Tourists For High Season

[wasas]

i thought i would start a new topic, getting bored with all this rain.

Do you think samui will have a good high season, any stats about planes from europe, bangkok being full,

Will we ever see the good old days like 4or5 years ago, back here.

And please don,t mention the high prices of bkk airline

[luvU2much500THB]

Do you really think with the strong baht there we be a huge high season anymore? 40.5 Baht to the Euro?

Have a look at pattaya, i went home 3 weeks ago. I felt like in Ghost Town driving down Nuklua after 1 o clock.

And it is not getting much better,every girl i speak to: Have falang nid noi my bar...

And with the typical thai thinking: low business - double the prices same money i can only say:

Cambodia here i come

[NALAK]

the hotels will all have full bookings, going to be good high season just like last year was not and the year before, Samui will never ever have the good old days back because the good old Samui has gone and what is left is and over developed, expensive, rip off, stink hole. thats what i thought after 9 years there and thats what tourists i meet around Thailand tell me is there opinion of Samui. and yes getting there is way expensive.

[smokie36]

Do you really think with the strong baht there we be a huge high seasion anymore? 40.5 Baht to the Euro?

Have a look at pattaya, i went home 3 weeks ago. I felt like in Ghost Town driving down Nuklua after 1 o clock.

Cambodia here i come

Hit the nail very firmly on the head. Will be joining you for a few Ankhor beers......even the beer is better!!

Sure I'll be on Samui for a bit....but Cambodia is looking ,more and more attractive tbh.

[BusyBee123]

No.

No.

I like bkk airs boutique airline it's just the ....... sandwiches on board i' dont like.

[smokie36]

No.

No.

I like bkk airs boutique airline it's just the ....... sandwiches on board i' dont like.

Chicken sandwich with real chicken and real fresh bread. Its too much to ask obviously.

wasas start an airline food supply company!!

[Rooo]

Will we ever see the good old days like 4or5 years ago, back here.

And please don,t mention the high prices of bkk airline

Good old days 4- 5 years ago, were still the aftermath of the tsunami. They are not a benchmark to be used as some people have done, or base your calculations upon.

To really compare apples with apples, you have to go to the previous year & base your growth figures on that & not the extraordinary period.

Again look at the effects of that particular short boom, many more bars , restaurants & hotels, all thinking that boom will be maintained.

I think the market here in general is back to where it should be. Unfortunately many outside factors over the last couple of years, just to mention a couple , world economic crises, political unrest , last but not least the position of the Baht have contributed to a further slowdown.

Again watching that program on TAN network, they interviewed the president of The Samui Tourism Association. He basically stated that now, is the low season & operators & traders are aware of that.

But where at this time of year hotel occupancy is 40 to 50 %, it's down to 20%.

To sum up, Samui is not the only place in Thailand, suffering a downturn or slowdown.Is there going to be better times? Sure there will be, just have to tough it up I suppose & try to ride it out.People with innovative ideas,fairly well established & financially sound, tend to weather the storms a lot better .

There will be casualties & when the better times arrive, it will start all over again new this & that etc..... Tough business the tourism industry.

[joe84330]

can't say about the entire upcoming peak season however i can't find any more first class villas for my clients anywhere near bophut/cheong mon/chaweng/chaweng noi. if you have or know of someone who has a superb luxury villa for rent over new years i'd like to know about it.

on a side note, seeing more and more humvee's around the island. if you happen to own one or know an owner please get in touch by pm as my clients would very much like to rent them for their holiday.

[screamingeagle]

Will we ever see the good old days like 4or5 years ago, back here.

And please don,t mention the high prices of bkk airline

Good old days 4- 5 years ago, were still the aftermath of the tsunami. They are not a benchmark to be used as some people have done, or base your calculations upon.

To really compare apples with apples, you have to go to the previous year & base your growth figures on that & not the extraordinary period.

Again look at the effects of that particular short boom, many more bars , restaurants & hotels, all thinking that boom will be maintained.

I think the market here in general is back to where it should be. Unfortunately many outside factors over the last couple of years, just to mention a couple , world economic crises, political unrest , last but not least the position of the Baht have contributed to a further slowdown.

