My Heart Cries For Phuket

[barney42bb]

This place will go the same way as any other over commercialized holiday resort.

The economic turmoil already in USA,Europe ...will hit Thailand harder than the Tsunami ever did.

I will be happy to see the greedy scamming Farrangs and Thai people that have brought about the state Phuket is now in...FALL FlAT ON THEIR BACKSIDES.

Thailand's is selling its soul with greed scams and rip off prices.This country need to look at why people started coming here in the first place.

Good value ,kindness honesty and a simple unspoiled way of life...They have lost the plot...R.I.P.

[jdinasia]

I am always amazed that people whine about prices of a beer in a Tourist Resort area and compare it to some nowhere berg in Isaan.

Yes, the tourist towns are more expensive than some village upcountry. (The same in every country for the most part!)

Hate to tell ya but a $2 beer in a restaurant still seems cheap to the rest of the world (particularly those traveling 8+ hours by plane and spending more than many Thais makes in a year while on a 3 week holiday.

Yes there are things about Phuket to hate if you are a 'local tourist' like the stranglehold the tuk-tuk drivers have on getting around. The rest is just whining though!

[jdinasia]

This place will go the same way as any other over commercialized holiday resort.

The economic turmoil already in USA,Europe ...will hit Thailand harder than the Tsunami ever did.

I will be happy to see the greedy scamming Farrangs and Thai people that have brought about the state Phuket is now in...FALL FlAT ON THEIR BACKSIDES.

Thailand's is selling its soul with greed scams and rip off prices.This country need to look at why people started coming here in the first place.

Good value ,kindness honesty and a simple unspoiled way of life...They have lost the plot...R.I.P.

Barney, it is not Thailand's fault if you cannot personally afford to travel and vacation here.

[Syl]

I have not much to say on this subject that I haven't already said in the past.

One thing that I do know is that the OP posted this thread to promote Sichon.

I believe the OP has a few business interests in Sichon and most of his comments about phuket is unfounded.

So call me what you may, but I think the OP is a troll.

Syl.

[cotambear]

I have not much to say on this subject that I haven't already said in the past.

One thing that I do know is that the OP posted this thread to promote Sichon.

I believe the OP has a few business interests in Sichon and most of his comments about phuket is unfounded.

So call me what you may, but I think the OP is a troll.

Syl.

Agreed

I don`t mind people coming in with an angle, wares to peddle etc, but they should declare an interest.

Seems to me the OP is saying, Phuket is fxxed, Sichon Isn`t. Join me in Sichan where I can make some money off you on the way to fxxing it up.

[hagler]

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.

hmmm...when I first went to Phuket in 1981 it was more like what you are talking about, by 1997 it is getting pretty developed and certainly aint dirt tracks and shanty shops as you describe it. Me thinks you are looking at Phuket through the eyes of a first time visitor in 1997 and after a few years of living there you have become jaded as your version of "paradise" hasnt turned out to be as you envisioned it

The future of Phuket? Take a visit to Honolulu if you want to see what it will look like. Dont like Honolulu then dont put down roots in Phuket.

[Felt 35]

Take a visit to Honolulu if you want to see what it will look like

Honolulu…. will be a great step up compare with my predictions, and lets hope your right!

Unfortunately my bet is that Phuket coastline will be filled with al kinds of Property from Sarasin in the North to Chalong in South before 2025. The mainland will be as any other dry and dusty Thai city with endless shop houses and Pattaya will seems nice in comparison.

Some very successfully Thai business owners on Phuket have long seen this coming and are investigating and a few have already developed resorts in Phang nga and further South, Trang.

The word is that this will be the new recreation areas for both Phuket residents and tourists. Khao Lak will also get a new “boom” soon.

[holidaze]

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

Good pick up - you're right though. Same picture and all.

I love Phuket. I won't have my opinion changed by some blow hard.

[phuketrichard]

wooden houses on soi Bangla in '97, 2,000 baht to airport, etc etc

what a bunch of illusions.

I moved to Phuket in 84 from Banglamung ( outside Pattaya)

was in Patoing till 96 when i moved over the hill to kamala which is as laid back a place as u can find

I hate Na Harn/Chalong. is full of farnags and newbe thais

Left Phuket last june and have been in Cambodia and its nice and like phuket was in the 70's (I guess)

Phnom Penh is worth a visit but the country has nothing really to offer other than Angkor Wat

the beaches suck, the food is nothing near what u get in Phuket and more expensive.

