks).

Later on came the infamous night plaza shopping centre - slightly south of the old market (now Jung Ceylon site). Someone lost millions on that debacle and that's probably why so many people in this sub-forum - not including myself - felt that Jung Ceylon wouldn't work. (Worth a look in the archives for newbies.)

Nonetheless, the OP is on the money about the pace of development - even the Governor has expressed his dismay over it. Personally, I like the convenience of not having to go all the way to the (now empty for years and condemmed, but still standing) Ocean Store in Phuket Town in order to find the nearest department store. I like the variety of where I can eat, where I can have a quiet - or not so quiet - beer or two, not having to go all the way to the Pearl in Phuket Town for ten pin, etc, etc and the fact that some decent beaches are a short drive out of town. I have no problems at all with Patong. There is more to the place than Bangla.

And in ten years, people will be claiming that the 2000s were the halcyon days, and ten years on from then...

[DrDave]

I've been having some of the same thoughts as the OP recently. I do think that some of the prices he mentioned are a bit off the mark though. For example, a taxi to the airport (from Patong) is 600 baht, not 2,000. Simple Thai food from a hole in the wall restaurant (not a stall) is generally 30-40 baht, although wife and I were pleasantly surprised to find a place the other day that had good food for only 25 baht/plate.

The small stretch of Nanai road at the southern end (near the road to Karon) is probably the last area in Patong that still has a little "green" feel to it (aside from Hasip Pee Rd way up in the hills). I can't help but to believe that when the Simon company re-starts their project there, that last little bit will be trashed for good. We spend so much time in Patong that sometimes we forget how beautiful other areas of the island are. Yesterday we were riding from Rawai back to Patong, and I was reminded of this while driving through long stretches of green areas between Rawai and Kata. Don't know how much longer these areas will remain, though.

The Governor is now expressing concern over the overdevelopment of the island. Although it's nice to hear that the government is concerned, the fact remains that a country where any law can be ignored by paying the right person the right amount of money is essentially a country without laws. Even the Mayor of Patong was publicly pushing for the elimination of the ban on building over 80 meters above sea level. With all of the landslides and deaths that have occurred over the past few years due to higher elevation hillside development, I can only think of one reason why he would be pushing to allow development at even higher elevations.

[hkt83100]

My heart is still crying over Phuket!

Well, so your heart will soon be crying over Sichon, as the sichon.info forum is promoting development and real estate investment there. Seems a bit odd to me, sorry.

[simon43]

Well, Phuket is simply following the well-worn path of many other tourists destinations!

- starts as nice sleepy place with quiet beaches, cheap beer

- tourists start to come, locals and greedy foreigners smell money

- locals and greedy foreigners fall ass-over-tit in their speed to grab as much money as they can before it all turns sour

- infrastructure cannot keep up, lack of government funding and incompetence

- the place gets overcrowded, dusty, no good service

- tourists start to moan, start to head to other 'paradise' destinations

- greedy locals and foreign developers don't care - try to squeeze the last baht out of the dwindling tourist numbers

- the place becomes just another spoilt, dusty, ugly destination for second-rate tourists!

Seen it all before

Simon

[vanalli]

It would be more concerning if the island was exactly the same after 12 years.

[samuibeachcomber]

i remember someone's heart crying for argentina,and look what a mess that became in the late 70's.

[samuibeachcomber]

I have just returned to Sichon after a 3 day vacation in Phuket.

Now my heart is crying!

What has happened to the good, old, beautiful and wonderful Phuket I discovered on my very first trip to Thailand in 1997?

OK….I know things changes in Thailand with the flourishing tourism in mind. But please correct me if I am wrong:

The tourists mainly come to Thailand because of the beauty of the nature and the beaches, right? And because of the friendly and helpful Thai people and the good and cheap food no? And of course because Thailand in general is a cheap country!

So why do they ruin Phuket like this?

Because that's what they're doing…!

Well then…who are "they"? Who am I talking about?

I am talking about the Governor and the Thai Government in general.

Those people who allow the overcrowded roads and traffic jams, those people who allow the overpopulation and those people who allow the never ending construction at green areas that will soon disappear from Phuket.

Everybody know very well that Phuket and its infrastructure is NOT geared for a growth like this. But instead of construction and repair the roads before allowing new projects, they decide to allow the projects and then start constructing and repairing the roads when it is NECESSARY ….but then it's too late!