Again watching that program on TAN network, they interviewed the president of The Samui Tourism Association. He basically stated that now, is the low season & operators & traders are aware of that.

But where at this time of year hotel occupancy is 40 to 50 %, it's down to 20%.

To sum up, Samui is not the only place in Thailand, suffering a downturn or slowdown.Is there going to be better times? Sure there will be, just have to tough it up I suppose & try to ride it out.People with innovative ideas,fairly well established & financially sound, tend to weather the storms a lot better .

There will be casualties & when the better times arrive, it will start all over again new this & that etc..... Tough business the tourism industry.

Good post Rooo! Succinct and accurate! I hope next month we get a reasonable start to the high season. My place has been closed and wet most of this month! I need some cash!!!!!

[carmine]

If i remember correctly from christmas to April business was very good and it was only when those idiots in BKK starting shooting people and burning the place that it all went belly up.

Theres no reason to suggest that we won't have a good high season but Samui will never again hit the heights of 2006/7.

The baht is too strong and the Thais are too greedy, having little or no business sense and generally can be guarranteed to do the wrong thing when trying to promote tourism. I hope this is not contrued as anti Thai, its just the way i see it. They never think to the future, only today, and the likes of Vietnam and Cambodia will start to take over.

However, i'm still happy here, that is as long as they pleeeease sort out the electricity.

[Boater]

Will we ever see the good old days like 4or5 years ago, back here.

And please don,t mention the high prices of bkk airline

Good old days 4- 5 years ago, were still the aftermath of the tsunami. They are not a benchmark to be used as some people have done, or base your calculations upon.

To really compare apples with apples, you have to go to the previous year & base your growth figures on that & not the extraordinary period.

Again look at the effects of that particular short boom, many more bars , restaurants & hotels, all thinking that boom will be maintained.

I think the market here in general is back to where it should be. Unfortunately many outside factors over the last couple of years, just to mention a couple , world economic crises, political unrest , last but not least the position of the Baht have contributed to a further slowdown.

Again watching that program on TAN network, they interviewed the president of The Samui Tourism Association. He basically stated that now, is the low season & operators & traders are aware of that.

But where at this time of year hotel occupancy is 40 to 50 %, it's down to 20%.

To sum up, Samui is not the only place in Thailand, suffering a downturn or slowdown.Is there going to be better times? Sure there will be, just have to tough it up I suppose & try to ride it out.People with innovative ideas,fairly well established & financially sound, tend to weather the storms a lot better .

There will be casualties & when the better times arrive, it will start all over again new this & that etc..... Tough business the tourism industry.

Good post Rooo! Succinct and accurate! I hope next month we get a reasonable start to the high season. My place has been closed and wet most of this month! I need some cash!!!!!

My place has been closed and wet most of this month! I need some cash!!!!!

i am sure most of the working girls on the island are shouting the same thing

[BigC]

can't say about the entire upcoming peak season however i can't find any more first class villas for my clients anywhere near bophut/cheong mon/chaweng/chaweng noi. if you have or know of someone who has a superb luxury villa for rent over new years i'd like to know about it.

on a side note, seeing more and more humvee's around the island. if you happen to own one or know an owner please get in touch by pm as my clients would very much like to rent them for their holiday.

the rich will always be rich and the back packer will have to pack up and move on.

might be ok but if u r reallying from uk money or over seas money then the baht still remains strong an england like a weak pound to boost exports and thailands imports are on the up.

it is probably cheaper to buy a new car in englanf now.

if u have a car on finance then u have a problem. example if u were paying 13 k per month. that used to be under 200 pounds now u r up to just under 250 pounds.

then again i think that thailand are not interested in weakening the that baht.

samui might become a play ground for the super rich which if u have a business out here then it might get better and u might not need to rely on england money.

think we have to change with the change rarther than moan about something that we can do nothing about.

