Big Drop In Visitors To Koh Samui

[PatinBKk]

Considering prices of main tourist destinations like Dominican Republic, Seychelles, Kenya, Greece, Spain, France, USA.......Samui is a good bargain.

No shit! Just order a fresh fish in a seafood restaurant at that places, or make snorkelling trips there, or ....!!!

Considering an 'All Inclusive' can be had in the Dominican Republic for just over £500 for 2 weeks, cant see myselfe that Samui is good value....family and 2 kids would pay under £2,000 for 2 weeks including food and drinks....no way could you do that in Samui...not even if Charlies Hut was still there and you ate noodles 3 times a day

No, you seriously can't have the DomReb for 500 AI for 2 weeks.

apropos the DomReb, excursions there are double the price like on Koh Samui.

Yes you can...my brother just went..£529 pp and kids discounted...said it was fantastic...paid £1,830 for him and 2 kids.....there is a thing in the U.K. called teletext....beats the s*8t out of the internet pricewise...he has visited me in Thailand befor and wanted to come but NO WAY...flights accomodation and especially exchange rate he was looking at taking out a 2nd mortgage....

[BigSnake]

No Money

[Birdman]

Considering prices of main tourist destinations like Dominican Republic, Seychelles, Kenya, Greece, Spain, France, USA.......Samui is a good bargain.

No shit! Just order a fresh fish in a seafood restaurant at that places, or make snorkelling trips there, or ....!!!

Considering an 'All Inclusive' can be had in the Dominican Republic for just over £500 for 2 weeks, cant see myselfe that Samui is good value....family and 2 kids would pay under £2,000 for 2 weeks including food and drinks....no way could you do that in Samui...not even if Charlies Hut was still there and you ate noodles 3 times a day

No, you seriously can't have the DomReb for 500 AI for 2 weeks.

apropos the DomReb, excursions there are double the price like on Koh Samui.

Yes you can...my brother just went..£529 pp and kids discounted...said it was fantastic...paid £1,830 for him and 2 kids.....there is a thing in the U.K. called teletext....beats the s*8t out of the internet pricewise...he has visited me in Thailand befor and wanted to come but NO WAY...flights accomodation and especially exchange rate he was looking at taking out a 2nd mortgage....

ok, if that teletext or whatever booking beats all SEA package deals, that's fine. But all in all, comparing every cost during a holiday for an average package tourist without AI 1:1 , Samui comes cheaper then the DR for sure.

And it is much safer.

[LaoPo]

Latest stats were from 2007. So nothing of relevance to the present situation. But if someone would like to check that out, be my guest

http://www2.tat.or.th/stat/web/static_tst.php

click 2007/Surat Thani > the xls file of interest and go to guests(month)

Those TAT statistics are history.

They are now handled by The Office of Tourist Development:

http://www.tourism.go.th/index.php?option=...0&Itemid=25

LaoPo

[chanthas]

Global recession, sadly Samui same as Phuket has its head in the sand and is suffering from the greed factor. Sex pests and a few gap year students will always visit Samui but for families.....must be joking with Thailands reputation and the prices charged now..

me and my mates used to go samui every year,maybe for 4 months of the year sometimes,

but dont go back no more,

they take their brakes in brazil now,nobody seems to want to go to thailand anymore!

[BusyBee123]

I'm still coming for my next 2 visits in september and xmas but i must admit the allure has gone now as samui has changed now the money has dried up for some ( a lot i think) and the normally happy smiley resident peeps and imported mainland thais are glum and typical morbid brits, if i wanted that i would stay here.

[Mark Wolfe]

LaoPo:

...every time a visitor (which is a better word than tourist) visits Thailand...

Why is that a 'better' word?

I might add that recently/currently, there are/were a lot of Russians in Lamai or those from Eastern Europe. More than in the past several years. I wonder where they got the "Samui is the place to be" info. They seem to be families/groups and couples, which doesn't do much for the girlie bars (of which Lamai is mostly made up of).

