What Is Your Prediction On Phukets Future?

[brieno1955]

OK Karen...i took your advice..had 10 mins to spare...

As a long term resident/business owner on Phuket how do you see the longtime future of the island?

Disregarding all the usual tuk-tuk, jetski, tailors and touts issues that do indeed have a detrimental effect to a degree on visitors in that the ripple effect can onflow to us expats directly or indirectly,because those issues are already recycled and re-emerged ad nauseum.Nothing changes there!

How about the bigger picture, with the huge amount of out of control developement/redevelopement thats occuring with no obvious forsight regarding infrastruture..eg roads that are now overcrowded even in low season,waste disposal problems, car parking availabilty[ forget about all the rentals and taxis etc] even without them hogging the limited spaces, many new developements have either no, or very little off street parking, the lack of funds to even basically maintain existing infrastructures,the destruction of forested areas all over that leads to landslides and road damage, as well as loss of habitat for native fauna,the obvious change in demographics of visitors..a lot of Chinese, Russians,Arabs who apparently are very frugal and group tour everything,so this must also effect expat business owners..[ thanks to TAT attempt to increase tourist numbers at any cost, without considering the ramifications of their actions as uaual.]

Another not so obvious effect of new developement is the out of control basic room rentals for Thai workers especially in/near Patong [who are the majority of employees naturally] 5-6 Years ago they could get a basic room for around 3-3500 k baht monthly and now need about 5k baht for the same.Meanwhile wages have increased minimally, and the workers have been squeezed back to Na Nai in greater numbers[ but now Na Nai is undergoing heaps of redevelopement to "up market' guesthouses etc, and many Thais are having to move further and further away from work for affordable accomodation to Kathu etc, and then have to pay extra for fuel to come and go.Catch 22 for them.

This has led to [ from what i have read] a major shortage of available workers to service all the new hotels and guesthouses..anyone who can confirm this?There does appear to be a lot of hotels etc with a list of vacancies posted outside.

Apart from a very few whingers about the tuk tuk , jetshi <deleted>, etc,etc, a lot of the previous visitor complaints are more about, the over developement [why leave an overcrowded city to come holiday at just another overdeveloped city ?The lack of "Thainess" in a premier Thai destination for example, and this is reflected in the lack of Thai charactor in most new hotels ..looking back at the landscape from the ocean, you could be anywhere visually...

So, what is the long term future here?

A disaster in the making ala many previous touristy islands as in Spain etc? or no?

[thaiwanderer]

Disaster for who?

[NamKangMan]

I believe it's the greedy Thai landlords that are constantly pushing rental prices up for businesses, who in turn must pass on the costs to their customers, that are outpricing Phuket out of the South East Asian holiday market. It's the "farang money has no limit" ideology.

Add to that, constant bad publicity with the scams that you mentioned and then the many deaths of foreigners by misadventure and Phuket has an "image" problem.

The island is controled by a wealthy, and corrupt, minority, to the detriment of locals, tourists and expats. They are "raping and pillaging" this island for all it is worth, NOW, with no regard to future sustainability and profitability. This has worked well for them for the last 20 to 25 years, but, I see it coming to an end in the next few years. It will be another Costa del Sol. However, while there are always planes flying in with starry eyed farang who want to "live the dream" in Phuket, the Thai's will be happy to sell them that dream, at a high price, and they will go home broke a short time later.

In the short term, there are many other factors to consider, Eg: not devaluing the baht, another election this year with Mr. T still in the mix, a certain revered guy in Thailand who is not getting any younger etc etc and Thailand is not very stable.

All of the above does not look good for the future of Phuket.

Edited May 7, 2011 by NamKangMan

[brieno1955]

Disaster for who?

Well i figure if you are in business or employed here the disaster scenario means you are out of work and or have an overvalued ,unsellable business.

If you only reside /retire here you end up living in an overdeveloped eyesore with no natural appeal...to me that would be disasterous.

Just my take on it.