Samui for me is not a money spending play gorund that it used ot be for me. every 1000 baht is carefully soent from now on. not like before

think samui is going to be a play gorund for the rich

[smokie36]

can't say about the entire upcoming peak season however i can't find any more first class villas for my clients anywhere near bophut/cheong mon/chaweng/chaweng noi. if you have or know of someone who has a superb luxury villa for rent over new years i'd like to know about it.

on a side note, seeing more and more humvee's around the island. if you happen to own one or know an owner please get in touch by pm as my clients would very much like to rent them for their holiday.

the rich will always be rich and the back packer will have to pack up and move on.

might be ok but if u r reallying from uk money or over seas money then the baht still remains strong an england like a weak pound to boost exports and thailands imports are on the up.

it is probably cheaper to buy a new car in englanf now.

if u have a car on finance then u have a problem. example if u were paying 13 k per month. that used to be under 200 pounds now u r up to just under 250 pounds.

then again i think that thailand are not interested in weakening the that baht.

samui might become a play ground for the super rich which if u have a business out here then it might get better and u might not need to rely on england money.

think we have to change with the change rarther than moan about something that we can do nothing about.

Samui for me is not a money spending play gorund that it used ot be for me. every 1000 baht is carefully soent from now on. not like before

think samui is going to be a play gorund for the rich

Plenty of other unspoilt oslands with everything Samui has and even real police laws etc....affluent people yes I agree but not the super rich.

[carmine]

can't say about the entire upcoming peak season however i can't find any more first class villas for my clients anywhere near bophut/cheong mon/chaweng/chaweng noi. if you have or know of someone who has a superb luxury villa for rent over new years i'd like to know about it.

on a side note, seeing more and more humvee's around the island. if you happen to own one or know an owner please get in touch by pm as my clients would very much like to rent them for their holiday.

the rich will always be rich and the back packer will have to pack up and move on.

might be ok but if u r reallying from uk money or over seas money then the baht still remains strong an england like a weak pound to boost exports and thailands imports are on the up.

it is probably cheaper to buy a new car in englanf now.

if u have a car on finance then u have a problem. example if u were paying 13 k per month. that used to be under 200 pounds now u r up to just under 250 pounds.

then again i think that thailand are not interested in weakening the that baht.

samui might become a play ground for the super rich which if u have a business out here then it might get better and u might not need to rely on england money.

think we have to change with the change rarther than moan about something that we can do nothing about.

Samui for me is not a money spending play gorund that it used ot be for me. every 1000 baht is carefully soent from now on. not like before

think samui is going to be a play gorund for the rich

Playground for the rich you say!!!!....................Not with the stench of sewage in Chaweng and the power cuts its not.

[smokie36]

can't say about the entire upcoming peak season however i can't find any more first class villas for my clients anywhere near bophut/cheong mon/chaweng/chaweng noi. if you have or know of someone who has a superb luxury villa for rent over new years i'd like to know about it.

on a side note, seeing more and more humvee's around the island. if you happen to own one or know an owner please get in touch by pm as my clients would very much like to rent them for their holiday.

the rich will always be rich and the back packer will have to pack up and move on.

might be ok but if u r reallying from uk money or over seas money then the baht still remains strong an england like a weak pound to boost exports and thailands imports are on the up.

it is probably cheaper to buy a new car in englanf now.

if u have a car on finance then u have a problem. example if u were paying 13 k per month. that used to be under 200 pounds now u r up to just under 250 pounds.

then again i think that thailand are not interested in weakening the that baht.

samui might become a play ground for the super rich which if u have a business out here then it might get better and u might not need to rely on england money.

think we have to change with the change rarther than moan about something that we can do nothing about.

Samui for me is not a money spending play gorund that it used ot be for me. every 1000 baht is carefully soent from now on. not like before

think samui is going to be a play gorund for the rich

Playground for the rich you say!!!!....................Not with the stench of sewage in Chaweng and the power cuts its not.

You could be on to something here. If BigC can organise some fox hunting the English aristocracy love to slum it.....no wasting the lecky either!

[jamescollister]

Used to live on Samui many years ago, but it changed. As have I wife 2 kids and if we go on holiday I can find a lot more value for money else where. Live in Issan now and it's cheaper to go to Bali. Jim

[Birdman]

No, it is not. There are nice, cheap and beautiful places all over Samui. At South Lamai and Menam e.g. Apart from that Samui is pricewise only a train/bus journey away.