I think also that we have to realize that although some holidaymakers come to Samui/KP/KT, not all of them go shopping for T-shirts/fairy lights/flip-flops/copy goods or the other usual souvenir suspects. I hear that from some of the hawkers -- there are people, but they aren't buying. (To which I replied: "I think they can get all this knock-off <deleted> back home."

[PatinBKk]

LaoPo:

...every time a visitor (which is a better word than tourist) visits Thailand...

Why is that a 'better' word?

I might add that recently/currently, there are/were a lot of Russians in Lamai or those from Eastern Europe. More than in the past several years. I wonder where they got the "Samui is the place to be" info. They seem to be families/groups and couples, which doesn't do much for the girlie bars (of which Lamai is mostly made up of).

I think also that we have to realize that although some holidaymakers come to Samui/KP/KT, not all of them go shopping for T-shirts/fairy lights/flip-flops/copy goods or the other usual souvenir suspects. I hear that from some of the hawkers -- there are people, but they aren't buying. (To which I replied: "I think they can get all this knock-off <deleted> back home."

A recent visit to the U.K., I was suprised at how cheap things are...T.shirts etc.....cheaper and a lot better quality than here......I offered to take a mate some DVDs back.....when I told him we paid 100 baht he laughed and said that was expensive...he gets them cheaper in Ireland...so no wonder the hawkers arnt selling, especially when they start at crazy prices and you gotta knock them down all the time

[Boater]

i dont see why some of the hotels in samui dont do an all inclusive package....

[Samuian]

LaoPo:

...every time a visitor (which is a better word than tourist) visits Thailand...

Why is that a 'better' word?

I might add that recently/currently, there are/were a lot of Russians in Lamai or those from Eastern Europe. More than in the past several years. I wonder where they got the "Samui is the place to be" info. They seem to be families/groups and couples, which doesn't do much for the girlie bars (of which Lamai is mostly made up of).

I think also that we have to realize that although some holidaymakers come to Samui/KP/KT, not all of them go shopping for T-shirts/fairy lights/flip-flops/copy goods or the other usual souvenir suspects. I hear that from some of the hawkers -- there are people, but they aren't buying. (To which I replied: "I think they can get all this knock-off <deleted> back home."

Add Indians, Middle Easterners, as Dubai, Oman, believe it even Iraq and Iran!

I see a big increase on chinese looking visitors and yes many carry a drink from the 7/11, Family mart, or Starbucks take away.... things do change once in a while...

[Birdman]

i dont see why some of the hotels in samui dont do an all inclusive package....

At destinations with a high crime rate outside the holiday resorts and secluded locations of this resorts all incl. is an advantage for the guests. Most of the all incl. resorts are also huge in size with diverse facilities/entertainment/activities to avoid boredom.

Contrary to Samui, where you can safely eat at almost every corner and every beach and entertainment centres are not too far away.

[LaoPo]

LaoPo:

...every time a visitor (which is a better word than tourist) visits Thailand...

Why is that a 'better' word?

I might add that recently/currently, there are/were a lot of Russians in Lamai or those from Eastern Europe. More than in the past several years. I wonder where they got the "Samui is the place to be" info. They seem to be families/groups and couples, which doesn't do much for the girlie bars (of which Lamai is mostly made up of).

I think also that we have to realize that although some holidaymakers come to Samui/KP/KT, not all of them go shopping for T-shirts/fairy lights/flip-flops/copy goods or the other usual souvenir suspects. I hear that from some of the hawkers -- there are people, but they aren't buying. (To which I replied: "I think they can get all this knock-off <deleted> back home."

I was specifically referring to "visitors" when they come from Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

I (but that's personal) see them more as visitors rather than the stereotype tourist from Asia or the Western countries.

But, TAT and the tourism bureau of Thailand however mark them as TOURISTS, so be it.