Cambodia is great for a few things;

easy 1 year visas

cheap drinking, cigs and ladies and easy to obtain smoke

no work permit needed

One mall, no movie theaters, no interstructure

the currency is the $

Anyway i will be returning to Phuket this spring to Kamala and let ya know. I know what is there as go back every few months and the beach and people are the same. No interest in patong but love having the malls there if I want. Love having the theaters. the choices

If all one does is visit in the high season and go to where all the other tourists go what do u expect?

All in all Kamala in the low seaason is as close to paradise as one can get.

[olsen]

Hi there....thanks for all the comments and response to my post.....of course many of you don't agree with me, but that's okay.....seems somehow Phuket will survive forever

Scubabuddha > No I am not just rying for Patong, but for the whole ruined island!

Sir Burr > Well.....I guess my memory is fading....I recall that I saw plenty of wood houses .....and maybe my memory placed them at Soi Bangla by accident. So you say that Soi Bangla was already developed in 1997??? That sounds strange to me, comparing with what it looks like today in 2009.....but OK comparing to the 80's I understand....wish I was there at that time! :jerk:

CroBiker > Yeah...at least we use the litter bins.....

thaiwanderer > "a tourist bemoaning the affect of tourism"....so after living and working and having started a Thai family for 11 years, you still consider me as a tourist???

simon43 > Good one there....but whos fault is it that these resort towns end up like dumps? It isn't the tourists' fault....they are all a bunch of cheep, just follow the ass in front of you!

samuibeachcomber > Yeah I bet Samui and Phuket has quite much in common

tw25rw > I don't agree with you...even locals who have lived for most of their life in Phuket do nothing for the sake of the island....they just stay here becase they can earn good money ....once the downturn shows its ugly face, then everyone will find a better place to spend all the money they earned here instead of investing in the island!

hagler > I guess you're right!

RobotTeacher > I suggest that you read my post once again....Sichon is not in Korea or in or near Seoul......

And no...I didn't just went back home after 3 days, I drove to Krabi where I spent a few nice days! Krabi is the most beautiful place in Thailand for sure!!

General > About taxi prices....when I said 2,000 THB for a trip to the airport, it was what I was asked to pay, but however I refused to pay that price....but I am sure many tourists pay an amount like that or even more....they get ripped off with a smile "Special price for you"

....about promoting Sichon.....I've also promoted Krabi in this post....so you mean, just because I live here I am expelled from telling others about my view on Phuket and Sichon...and Krabi??

[KamalaBrian]

Wow! Lots a cryin' here, too bad, truth is, paradise is right in the middle of where you left and where you're going, Go back to your home country, city or whatever that you left, see if it's the same, maybe that's why you left, is your teerak the same slim beauty you met years ago? Is anything better or improved? Maybe your newer car ? Are you better off this year than last year? Is it the same? Get real, grow up, quit livin' the dream you thought you were going to have, Life is what you make of it, if you can't afford to eat an 80 baht plate of food, you shouldn't be on vacation, you shoulda stayed home where you could live cheap, drink beer at home and oogle the wife, maybe even get lucky! And in another 10 years, are you gonna say good bye to her because she costs a bit more to maintain and she's not what you had when first "went there?" Will it be time to move on then?

Talk about crooks, theives and cons, go to KL or Singapore, geez, they'll fleece you in a minute, you be runnin' back to Phuket, And those bastards aren't even nice about it....(isn't that why you're in Thailand?)

There is no "perfect" so just enjoy what you got, you don't like Phuket, fine...go home, and have some cheese with your "whine" Thanks for spending what little money you brought in our budget Thai cafe's...

Listen, there's always Phangna or out of the way little places that still have little walk down the hallway squat toilets and cheapie little bungalows for 4 or 500 baht a night, great little restaurants in that 40-50 baht-a-plate budget, it takes a little work to find, but you'll be happy there, Thailand has a lot to offer, if Phukets' not your cuppa, move on, there's a lot for everyone here,

You want a Mercedes, you gotta pay, there's no free lunches, you get what you pay for ....!

[Jimjim]

Why do we want progress in our own countries yet want other countries to remain the same always? I think this is the attitude of the tourist anywhere. That's life in our world, fortunately or unfortunately.