Anyway, I would say that the tendency is more families (especially from India and the Middle East) and couples (Europeans and Asians), slightly more groups (China and SEA) and less single men (England).

[gotlost]

With exchange rates today of 29.21 usd, 47.09 gbp and 40.13 eur and going down. You can close the bars and send the girls home.

[joe84330]

everybody needs to roll with the punches. if your current business plan is based on a revenue model 5 years old then your business will wither on the vine in this middle class price conscious shopping phase.

indians make great tourists, if not great customers. don't plan on them using your girlie bar but you better make sure you have extra bottles of champagne if you offer an upscale environment. i've personally had indian clients that were unable to spend the money they'd allotted themselves on a daily basis for their holiday simply because samui wasn't capable of taking it from them. after all villa and transport expenses, they will spend 1k USD per day to keep themselves entertained but samui isn't capable yet of supporting that. they are insulted by cheap tequila, cheap champagne cheap wines etc in samui's "fancy" clubs. i had a client offer me a 500USD tip if i could bring him 10 bottles of good champagne for his groups first night here. guess what, nobody on the island could produce it and i know everywhere on the island to find it.

so many people trying to cater to the people who don't want to spend any money right now when there are literally tons of people who are loaded with cash and want people to see them spend it.

[Birdman]

right, and teach the local staff not to get insulted, if they treat them like personal servants.

[BusyBee123]

everybody needs to roll with the punches. if your current business plan is based on a revenue model 5 years old then your business will wither on the vine in this middle class price conscious shopping phase.

indians make great tourists, if not great customers. don't plan on them using your girlie bar but you better make sure you have extra bottles of champagne if you offer an upscale environment. i've personally had indian clients that were unable to spend the money they'd allotted themselves on a daily basis for their holiday simply because samui wasn't capable of taking it from them. after all villa and transport expenses, they will spend 1k USD per day to keep themselves entertained but samui isn't capable yet of supporting that. they are insulted by cheap tequila, cheap champagne cheap wines etc in samui's "fancy" clubs. i had a client offer me a 500USD tip if i could bring him 10 bottles of good champagne for his groups first night here. guess what, nobody on the island could produce it and i know everywhere on the island to find it.

so many people trying to cater to the people who don't want to spend any money right now when there are literally tons of people who are loaded with cash and want people to see them spend it.

[joe84330]

right, and teach the local staff not to get insulted, if they treat them like personal servants.

well, staff technically are there to serve. that makes them personal servants. i used to wake up at 3am to deliver newspapers when i was a kid and i can tell the difference between those i served well and those i didn't, that's probably why i'm not delivering papers anymore. i've dealt with plenty of eastern indians and they've not even come close to making my short list. genuine good people that know how to let loose and enjoy themselves as far as i'm concerned. world could use more of that attitude right about now.

[Birdman]

...agreed. But maybe local staff does not.....in the sense of the caste system of the sub continent brought over to our island since just a few years.....

[joe84330]

if local staff has ever been more deserving of a swift boot up their assessments, i've not seen it in my 5 years here. i've got legal burmese, nepalese and indian staff in some roles and thai's in others. thai's as a general rule recognize their deficiencies in comparison but it's the exception to the rule that does anything about it, and they get paid for it.

it's been said that a rising tide lifts all ships. some ships are better off scuttled.

[Tropicalevo]

right, and teach the local staff not to get insulted, if they treat them like personal servants.

well, staff technically are there to serve. that makes them personal servants.

Sorry joe. Your posts are usually quite good, but I disagree with this one.

I have been in the service business for over 40 years, but I am no-one's servant. There is a subtle but big difference. They buy my service. They do not buy me.

Yes I have had Indian customers and most have been fine. However, when they start to make you jump through hoops (just to show who has the money) then I draw a firm but polite line.

Birdman got it right. "teach the local staff not to get insulted, if they treat them like personal servants". This will take some doing though.

[joe84330]

think jeeves and wooster.