When I first visited Phuket in 1997 it was a sleepy small town with a wonderful beach and only a few hotels. Bangla Road was a small soi with wooden houses that was used for the shops and bars.

Later when I relocated to Phuket for good for working in 2003 I of course got surprised by the changes that had happened to the island.

The whole Phuket Charm was almost gone….

I had to settle in Chalong to find some of that old Phuket Charm.

Patong, Kata and Karon was already somewhat ruined back in 2003.

It was also on that time they started renovating the roads in Phuket.

And they're still renovating!

I lived 4 years in Phuket and every single day I felt like living on a construction site in the middle of Bangkok!

Construction everywhere you went …dirt and noise everywhere….and the traffic and the pollution were terrible!

At last I had ENOUGH…and I decided to relocate to Sichon, where I live now with my wife and son.

This was the best decision I've ever made in my life….I was simply so terrible tired on Phuket!

Now I am back in Sichon after a short 3 days vacation in Phuket.

And my heart is still crying!

It was actually my intention to stay with my wife and son at Phuket for 1 week, as I was still convinced that Phuket was a nice place to relax and enjoy some of the shopping possibilities that we lack here in Sichon.

But after only 2 nights at our hotel both I and my wife were ready to leave Phuket for good! We had booked a hotel in Phuket Town to stay away from the overcrowded tourist areas. But I somehow forgot the terrible traffic that has been even worse since I left Phuket 2 years earlier. We visited some friends in Patong one day. It was a trip lasting 1 hour….each way….even it was only a stretch of 15 kilometers from Phuket Town. So we spent 2 hours in a weird traffic jam just to visit friends for 1 hour. That's crazy, no? We couldn't stand it…!!

We left Phuket 2 years ago and settled in Sichon.

Since then they are still not finished renovating and building the new roads! They're still working at it at this very moment! And they still construct new hotels, villas and shopping centers….all over the island. Today you can't see where Phuket Town is ending and where Chalong begins….it is just one big town now….same as Kata and Karon….and soon Karon and Patong.

Soon there will be no green areas where you can build a small house. It will all look like Singapore and Hong Kong!

But even new and wider roads will not help Phuket in the future….right now at the vey moment it will of course ease the traffic …but the growth of the island happens too quickly, so in a few years time Phuket will be back to its normal traffic jams…..

I can see only one solution to the problems in Phuket:

A total stop of constructing hotels, resorts and private villages so no more people will settle in Phuket and add to the overcrowding!

I really don't understand why tourists keep coming to Phuket!

I have heard from many people visiting Phuket. When they leave, they say: "Phuket….NEVER AGAIN!!!"

And what about the kind and helpful Thai people at Phuket?

Well…they are still here…but they don't speak English!

Those Thais who speak English they are also kind and helpful...but just as far as they can earn money...they regard you as a walking wallet!

Phuket has now converted into a huge money factory. Everything is about money here. And I am not just talking about the bar girls. I am talking about every single business and Thai person working on the island! Only money counts!

Everything is more expensive in Phuket than in the rest of Thailand. And I mean EVERYTHING!

The normal Thai price for a plate with rice and chicken in curry is 45 bath at a food stall in Phuket. This is around 100% more expensive than a similar plate in Bangkok….or Sichon.

A beer at a Sichon restaurant costs 35 baht….compared to the prices in Phuket ranging from 65 to 90 baht.

A taxi to the airport in Phuket will cost you some 2,000 baht….compared to the same 45 kilometer stretch from Sichon to our local airport at a cost of only 800 baht.

If you want to take a taxi from Patong beach road to Rat U Thit Road, which is the parallel road to the beach road and hardly a stretch of 1 kilometer then the price is 200 baht. The same stretch would in Pattaya cost you 10 baht with a baht bus. So in this connection Phuket is 2,000% more expensive than Pattaya!!!

Did anyone say mafia?

Well…you're right…the mafia runs all the tuk tuk and taxis in Phuket!

First time visitors to Thailand often chose to visit Phuket because they have a friend who says the island is a nice place. But after their visit many of them never return to Phuket!!!