PS NKM you posted as i was typing...yes i agree "rape and pillage" indeed..

Edited May 7, 2011 by brieno1955

[thaiwanderer]

People take from Phuket what they can.

Many locals financially profitted from tourism and continue to do so.

Concern for those who didn't so profit or for the effect on the island itself is a bit rich coming from anyone who came to the island for profit or enjoyment.

If you came for profit and are worried about that continuing then that's entirely selfish so let's not dress it up as something else.

And what separates businesses from 'greedy' businesses? jealousy and success

If you came for enjoyment your heart didn't bleed for the changes that occured before your arrival that made it appealing to you and those subsequent that continue in that vein.

But changes that reduce the appeal to you are somehow to be avoided as if you should have some right in determining the island's future or what others should take from it?

Vistors moaning about other vistors is galling.

[jocko]

I agree on all points the ex pats seem to be the only one's concerned about Phuket's long term future. Patong is a mini Bangkok now hardly a tree or blade of grass to be seen there is no planing about infrastructure to keep up with development as i see it you have the local Patong thai's who have land here and for years they have slow but surely been selling it and becoming very rich in the process some of them becoming developers as well but i think now it's in freefall and well out of control and in a few more years it will be full i think now there is so much wrong it is beyond recovery . You can only play catch up for so long plenty of talk but no action.

They can't see the woods for the trees

[jackdawson]

u mean , tourists still go to patong and pay 200 baht for fried rice .

who knew ?

[iSabai]

Disaster for who?

Well i figure if you are in business or employed here the disaster scenario means you are out of work and or have an overvalued ,unsellable business.

If you only reside /retire here you end up living in an overdeveloped eyesore with no natural appeal...to me that would be disasterous.

Just my take on it.

PS NKM you posted as i was typing...yes i agree "rape and pillage" indeed..

I can put myself in this second category. Chose to come here for a peaceful retirement based on previous holiday experiences, many of which were pre-tsunami. Post tsunami years seem to be when Phuket really started to grow, unrestrained.

And I can say that with the skyrocketing cost of living here, plus the unbridled overdevelopment and associated greed, it has become a less desirable place for me to stay than when I first got here. What Phuket has become, and I believe it will only get worse, is not what I came here to Thailand to experience.

I do find many things here enjoyable, but the negative aspects are slowly overtaking the positives. I can see a move elsewhere coming in the not too distant future.

[falkan]

phuket changes, gone is the middle class family now the wealthy Russians and Asians are coming!! and they have not heard of jet scams and expensive tukk tukk (if they care), the new generation of tourists! and they do not stay on cheap places! Maybe that's why we are seeing more and more guesthouse for sale..

[Jimi007]

I still look on in shock at all the shop houses going up everywhere around Rawai/Nai Harn. Plus some large hotel developments, while I am still seeing incomplete projects that were started years ago. Also shop house projects that were built years ago and remain for sale. But they build more and more, without any sewage treatment other than maybe a septic tank. There is an article about the new garbage incinerator that won't keep up with the millions of tons that have built up on the island over the years... I have to agree with the OP, parts of this island are an eyesore, without a thought about parking, or roads that are way too small. I remain somewhat isolated from it, so maybe that's why I'm shocked when I go to places I haven't been to in months or years. But I could say that about most places I have lived in for many years. Planning is always an after thought more so around here than anywhere else I have ever lived though. If it gets to be too much around here I have backup plans. But I do like having a bank and a post office here now, the power not going out anytime there is a storm and storm drains, so there isn't as much flooding. Some small infrastructure improvements... But development, at what price?

Edited May 7, 2011 by Jimi007

[BangTaoBoy]

I agree on all points the ex pats seem to be the only one's concerned about Phuket's long term future. Patong is a mini Bangkok now hardly a tree or blade of grass to be seen there is no planing about infrastructure to keep up with development as i see it you have the local Patong thai's who have land here and for years they have slow but surely been selling it and becoming very rich in the process some of them becoming developers as well but i think now it's in freefall and well out of control and in a few more years it will be full i think now there is so much wrong it is beyond recovery . You can only play catch up for so long plenty of talk but no action.