And, talking about Russians; many people in Thailand say that there are so many Russians; they are however a minority in comparison to visitors from Western European countries or even Australia.

Maybe they make more noise ?

LaoPo

[limbos]

Laopo,

If Russians are so visitor amounts are so marginal, how do you explain that in PTY everything is marked nowadays in three languages, THai, English and Russian.

There's definately an increase in Russina tourists visiting Samui.

[LaoPo]

Laopo,

If Russians are so visitor amounts are so marginal, how do you explain that in PTY everything is marked nowadays in three languages, THai, English and Russian.

There's definately an increase in Russina tourists visiting Samui.

I cannot explain why there are signs in Russian. But an explanation could be that most Europeans who travel to a country like Thailand do speak at least some English but most Russians don't.

I also didn't say that there is no increase of Russian tourists to Samui but I did say that the number of Russians in comparison to European tourists, and even Australia, is a minority and thus lower in Thailand.

I don't have the -total- numbers for 2008 but for 2007 the number of Russian tourists to Thailand was: 279.771.

Some other EU countries:

Germany: 537.000

United Kingdom: 746.000

France: 351.000

Australia: 638.000

Link: http://www.tourism.go.th/index.php?option=...0&Itemid=25

But if just 10% of those 279.000 Russians go to Samui that's almost 28.000 tourists and maybe they make a lot of noise.

Personally I haven't encountered any Russians in Thailand but I do know from family and friends in Spain that they do not mix with other nationalities (maybe because of the lack in English). They are considered noisy, rude, are throwing around money as if it's waste paper and have big mouths but as said, I didn't encounter Russians myself.

Just hearsay.

LaoPo

[Birdman]

Laopo,

If Russians are so visitor amounts are so marginal, how do you explain that in PTY everything is marked nowadays in three languages, THai, English and Russian.

There's definately an increase in Russina tourists visiting Samui.

Utapao was and is the hub for many charter flights from Russian cities since years in Thailand. The Russian tourism concentrated therefore mainly in Pattaya. Signs were made in Russian because they cannot read English and they are shopping fanatics.

On Samui the Russian market increased in the last years. In the lobbies of the hotels are Russian tour brochures, Russian tour agencies offer their services and Russian tour leaders take care of their clients on Samui.

But now everywhere in Thailand the number of Russian tourists decreased.

[BusyBee123]

i've seen plenty of Russians in Lamai over the last few years but since the Russian currency capitulated over the last year (a gazillion more times worse than the gbp!) they are hurting more than most. I've found them quite loud and abrasive without beer and far worse than brits with beer but i put this down to lack of social conditioning the brits do not have that excuse.

[Mark Wolfe]

The Russians I have seen, or apparently Russian people, have been families, and young couples and some small groups. They have all been well behaved, but I don't hang out at the bars in the middle of the night so I don't know if any tomcats are out and about.

Also, I have heard from a source in Lamai and in Nathon that there is a rumor that in two weeks the place will be packed. The rumor goes that a friend of a friend in a resort/hotel says that at that time, all the rooms are booked, or mostly so.

[BusyBee123]

ah yes i didn't mention i was talking about small groups of single males late at night just never associated familys and couples with trouble whatever nationality.

[RAZZELL]

agreed that its more quiet than in the past, anyone here remember 2006 that

try 2005 , pound was 70 to the THB, you could stay in a decent hotel for 1000THB, beer was 60 THB a bottle in all bars and a decent meal was 200-300 THB

fast forward to 2009 , pound 50 to the THB, Descent hotel 2000 THB, and bars charging 90 - 120 THB a bottle and a decent meal 400 - 500 THB

untill that lower the prices, clean things up , it will carry on dying

Totally agree. I'm off to Bali in August

RAZZ

[Rooo]

On track please, off topic posts deleted.