I think one of the reasons that so many tourists visit here is that the island is very famous around the globe, especially due to the many tour companies in Europe and USA that offers reasonable charter tours to Phuket showing wonderful brochures and tend to persuade their customers to chose Phuket, but of course the agents never tell the FULL story about Phuket…they don't tell about all the bad things! Else they would never be able to sell so many hotel rooms in Phuket!!!

Those tourists who like Phuket must be because of the exiting night life, that is comparable of Pattaya and Bangkok. Or maybe they like to huge shopping centers where they can shop till they drop, without sweating like an elephant in a sauna?

I mean, if the tourists come for the beaches then they will soon realize that the beaches are overcrowded and polluted ….and with beach vendors strolling around disturbing every minute. Not to mention the pollution and noise from the traffic and the shops and bars in the rear of the beaches…!!!

I must say, I don't understand that any tourist will ever visit Phuket…at least not more than 1 time! I ask myself often…WHY???

What do you think?

My heart is still crying over Phuket!

And I am happy as ever because I've made Sichon my home in Thailand!

12 years mate what do you expect(never go back,the dreams are never the same)regarding the roads(luxury)come to samui i'll show you some bad roads.

[siam2007]

I hear you Olsen. Sometimes I feel us foreigners care about this island more then locals do.

I second that. the locals care in case the REVENUE is in danger (which it indeed IS now), but not because of the place itself

[tw25rw]

I expect the Thais who have been there for generations care and have mixed feelings about the development, but the newcomers drawn by tourism just see it as another place to scratch a living and don't have any great fondness.

[Nampeung]

God what drivel...

[neverdie]

I thought the eyes cried not the heart ..... sounds like another bleeding heart story to me BUT Olsen sadly you are right, but its not just phuket or even THAILAND, the entire globe is being ruined by the most destructive creature in the history of the planet......THE HUMAN BEING! I hate Humans & you dont have to go too far to see why

[LiveSteam]

I first came to Phuket in 1974 and still live here but not for long it was a dream island and so were its people, now I compare it with Tijuana a Mexican border town.

[geriatrickid]

I know you're right, but some things have actually improved. Remember back when Bangla was full of traffic? The buses from the hotels would park with the engines running, spewing fumes. Bangla was a disgusting strip a decade ago. Filthy and stinky. true the sewer fumes can still knock you out and the the hole in the street is still there, but the development has been an improvement to Bangla. The Marriott hotel across from the Holiday Inn is certainly an improvement over the previous tenant.

Patong can easily be fixed: A couple crosswalks with stoplights and an enforcement of the no parking rules on Beach Rd. Maybe even a restriction on vehicle traffic. It's actually a good thing there is congestion otherwise there would be more vehicles and more speeders.

[BarryM]

I met a former mayor of Phuket some years ago. He told me, in all sincerity, that the problems in Patong were caused by foreigners marrying low class Thai women and setting up "cheap businesses and bars".

[Sir Burr]

Some bad things about "the good ol' days" (late 80's).

International calls had to be made in Phuket Town, or, at the rare shop with a land line at 30 Baht per minute when there was 25 Baht to the dollar.

No beef at all on the island. All buffalo meat which was tough and stringy.

Only cheese on the island was Anchor Cheddar at Sin & Lee (take out a mortgage to buy it).

Offshore tin dredging at Bang Tao and Chalong Bay.

To get to Kata from Patong, you had to go via Chalong.

Many roads were unsurfaced and turned into a quagmire in the rainy season.

Only two types of motorbike on the island, Honda Dream, or, Honda MTX.

Only hospitals on the island was Vachira and Kathu. Anything serious, you went to Bangkok.

Only one decent dentist on the island (that I can remember).

No bread except the sweet yellow, or, green stuff made at Kanda Bakery.

Constant black-outs, especially when it rained.

It took over an hour to get from Patong to the airport.

[RobotTeacher]

You flew all the way to Phuket just to spend 3 days? What a waste of money and gas to not stay longer and go somewhere else like a pretty white sand palm grove on an island with huts accessable only by boat from the southern tip of Phuket. Upon return to Seoul, you might had also asked with a deeply felt heart ache, "What happened to the warm weather I quickly grew used to?" I too thought Phuket leaves alot to be desired, but it's just an airport location to get to other places like Krabi, Koh Yao, Koh Lanta, and Khao Sok. You have two places to land in the South, Phuket or Koh Samuii to avoid the 12 hour bus or train ride from Bangkok. While in Phuket, the robot got looked at and treated like it was a damned walking talking ATM machine! Even sheboys dressed to the 9's wanted money just to have gained sight of them by walking down the same street! That is truly Amazing Thailand!