They can't see the woods for the trees

Patong is the main tourist centre of Phuket, so of course it will keep on expanding, all the time there is land left, (which won't be much longer) Tell me a town or city any where in the world, where every jot of land has been built on? That's what makes them towns and cities in the first place.

As for the island as a whole, I consider it to be very undeveloped. It makes me laugh when people constantly talk about Phuket being over developed. They obviously don't know the island that well. Go on to Google Earth and you will see probably 70% of the island is mountains, farms, plantations and undeveloped land. Considering how small Phuket is, It is still very undeveloped as far as I'm concerned. Every day I drive through miles and miles of Pineapple and rubber plantations on the way to empty beache, that are several miles long. I never get the feeling of over development at all.

Think of tourist places in Europe. How are Monaco, St Tropez, Nice and Cannes any different? Every piece of land near the sea built on, and being used to make money. Drive a few miles away and you have the countryside. Exactly the same as Phuket.

[KarenBravo]

What I reckon will happen to Phuket in the next 20 to 30 years.

Phuket will continue to develope until it becomes an island city. Infrastructure will slowly catch up to development as is the case for all new towns and cities all over the world.

Tourism will slowly move to the Greater Phuket area, but, Phuket will still be the gateway due to it's international airport.

As world business practices slowly change, more people will be able to do there work from their computer instead of having to go to an office; more people will come to Phuket to live and work from home.

Phuket will rely less on tourism and more on logistics to support the expanding tourist areas off the island.

The expat retirement community will expand exponentially and so will medical services to accommodate them. Phuket will become a major medical hub.

[Valentine]

I predict gridlock within the next few years. Try driving in & out of Phuket Town during peak hours once all the schools are open again.

[hkt83100]

My prediction is that Phuket will sometime be covered by concrete similar to the nuclear plant in Tschernobyl.

[petercallen]

We recently had a holiday in Bali another holiday destination which i have not been to in a long time

The traffic, over development and overcharging is a lot worse there and we will not be returning

As far as we are concerned Phuket is a lot better place to live or retire to or have a holiday

If you get away from Patong which is the main tourist area there are plenty of places where you

can have the lifestyle you choose in Phuket.

As far as the cost of living here i think the people who complain have not visited other countries in a

long time, believe me the cost of living has increased substantially everywhere in the last few years

and you can live well here a lot cheaper than you can in other countries :jap:

[brieno1955]

and you can live well here a lot cheaper than you can in other countries :jap:

And why do you think that is Peter? Because the greedy developers, both Thai and western have scant regard for the Thais who live and work here. ie high rents and basic neccessities!

Try living here on a Thai wage....Where else do you know of that 1 litre of fuel costs the equivelant of 2 hours labour? [Phuket recently got a hefty 14 baht per DAY wage increase, taking it to somewhere under 220 baht per day.]

Where a very basic room to rent costs 70-90% of your wages?

Where many commodities are now at and above western prices?

You go reduce your income to 6-7000baht monthly and come back and tell us that you can live here a lot cheaper than other countries.

You are living a life of comparitive luxery on the backs of the local workers who are paid a pittance in comparison.

[KarenBravo]

Where a very basic room to rent costs 70-90% of your wages?

Where many commodities are now at and above western prices?

You go reduce your income to 6-7000baht monthly and come back and tell us that you can live here a lot cheaper than other countries.

You are living a life of comparitive luxery on the backs of the local workers who are paid a pittance in comparison.

Not really true.

Rooms can still be had for 2000 Bt a month or less. Sometimes the room is shared, bringing down the monthly cost even further.

The absolute lowest wage I have heard of is 4000 Bt a month. Average wage is 6000 to 7000 Bt per month.

It's a free market. If Thai workers couldn't save money to send back home, they wouldn't be here, yet, Phuket is a magnet for unskilled labour that can make more in Phuket than their home provinces.