[BigC]

can't say about the entire upcoming peak season however i can't find any more first class villas for my clients anywhere near bophut/cheong mon/chaweng/chaweng noi. if you have or know of someone who has a superb luxury villa for rent over new years i'd like to know about it.

on a side note, seeing more and more humvee's around the island. if you happen to own one or know an owner please get in touch by pm as my clients would very much like to rent them for their holiday.

the rich will always be rich and the back packer will have to pack up and move on.

might be ok but if u r reallying from uk money or over seas money then the baht still remains strong an england like a weak pound to boost exports and thailands imports are on the up.

it is probably cheaper to buy a new car in englanf now.

if u have a car on finance then u have a problem. example if u were paying 13 k per month. that used to be under 200 pounds now u r up to just under 250 pounds.

then again i think that thailand are not interested in weakening the that baht.

samui might become a play ground for the super rich which if u have a business out here then it might get better and u might not need to rely on england money.

think we have to change with the change rarther than moan about something that we can do nothing about.

Samui for me is not a money spending play gorund that it used ot be for me. every 1000 baht is carefully soent from now on. not like before

think samui is going to be a play gorund for the rich

Plenty of other unspoilt oslands with everything Samui has and even real police laws etc....affluent people yes I agree but not the super rich.

not sure supposdly david beckem has a house out here. maybe 1 day he might come and stay in it. had many celebrities out here and samui is an Amper Muang which means that it is a city amper. the problem with other islands is that some stuff is not avalable and have to order or go to another island to get something. Samui has it all. transprotation office, immgergation, loads of tescos which i don't think is bad. lots of super cneters like makro and BigC. repair shops. car dealers.

yes samui is lacking in beauty but it does have some good spots they are probably more expensive but it does have stock which for me a tropical island is a nice holiday but for long term it can be fustrating having to island hope for nesseisties

[Rooo]

Honestly, NOT into word games or private charades.Posts deleted. Please have respect to other users.

[Tropicalevo]

Back to the OP.

Difficult to respond to your post if we cannot mention BKKAIR high prices. It is a factor.

People in Europe (Samui's main customer base) are worried about

1 having a job

2 keeping their job

3 having a 'value for money holiday' and spending their hard earned cash wisely.

With the economic downturn, poor exchange rates and high travel prices - this makes Samui an expensive option. (Especially the Bangkok Airways bit. No other resort destination in Thailand, that I know of, has a cost this large!)

Then you have the increased number of rooms available yet a limited number of flights.

All of this is not a good business model, and I have not mentioned the taxis/jetskis/flooding/power-cuts/scams/red-shirts etc.

There will always be those with money who want to stay in a 5 * resort and not look outside of it. Take into account the signs that I have seen in hotel receptions that say things like "if you choose to leave the resort and eat elsewhere, we cannot guarantee your safety" or the list of "fixed taxi prices to other areas!" (which obviously promotes the non-use of meters) then these high spenders are NOT going to leave the resort.

Putting my wedding tackle on the line here I would guess that -

High end resorts will do OK.

Private Villas in specific special areas will do OK.

Some mid range places with good marketing and referrals will do OK.

The rest, other resorts, restaurants,bars etc will probably struggle.

The good time of 4/5 years ago was because places like Phuket and Kow Lac etc were wiped out because of the Tsunami - not because Samui was better!

Having said all of that - I would be happy to be proved wrong. I love Samui and I think that it is a fabulous place to live. Whatever your business, I hope that your high season is a great one.

[Birdman]

Remember the times when almost every hotel was full and almost no change to find a room? It was way before the Tsunami, 10,14 years ago? As far as I can remember there were apr 50 flights per day with BA from Bangkok to Samui.

They even charged 1.000 and something extra, payable at departure additional to the airport tax in the times of the oil crisis for a while then.

Ok, planes were smaller, hotels were less. But I would not blame everything on BA now. It isn't so, that Samui is doing bad and Phuket, Koh Chang, Pattaya and Krabi are booming.

And often the costs of the BKK-USM-BKK flights are covered in the long haul flights of package tourists.

You also forget to mention that customers changed with the increased arrivals of tourists from India, Middle East and China.