Edited February 25, 2009 by RobotTeacher

[vanalli]

Everything is about money here. And I am not just talking about the bar girls. I am talking about every single business and Thai person working on the island! Only money counts!

Businesses? Out to make money? Well, yes, that is the general idea.

[madmitch]

IEverything is more expensive in Phuket than in the rest of Thailand. And I mean EVERYTHING!

The normal Thai price for a plate with rice and chicken in curry is 45 bath at a food stall in Phuket. This is around 100% more expensive than a similar plate in Bangkok….or Sichon.

A beer at a Sichon restaurant costs 35 baht….compared to the prices in Phuket ranging from 65 to 90 baht.

A taxi to the airport in Phuket will cost you some 2,000 baht….compared to the same 45 kilometer stretch from Sichon to our local airport at a cost of only 800 baht.

If you want to take a taxi from Patong beach road to Rat U Thit Road, which is the parallel road to the beach road and hardly a stretch of 1 kilometer then the price is 200 baht. The same stretch would in Pattaya cost you 10 baht with a baht bus. So in this connection Phuket is 2,000% more expensive than Pattaya!!!

Did anyone say mafia?

Well…you're right…the mafia runs all the tuk tuk and taxis in Phuket!

The usual whinge about Phuket prices.

If you know where to go or shop around Phket does not have to be the expensive place that you seem to think it has become.

There are plenty of 30 baht food places.

If you want to join the drunken Scandinavian tourists and sit at the tables outside the minimarts you can get pretty hammered drinking large Changs for 40 baht. For the rest of us (including most Scandinavians) there are plenty of places with beers at 50 baht (including Heineken and San Miguel) including in Patong.

How you got ripped off with a 2000 baht taxi fare from Phuket Town (assuming you left from your hotel) to the airport I don't know. It's generally about 500 baht to Town, which actually makes the regular fare cheaper than the fare you quoted in your rant. You could also have spent 85 baht on the airport bus. If you want to go from one end of Rat-U-Thit to the other then I suggest walk. Also baht buses charge per person in Pattaya. If you want to make a true comparison you should look at the private hire prices. However, anyone living in Phuket will agree that tuk tuk and taxi fares are too expensive and that a baht bus equivalent should be introduced but there are many threads on this so it's not worth saying more.

Finally, you have to remember that is is mainly the farangs, the tourists, that have pushed up the prices. Since becoming an attractive investment proposition, land prices have risen astronomically. Higher land prices equate to higher rents, therefore business owners in Phuket have to charge more in order to make the same profit, and a little bit more on top to pay the slightly inflated prices on the island.

For many it still is a paradise island, for some of us it's a permanent building site, and for others it's a total rip off. Sounds like many other beach resorts all over the world.

[Samuian]

Some bad things about "the good ol' days" (late 80's).

International calls had to be made in Phuket Town, or, at the rare shop with a land line at 30 Baht per minute when there was 25 Baht to the dollar.

No beef at all on the island. All buffalo meat which was tough and stringy.

Only cheese on the island was Anchor Cheddar at Sin & Lee (take out a mortgage to buy it).

Offshore tin dredging at Bang Tao and Chalong Bay.

To get to Kata from Patong, you had to go via Chalong.

Many roads were unsurfaced and turned into a quagmire in the rainy season.

Only two types of motorbike on the island, Honda Dream, or, Honda MTX.

Only hospitals on the island was Vachira and Kathu. Anything serious, you went to Bangkok.

Only one decent dentist on the island (that I can remember).

No bread except the sweet yellow, or, green stuff made at Kanda Bakery.

Constant black-outs, especially when it rained.

It took over an hour to get from Patong to the airport.

Same, same.... one can apply that to Ko Samui... it's called "Development"... but yes, it is as it is, everyone has a choice, guess the Taklamakan is a place that won't change too fast soon!

Reminds me somewhat on:

"She would never say where she came from

Yesterday don't matter if it's gone

While the sun is bright

Or in the darkest night

No one knows, she comes and goes"

from the Song "Ruby Tuesday" by Rolling Stoned 1967