[petercallen]

and you can live well here a lot cheaper than you can in other countries :jap:

And why do you think that is Peter? Because the greedy developers, both Thai and western have scant regard for the Thais who live and work here. ie high rents and basic neccessities!

Try living here on a Thai wage....Where else do you know of that 1 litre of fuel costs the equivelant of 2 hours labour? [Phuket recently got a hefty 14 baht per DAY wage increase, taking it to somewhere under 220 baht per day.]

Where a very basic room to rent costs 70-90% of your wages?

Where many commodities are now at and above western prices?

You go reduce your income to 6-7000baht monthly and come back and tell us that you can live here a lot cheaper than other countries.

You are living a life of comparitive luxery on the backs of the local workers who are paid a pittance in comparison.

I am talking about expats not Thai people although Thais can earn more money here than any other area except Bangkok

thats why so many come to work here

I do not live of the backs of Thai people, you may, all my money comes from overseas so i help support the Thai economy

\

I live the same life here as i did in Australia and find commodities much cheaper here than there, even imported meats

we were in Australia last November and Australian Lamb is dearer there than here

The odd imported item is dearer here but there are not many of them :jap:

[brieno1955]

Where a very basic room to rent costs 70-90% of your wages?

Where many commodities are now at and above western prices?

You go reduce your income to 6-7000baht monthly and come back and tell us that you can live here a lot cheaper than other countries.

You are living a life of comparitive luxery on the backs of the local workers who are paid a pittance in comparison.

Not really true.

Rooms can still be had for 2000 Bt a month or less. Sometimes the room is shared, bringing down the monthly cost even further.

The absolute lowest wage I have heard of is 4000 Bt a month. Average wage is 6000 to 7000 Bt per month.

It's a free market. If Thai workers couldn't save money to send back home, they wouldn't be here, yet, Phuket is a magnet for unskilled labour that can make more in Phuket than their home provinces.

My wife has had some family turn up[as they do] to work here.One is a nurse who started work already and the other is a hotel manager.They came because they were told the jobs are here[ which they are] but the wages are near the same as Chiang mai but the cost of living is way more here.

The cheapest room they have found in 10 days looking around is up at kathu...very basic, actually a bare room...4000 baht month..anywhere near Patong of course you pay a minimum of 5000baht.[also very basic]

My point though is that for thais to live here it is not all as rosey as pcallen makes out.

If thais got even a comparative wage, we expats would not be saying.."its cheap to live here"'because then it wouldn't be.

Every one says thais can multi share a room, dont need a fridge, a nice bed, flushing toilet,etc, they can eat <deleted> from roadside stalls, have a m/cycle in stead of a car...etc etc and live cheap. Also yes its is a free market..but surely they as fellow human beings deserve better, or dont they?

PS her brother who completed 4 years uni and is a very capable good english speaking guy is starting on 8000baht monthly as assistant to manager..... Thais screwing Thais....

PPS to pcallen;

I do not live of the backs of Thai people, you may, all my money comes from overseas so i help support the Thai economy

My money also comes from abroad Peter...what i am saying is that you could not make the comment " its cheap to live here" if the workers got a fair and descent wage comparable to your country!! If Thais got 20 dollars an hour as in Aus instead of 70 cents an hour, you would not be living here so cheap..so the thais serving you are in effect subsidising your ''cheap living here"'

Edited May 8, 2011 by brieno1955

[Jimi007]

and you can live well here a lot cheaper than you can in other countries :jap:

And why do you think that is Peter? Because the greedy developers, both Thai and western have scant regard for the Thais who live and work here. ie high rents and basic neccessities!

Try living here on a Thai wage....Where else do you know of that 1 litre of fuel costs the equivelant of 2 hours labour? [Phuket recently got a hefty 14 baht per DAY wage increase, taking it to somewhere under 220 baht per day.]

Where a very basic room to rent costs 70-90% of your wages?

Where many commodities are now at and above western prices?