[churchill]

One more coming and renting a whole resort ?

http://www.britneythailand.net/forums/inde...p?topic=12825.0

[manuchaomk]

It has improved already. Thanks to Indians and Middle Easterners and young European FITs.

Well unless they're made of Glass, i can't see them..

It's eerily ( sp ? ) quiet in my opinion & the quietest i have seen the Island in the 6 Years i have been here..

....it could be that you can't see them, because you are not there. At the major hotels on Chaweng.

I totally agree with your comment.

[Mark Wolfe]

Having been away for a week, I took a look at Lamai last night at about 11pm and was, well, not shocked, but very surprised to see such places as Outback deserted. I honestly don't think I have seen it so empty around here in the last 3.5 years. I mean it's off in Bangkok too, but this is insane.

[MSingh]

Having been away for a week, I took a look at Lamai last night at about 11pm and was, well, not shocked, but very surprised to see such places as Outback deserted. I honestly don't think I have seen it so empty around here in the last 3.5 years. I mean it's off in Bangkok too, but this is insane.

I agree, i was in Lamai on Friday night & have NEVER seen it so quiet, EVER..

[samui04]

Having been away for a week, I took a look at Lamai last night at about 11pm and was, well, not shocked, but very surprised to see such places as Outback deserted. I honestly don't think I have seen it so empty around here in the last 3.5 years. I mean it's off in Bangkok too, but this is insane.

Well, i'm not really surprised. It's windy with some rain, maybe it is time to forget about "high season" in august. In Europe the weather is better and there are nice beaches in spain and greece very cheap. Thailand is good when here it's cold.

I hope not too many place will close down, i hate walking under the sun for a good breakfast in january

Who knows, maybe next jan I will find lower prices...

[Birdman]

Having been away for a week, I took a look at Lamai last night at about 11pm and was, well, not shocked, but very surprised to see such places as Outback deserted. I honestly don't think I have seen it so empty around here in the last 3.5 years. I mean it's off in Bangkok too, but this is insane.

It seems, that the budget tourists, who are the main customers at Lamai's bar scene, aren't here. While the upper class hotels on Chaweng and Bophut have good occupancy rates now.

[LaoPo]

Having been away for a week, I took a look at Lamai last night at about 11pm and was, well, not shocked, but very surprised to see such places as Outback deserted. I honestly don't think I have seen it so empty around here in the last 3.5 years. I mean it's off in Bangkok too, but this is insane.

It seems, that the budget tourists, who are the main customers at Lamai's bar scene, aren't here. While the upper class hotels on Chaweng and Bophut have good occupancy rates now.

How did you learn ?

LaoPo

[Birdman]

Having been away for a week, I took a look at Lamai last night at about 11pm and was, well, not shocked, but very surprised to see such places as Outback deserted. I honestly don't think I have seen it so empty around here in the last 3.5 years. I mean it's off in Bangkok too, but this is insane.

It seems, that the budget tourists, who are the main customers at Lamai's bar scene, aren't here. While the upper class hotels on Chaweng and Bophut have good occupancy rates now.

How did you learn ?

LaoPo

By being in the centre of the industry.

Edited July 16, 2009 by Birdman

[LaoPo]

Having been away for a week, I took a look at Lamai last night at about 11pm and was, well, not shocked, but very surprised to see such places as Outback deserted. I honestly don't think I have seen it so empty around here in the last 3.5 years. I mean it's off in Bangkok too, but this is insane.

It seems, that the budget tourists, who are the main customers at Lamai's bar scene, aren't here. While the upper class hotels on Chaweng and Bophut have good occupancy rates now.

How did you learn ?

LaoPo

By being in the centre of the industry.

OK, thanks!

What's a good occupancy rate in July ?......80% ? ...and what is the prognosis for August ?

LaoPo

[PatinBKk]

Maybe the rain and landslide in Surat had something to do with it...a planned trip was cancelled on my behalf for this reason....maybe next week a bit busier???