[olsen]

Why do we want progress in our own countries yet want other countries to remain the same always? I think this is the attitude of the tourist anywhere. That's life in our world, fortunately or unfortunately.

I for sure don't mind progress....but overdoing it like in Phuket is a bit harsh I think!! f you cannot coop with the increasing numbers of tourists and residents and the increasing TRAFFIC then this progress isn't progress at all....

Someone mentioned that 20 years a trip to the airport was 1 hour.... and said this was progress.....but I don't agree.... Staying in Patong no taxi will be able to to this trip in less than 1 hour today due to the traffic congestion all over the island.

[olsen]

You want a Mercedes, you gotta pay, there's no free lunches, you get what you pay for ....!

I like Mercedes....but I don't want to buy a rusty and worn out one!!

[LivinginKata]

Staying in Patong no taxi will be able to to this trip in less than 1 hour today due to the traffic congestion all over the island.

I often drive from Patong to the airport. I allow 50 minutes even at peak times, and easily get there in 45 minutes. The way mad taxis drive, more like 40 minutes, or less.

[Nip]

I have just returned to Sichon after a 3 day vacation in Phuket. Now my heart is crying!

In most aspects of life there is "a rule of thumb" This is my Phuket 'rule of thumb' I first came to live in Phuket 10 years ago. At that time I soon learned to accept that the Thai's Bull Shi**ed the foreigner. I hate the word Farang as I consider it to be a racist expression. Then as time passed the wives of foreigners became fair game to be Bull Shi**ed but now the whole system has broken down cos you have the Thai's openly Bull Shi**ing the Thai's... I am sorry to say that I have become that nasty old prat I despised when I arrived here first. I and many of my friends have been worn down by crooked builders, tradesmen, and solicitors. (Not all Thai I must add) Oh you can be as smart as you like and hold back deposits etc but when you are questioned as to whether you want to pay up or pay the Phuket price (which is a threat) then you must consider what value you put on your life and surrender. One carpenter botched a job he did for me indeed he went off the site and left the job unfinished and when I refused to pay the full price. I heard him tell his staff in Thai that they would not get paid that week as the 'Farang' was refusing to pay him! He then issued a veiled threat that I may expect a visit from his staff as they would not be paid that week... I try to see the sunny side but sometimes it is very hard.... One afternoon my wife was stopped at traffic lights and was hit broadside by a drunken Thai on a motorbike going in the opposite direction... No need to tell you how the police saw it... We ended up paying him 4500 Baht to have his bike repaired... I argued the toss and stood my ground but eventually after wasting 4 hours of my life talking to all four walls in the police station I gave in ... Again

[katasyd]

This is proof why Thailand has no chess champions.

They can't think 2 moves ahead.

Soon the island will be a concrete jungle all in the name of a quick buck.

[thaiwanderer]

This is proof why Thailand has no chess champions.

They can't think 2 moves ahead.

Soon the island will be a concrete jungle all in the name of a quick buck.

well, thais are good at makruk (obviously)!!! (and 30 year 'renewable' leases have been quite successful)

Quick bucks are better than slow bucks especially if they keep rolling.

It will be a long time before Phuket is a concrete jungle. It will hurt due to current world economic problems but what destination won't? And would a different approach to tourism have lessened the pain?

[stevehaigh]

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

actually, the OP is a real estate agent in Sichon. and if you think Phuket is screwed up and expensive, try Samui!

Sichon has nice beaches and countryside but really not much else, i've thought about moving there but i think the boredom would drive me crazy.

steve

[olsen]

Staying in Patong no taxi will be able to to this trip in less than 1 hour today due to the traffic congestion all over the island.

I often drive from Patong to the airport. I allow 50 minutes even at peak times, and easily get there in 45 minutes. The way mad taxis drive, more like 40 minutes, or less.

Well....well.....that sounds strange to me. I have never reached the airport from Chalong in less than 1 hour, not even when not rush hour! Maybe I drive too slowly???

[olsen]

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

actually, the OP is a real estate agent in Sichon. and if you think Phuket is screwed up and expensive, try Samui!

Sichon has nice beaches and countryside but really not much else, i've thought about moving there but i think the boredom would drive me crazy.

steve

Yeah Sichon is quite sleepy and laidback. If you find it boring, well......that depends what you like to do in your spare time? But I never bore here

[olsen]

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

Good pick up - you're right though. Same picture and all.