You go reduce your income to 6-7000baht monthly and come back and tell us that you can live here a lot cheaper than other countries.

You are living a life of comparitive luxery on the backs of the local workers who are paid a pittance in comparison.

How can you blame a retired foreigner for the wages in Thailand? Rather a twisted logic. I was recently out in Sa Kaew and food (at the market) was more there than here. Gas was about the same, but I guess it would be much less if I were renting a place there. But there aren't jobs there, other than farm labor, which is done mostly by Cambodians. Here the Burmese are the cheap labor force, who can't even afford to rent a place. Raising minimum wage has a price, called inflation. As in most countries, the rich get richer off the backs of the poorer labor force. When the labor force demands an increase in pay, the jobs move to another country. Look what has happened in the US. Now the right wing is blaming labor unions for the budget deficit and want lower taxes for the rich so they will provide jobs. What a twisted form of logic they have. Who is going to pay the price for the wars they started? The poor laborer? They already are the ones who have to send their children off to fight the war, now they should pay for it too, on a lower wage... Brilliant.

[NamKangMan]

Disaster for who?

Well i figure if you are in business or employed here the disaster scenario means you are out of work and or have an overvalued ,unsellable business.

If you only reside /retire here you end up living in an overdeveloped eyesore with no natural appeal...to me that would be disasterous.

Just my take on it.

PS NKM you posted as i was typing...yes i agree "rape and pillage" indeed..

I can put myself in this second category. Chose to come here for a peaceful retirement based on previous holiday experiences, many of which were pre-tsunami. Post tsunami years seem to be when Phuket really started to grow, unrestrained.

And I can say that with the skyrocketing cost of living here, plus the unbridled overdevelopment and associated greed, it has become a less desirable place for me to stay than when I first got here. What Phuket has become, and I believe it will only get worse, is not what I came here to Thailand to experience.

I do find many things here enjoyable, but the negative aspects are slowly overtaking the positives. I can see a move elsewhere coming in the not too distant future.

Good post. You sum up my sentiment perfectly. I agree with you 100% and I am also considering other options for a move.

[NamKangMan]

I am talking about expats not Thai people although Thais can earn more money here than any other area except Bangkok

thats why so many come to work here

I do not live of the backs of Thai people, you may, all my money comes from overseas so i help support the Thai economy

\

I live the same life here as i did in Australia and find commodities much cheaper here than there, even imported meats

we were in Australia last November and Australian Lamb is dearer there than here

The odd imported item is dearer here but there are not many of them :jap:

You have contradicted yourself.

If you "don't live of the back of Thai's" - how is it that things are cheaper here in Phuket than back in Australia???? Gee, do you think a big factor could be the cheaper labour costs to get the product to you????

So, while you are living a cheap lifestyle here in Phuket, compared to Australia, ask yourself this question, could a Thai on 7000 baht a month afford a lamb roast?

[modafinil]

Where a very basic room to rent costs 70-90% of your wages?

Where many commodities are now at and above western prices?

You go reduce your income to 6-7000baht monthly and come back and tell us that you can live here a lot cheaper than other countries.

You are living a life of comparitive luxery on the backs of the local workers who are paid a pittance in comparison.

Not really true.

Rooms can still be had for 2000 Bt a month or less. Sometimes the room is shared, bringing down the monthly cost even further.

The absolute lowest wage I have heard of is 4000 Bt a month. Average wage is 6000 to 7000 Bt per month.

It's a free market. If Thai workers couldn't save money to send back home, they wouldn't be here, yet, Phuket is a magnet for unskilled labour that can make more in Phuket than their home provinces.

I concur. My Thai ex is paying 2000 Bt a month for a nice room in Kamala, hardly the cheapest place in Phuket. Sob stories about 5000 Bt being the minimum price for a room are nonsense.

[seriouseats]

http://phuketrenthouse.com/1214/chalong-villa-house-near-beach-1-bedroom-furnished-4000-baht

If 4k baht is the price in chalong for something overpriced to foreigners.. imagine something vomit like .. 1500 a month?

