Thai Hostages Still Missing a Year After Hamas Attack

[Pormax]

I recently took my wife for a short break to Phuket. Never Again. I found it extremely expensive, especially to eat out and the locals very unfriendly compared to those in Pattaya and Buriram. I think the 'Smiles' have not reached that far South.

One good thing the beaches and sea were a lot cleaner than pattaya. Would never go again!

[BlueSmurf]

Yes it can be a waste of money and time.I have stopped going for the same reasons.I have been about 20 times....Expensive and full of the worst of Thailand...Its as though the service industry there is entittled to a living there without having to show respect be polite or even work....

[Ulysses G.]

It was my favorite place in Thailand 20 years ago, but I am glad that I did not settle there.

[FarangBuddha]

Completely agree...posted a similar report about 6 months ago about my most recent trip...B 100 for beach chair vs. B 30 in Pattaya about sums it up in a nutshell.

[PattayaParent]

I haven't been in 10 years but did find that the local restaurants about 1~1.5 kms away from the main tourist drag were much the same price as Pattaya.

Would that still be the case or has the tourist area expanded to those parts too?

[Atmos]

we lived there a year, moved last April, and head back there for a week's holiday next month.

Never rented a deck chair in my life.

Plenty of good friends there we have maintained contact with.

It's as expensive as you want it to be - not going there to shop.

We'll be kayaking and snorkeling - and enjoying ourselves.

[simon43]

Perhaps the thread title should be changed to 'Patong holiday not recommended'.

There are many very nice places away from the 'madness' of Patong. I still pay 30 baht for a great pad thai, sit on an almost empty golden beach in high season, great smiles from the locals and not another westerner in sight...

Simon

[Pormax]

Hi 'PattayaParent,

I only recently moved up to Buriram from Pattaya where I stayed for about 5 years. No the cost of eating in the main tourist area was definetely much higher than in Pattaya. What I could not understand is the cost of a seafood meal.

You are by the sea where the food is caught it does not have to be transported packaged etc. If you like I did and go to Patong then unless you know your way around or have some sort of transport then to find where the local Thai workers eat is not easy. My wife (who is Thai) met a friend in Phuket while we were there, she knew her when she worked in Pattaya. Same bar work in Phuket for a salary of 10,000b a month compared to 3,500 in Pattaya. If you bought her a drink then it was 200Bt and she got 80Bt, In Pattaya 100 to 120Bt for lady drink and she got 30Bt. I think that sums it up. Phuket is off my list for places to visit again. What was worse for me was I never came across the friendlyness I am accustomed to in Thailand. Smiles were not invented for Phuket!!!

[Pormax]

Yes 'simon43' could well be right but a bad experience makes you never want to risk it again. Yes Patong is madness but also expensive and very unfriendly compared to other parts of Thailand I have visited..

[Jebhead]

I lived there for 3 years ( before the tsunami ). There is no doubt that the scenery & the beaches are spectacular down there, and as with all over the world the prices of everything reflect this.

On the other side of the island, Rawai & Nai Harn etc it is a much quieter lifestyle than Patong but still very expensive for property / land.

I was there recently and you could hardly spot any Thai's in Patong!!

JH

[JoePai]

Took the family down there for an 'up-market' holiday - never again. Dreadful place with both foreigners and Thais having a very poor attitude - heck I would even prefer Pattaya !

[SGD]

Took the family down there for an 'up-market' holiday - never again. Dreadful place with both foreigners and Thais having a very poor attitude - heck I would even prefer Pattaya !

A large number of people who know they are being ripped off, from hotels, transport, food, drinks and everything else you can imagine, does not bode well for a happy and contented environment. The only people who do not feel aggrieved are those who don't know and they often find out as soon as they leave. Flying in for a couple of weeks from the USA or Europe and comparing things to the prices "back home" and then excusing things because you are "on vacation" is the only thing which even marginally makes it justifiable to some. On any other scale, it is overpriced and rotten.

Even as an escape from other parts of Thailand it is perhaps only the historic ease of getting there by air which makes it popular. Now that you can fly all over the place, its popularity will wane unless it really is the sex tourists which keeps Phuket afloat ?