I love Phuket. I won't have my opinion changed by some blow hard.

I love Phuket, too...why do you think my heart cries???

[stevenl]

Well....well.....that sounds strange to me. I have never reached the airport from Chalong in less than 1 hour, not even when not rush hour! Maybe I drive too slowly???

Yes, dangerously slow.

From Chalong the normal time would be around 40 minutes, bit more in rush hour, bit less in the middle of the night.

[olsen]

I believe the OP has a few business interests in Sichon and most of his comments about phuket is unfounded.

Syl.

Unfounded? Where have you been the recent years??? Even the Phuket governor agrees with some of my views!!

Please read this article from PhuketWan.com:

Phuket Governor Urges Brake on Development

The governor, Dr Preecha Ruangjan, said today that if it was within his power, he would slow down the speed of property development on Phuket.

He added that given the realities of the modern world, Phuket could not avoid development, but the island needed to pay greater attention to quality.

''If I was asked whether Phuket needs to develop or not, I would say the island needs to develop, but in the right way,'' the governor told a gathering of about 300 local people at Palai beach in Chalong today.

He said Phuket people had allowed investors from other parts of Thailand and overseas to start projects that did not necessarily protect the best long-term interests of Phuket.

''I try to tell Phuket people every chance I get, 'If you care about your island's future, you need to consider what you permit to happen to the island today.'''

He said Phuket was like an overfilled glass of water, with 324,000 registered locals plus hundreds of thousands of others working here, or coming as tourists.

''We don't have the natural resources to support a group of that size,'' he said. ''Do you know that Phuket will have a problem with its water supply within 20 or 30 years?"

''We cannot supply the needs of everyone.''

Every advance that came Phuket's way came at a price, he said.

''Phuket people should ask themselves what price they are paying for today's rapid development.''

He said development on Phuket should be slower, with a balance maintained with Phuket's natural environment.

''If we can strike a balance with nature, we can overcome all the problems,'' he said.

Dr Preecha helped to plant 11,000 trees and mangroves as part of a coastal revitalisation project, near the Palai seafood restaurant. He and locals also set free one million small shrimp to improve the marine environnment.

Local fishing group chief Sutapateep NaTalang said people these days were more selfish and had made Phuket more like a big city than a traditional village.

''Everybody thinks about money now,'' he said. ''In the temple once, when there was a ceremony, everybody would come to help for free.

''Today people ask for money for everything they do."

''Our culture is being changed for the worst.''

He added that the number of people coming to Phuket had pushed up the cost of living. Because people were struggling with price rises or wanted to make a profit, they encroached on mangrove forests.

Thailand was not the only country with these problems, Khun Sutateep said. Sustainable lifestyles were hard to maintain everywhere.

''In the Philippines, fishermen can no longer catch enough fish each day to make a living. They catch one kilo per day person. It is turning fishermen into beggars.''

This was a chain reaction caused by too much damage to the environment.

''Phuket does not have a strategy for future development,'' he said. ''In the future, the same problem will spread to Phang Nga Bay as well.''

[Felt 35]

Phuket Governor Urges Brake on Development

The governor, Dr Preecha Ruangjan, said today that if it was within his power, he would slow down the speed of property development on Phuket.

He added that given the realities of the modern world, Phuket could not avoid development, but the island needed to pay greater attention to quality.

''If I was asked whether Phuket needs to develop or not, I would say the island needs to develop, but in the right way,'' the governor told a gathering of about 300 local people at Palai beach in Chalong today.

He said Phuket people had allowed investors from other parts of Thailand and overseas to start projects that did not necessarily protect the best long-term interests of Phuket.

''I try to tell Phuket people every chance I get, 'If you care about your island's future, you need to consider what you permit to happen to the island today.'''

He said Phuket was like an overfilled glass of water, with 324,000 registered locals plus hundreds of thousands of others working here, or coming as tourists.

''We don't have the natural resources to support a group of that size,'' he said. ''Do you know that Phuket will have a problem with its water supply within 20 or 30 years?"

''We cannot supply the needs of everyone.''

Every advance that came Phuket's way came at a price, he said.

''Phuket people should ask themselves what price they are paying for today's rapid development.''

He said development on Phuket should be slower, with a balance maintained with Phuket's natural environment.