No way you cant find that in patong.. or they can just spend 20baht more per day in gas/take the public bus to phuket town where they are thousands of really cheap rooms

[jocko]

i am not saying that Phuket is over developed just Patong and it's true about big towns and city getting built on but there is some effort made to retain some bits of green Park's etc and and even in big city people have gardens. When you see the sales people selling the new builds around Patong and they have nice artists photo's on display they always show grass and trees and cars parked outside your place but when they are finished nothing like that at all i remember the sales pitch for the new builds around the jungcelon have a look at them now not even a good road never mind all the missing grass and trees they showed you i have a house in Patong and still love the place and of course you can move if becomes to much for you but i think it's a shame that they dont try and plan it better you look at Singapore island it can be done.

[Jimi007]

I am talking about expats not Thai people although Thais can earn more money here than any other area except Bangkok

thats why so many come to work here

I do not live of the backs of Thai people, you may, all my money comes from overseas so i help support the Thai economy

\

I live the same life here as i did in Australia and find commodities much cheaper here than there, even imported meats

we were in Australia last November and Australian Lamb is dearer there than here

The odd imported item is dearer here but there are not many of them :jap:

You have contradicted yourself.

If you "don't live of the back of Thai's" - how is it that things are cheaper here in Phuket than back in Australia???? Gee, do you think a big factor could be the cheaper labour costs to get the product to you????

So, while you are living a cheap lifestyle here in Phuket, compared to Australia, ask yourself this question, could a Thai on 7000 baht a month afford a lamb roast?

I have to ask you a question: If Peter (or any other expat) still lived in Australia (or whatever country they came from), would that change the wage or price of anything here? Possibly land and house prices here in Phuket, but not food and gas prices or wages in Thailand...

Edited May 8, 2011 by Jimi007

[petercallen]

I am talking about expats not Thai people although Thais can earn more money here than any other area except Bangkok

thats why so many come to work here

I do not live of the backs of Thai people, you may, all my money comes from overseas so i help support the Thai economy

\

I live the same life here as i did in Australia and find commodities much cheaper here than there, even imported meats

we were in Australia last November and Australian Lamb is dearer there than here

The odd imported item is dearer here but there are not many of them :jap:

You have contradicted yourself.

If you "don't live of the back of Thai's" - how is it that things are cheaper here in Phuket than back in Australia???? Gee, do you think a big factor could be the cheaper labour costs to get the product to you????

So, while you are living a cheap lifestyle here in Phuket, compared to Australia, ask yourself this question, could a Thai on 7000 baht a month afford a lamb roast?

How have i contradicted myself, of coarse things are cheaper because the wages are lower

its the same in most Asian countries, thats why at least 90% of goods sold in Australia are

manufactured in Asia, the minimum wage in Australia is $500 a week plus benefits and they

cannot compete with imported goods, this applies to most developed countries in the world

and helps to build Asian economies

Most Thais do not like roast lamb actually, it would not surprise me if a lot of none Thais living

here cannot afford a lamb roast.

A lot of Thai people living in Phuket come from other provinces, and they come here because

they make more money and can afford to send money back to support there families

I can see in the future countries like Thailand having a lot better economy and working conditions

than some western countries :jap:

[NamKangMan]

You have contradicted yourself.

If you "don't live of the back of Thai's" - how is it that things are cheaper here in Phuket than back in Australia???? Gee, do you think a big factor could be the cheaper labour costs to get the product to you????

So, while you are living a cheap lifestyle here in Phuket, compared to Australia, ask yourself this question, could a Thai on 7000 baht a month afford a lamb roast?

I have to ask you a question: If Peter (or any other expat) still lived in Australia (or whatever country they came from), would that change the wage or price of anything here? Possibly land and house prices here in Phuket, but not food and gas prices or wages in Thailand...

This is a divided country.

The north east (Isaan) is kept poor, on purpose, so it supplies cheap labour and women to the sex trade. Ask any cook, cleaner, security, reception girl, bar girl, freelancer, 7/11 staff, retail staff at Big C etc etc (all minimum wage jobs) where they come from and most will say they are from "Isaan."

They are not in Phuket because they can make more money here. They are in Phuket because they have no other option but to head south and work in the services, labour or sex trade. The Thai elite even screw over their own people. The gap between the haves and have nots is too big here. Last year we nearly seen a civil uprising like we are seeing all over the Middle East at the moment. The Governemnt shot dead 90 of it's own citizens to quell it.

This cheap labour etc makes it cheap for westerners to holiday/live here, BUT, who is making all the money???? I can tell you it's not the cook at your guesthouse who works 12 hours a day 6 days a week for 7000 baht a month, and, in general, it's not the farang guesthouse owner - it's the Thai landlord who does nothing but drive their BMW to see you every month and collect their money.

[stevenl]

The north east (Isaan) is kept poor, on purpose, so it supplies cheap labour and women to the sex trade. Ask any cook, cleaner, security, reception girl, bar girl, freelancer, 7/11 staff, retail staff at Big C etc etc (all minimum wage jobs) where they come from and most will say they are from "Isaan."

They are not in Phuket because they can make more money here. They are in Phuket because they have no other option but to head south and work in the services, labour or sex trade. The Thai elite even screw over their own people. The gap between the haves and have nots is too big here. Last year we nearly seen a civil uprising like we are seeing all over the Middle East at the moment. The Governemnt shot dead 90 of it's own citizens to quell it.

This cheap labour etc makes it cheap for westerners to holiday/live here, BUT, who is making all the money???? I can tell you it's not the cook at your guesthouse who works 12 hours a day 6 days a week for 7000 baht a month, and, in general, it's not the farang guesthouse owner - it's the Thai landlord who does nothing but drive their BMW to see you every month and collect their money.

Isaan is kept poor on purpose? Don't you think the people have something to say in this? Isaan is poor because there is nothing there but farming, and poor farming as well, that is why Isaan is poor and will remain poor.

And comparing the red shirts to the Middle East shows you really are out of touch with reality, both here and in the Middle East.

[BangTaoBoy]

What I reckon will happen to Phuket in the next 20 to 30 years.

Phuket will continue to develope until it becomes an island city.

My prediction is that Phuket will sometime be covered by concrete similar to the nuclear plant in Tschernobyl.

Why do you think that? Nearly every block of shop houses, that's been built in the last five years, remains 90% empty! They will need refurbishing, or knocking down, before they are ever, lived in. If that's the case, I don't see how the tens of square miles of farm/plantation land is ever likely to be in danger.

and you can live well here a lot cheaper than you can in other countries :jap:

And why do you think that is Peter? Because the greedy developers, both Thai and western have scant regard for the Thais who live and work here. ie high rents and basic neccessities!

Try living here on a Thai wage....Where else do you know of that 1 litre of fuel costs the equivelant of 2 hours labour? [Phuket recently got a hefty 14 baht per DAY wage increase, taking it to somewhere under 220 baht per day.]

Where a very basic room to rent costs 70-90% of your wages?

Where many commodities are now at and above western prices?

You go reduce your income to 6-7000baht monthly and come back and tell us that you can live here a lot cheaper than other countries.

You are living a life of comparitive luxery on the backs of the local workers who are paid a pittance in comparison.

Why does everybody make a big deal about Phuket. It's no different to the rest of the world. How many people on minimum wage can afford to live in West London. How many people that cook and clean for a living, live in Soho, or within a short walk of Piccadilly Circus? How many low earners can afford to live in the posh parts of Sydney, New York, Madrid etc. etc. Although Phuket can't be compared to West London obviously, the principle is exactly the same. Of course it's more expensive, of course property is dearer, but it's nothing more than what happens in every other tourist destination the world over. The demand for the place is higher, so the costs rise. How can you not get that?