''If we can strike a balance with nature, we can overcome all the problems,'' he said.

Dr Preecha helped to plant 11,000 trees and mangroves as part of a coastal revitalisation project, near the Palai seafood restaurant. He and locals also set free one million small shrimp to improve the marine environnment.

Local fishing group chief Sutapateep NaTalang said people these days were more selfish and had made Phuket more like a big city than a traditional village.

''Everybody thinks about money now,'' he said. ''In the temple once, when there was a ceremony, everybody would come to help for free.

''Today people ask for money for everything they do."

''Our culture is being changed for the worst.''

He added that the number of people coming to Phuket had pushed up the cost of living. Because people were struggling with price rises or wanted to make a profit, they encroached on mangrove forests.

Thailand was not the only country with these problems, Khun Sutateep said. Sustainable lifestyles were hard to maintain everywhere.

''In the Philippines, fishermen can no longer catch enough fish each day to make a living. They catch one kilo per day person. It is turning fishermen into beggars.''

This was a chain reaction caused by too much damage to the environment.

''Phuket does not have a strategy for future development,'' he said. ''In the future, the same problem will spread to Phang Nga Bay as well.''

To much of the land is in private and greedy hands in Phuket.

In Phuket Town they recently damaged a historical site to set up shophouses which there are hundreds of and many of them empty all over the island.

[thaiwanderer]

old thread, couldn't find this quote at the time

anyhow, for doomsayers a quote from 1870 Dr. Bradley regarding Phuket ''The chinese are mostly empoloyed at the tin mines and the cultivation of fields is neglected notwitshstanding that the soil is rich and good and well adapted for sugar coffee and spices. Herein they have committed a great error for when the tin mines are exhausted and they cannot last for ever the population will be reduced to poverty and misery''

and tourism was not the next big thing after tin thanks in no small part to Khaw Chimbee and his rubber trees

should tourism destroy the island perhaps the tantalum plans could be revisited

[dreamchaser]

Phuket has gone to the dogs. Commercialization has destroyed the place.

3 MacDonalds in the space of 1 square klm in patong says it all.

I won't ever go there again. A waste of money

[Cerberus]

As has been mentioned Ad Nauseum:-

Patong is NOT Phuket.

By not coming back, you are helping the problem. Many thanks.

[DLock]

I hadn’t been back to Phuket in almost 3 years. Hopefully I don’t have to go back for another 3.

It’s fair to say that Patong is not Phuket, but it has not improved. The traffic, congestion, pollution, lack of parking, building sites, infinite massage shops, crappy restaurants, katoeys, open drains, aggressive touts and surly Tuk Tuk drivers make it a very unpleasant place. I can’t see families who believed the travel brochure returning. It feels a lot like Pattaya.

I spent one night in Patong just to see how it was, and it hasn’t changed much. Maybe a little more run down and tired. What I did notice is a lot of families with kids walking Bangla and a lot of younger people buying drinks at 7/11 and not in the bars. It seemed to get busier much later than I remembered, and a lot more working girls on the street than before...well some of them were girls. Australians seemed to dominate, but maybe it was just because they were the loudest and drunkest.

I had to smile at the Pirate Bar – he didn’t think his business model through very well. His Go-go dancers fill the bars on the opposite side of the road to capacity, while he struggles to get punters up his stairs.

And the Seapearl hotel has a bar named the Durty (sic) Monger Bar on its premises – that’s just what I’d want my parents to see as the airport van pulled up. All class right there. Then again, it’s mostly timeshare.

My parking fee for about 3 hours in Banana’s car park was 200 baht. Where does everyone park? – Jungceylon parking closes at 10pm – I thought that could have been a nice little earner – but the urine smells, fights, dark corners and damage are probably not worth the hassle.

Patong has lost whatever charm it once had as is now just another filthy party town. People doubt Patong will survive, however, it will continue to thrive. The market for cheap beer and cheap hookers is huge. Just look at the demographics walking around.

So, it is sad to see what Patong has become and think of what it could have been.

[Cerberus]

That's right, Patong is for guys who want to party, drink alcohol and get laid.

If that doesn't describe you, why go there?

Plenty of "family" beaches up and down the island.

Too many people put the place down, yet still keep going. Maybe it satisfies their voyeurism, or, confirms their sense of moral superiority.