State Of Tourism On Samui

[69Andy]

So can any one tell me what the actual state of tourism is on Samui?

Ive been travelling here for the last 10 years spending as little as 5 days to a couple of months, All I can see is more hotels going up and the same amount of people as there was years ago. I do understand from reading other threads here the monopoly BKK airways has, But will there start to be more tourists soon and what is being done to help the tourist trade? :jap:

[Boater]

the country origin of tourists has certainly changed , with alot less brits, and plenty more russians and indians, also a huge influx of australians...

but with the THB dropping to 47 against the pound today, and the australian currency taking a bashing in the last week ( it has been strong ) , expect to see less and less of these nations in thailand...

Thailand is becoming more and more expensive EVERYDAY, and they are not adjusting prices to suite, with a sole airline that costs nearly as much as a return flight to the uk just to get from BKK to Samui, matched with over rated and expensive hotels, i can see Samui slowly dying

The TAT will make up some amazing stats on tourists, esp those coming from korea , china ect ect, but the bottom line is they dont spend outside there circles

People may complain about the brits, the australians and other europeans, but they are the life line to the tourist industry in Samui, but everyone is tighting thre belts and looking for the best deal/value holiday, and samui just doesnt fit in

[Rooo]

A good insight here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/492533-samui-hotel-market-update-mid-year-2011/page__p__4663656__hl__tourism__fromsearch__1#entry4663656

[Maipenrai007]

Boater, fair call.

I would also say that the dynamics of the Samui visitor has changed.

If you are actually on a Bkk Air flight you would see the amount of couples in their late 20-30's, young families and then the next gen up 45-60.

Of course you still get the young crowd but they are merely transient Island hoppers.

Asian visitors Koreans, Chinese, Japanese any nese....but as you say boater they travel in there own circles. You will often see large massage spa's in unusual locations, wondering how on earth they would make a buck. If you actually sit there long enough you would see bus loads of these asian tour groups pull up and unload.

Most of the vistors I encounter here today are more affluent than that of when I first came here 10 years ago.

Thailand is getting more expensive I do agree with that, but so is the rest of the world. I have recently travelled to Europe and Australia the living standard I have here would cost 2.5 to 3 times as much.

As for Bkk Airways, they can only play Russian Roulette for so long, I am not sure if you are aware of the large land holding's they have on the Island. Give it another 10-12 year and you will be saying....ooohhhhh I remember the days that Bkk Airways use to fly ATR's into Samui.

You better believe it that changes are in the wind!!

Samui will never die, it is merely finding its feet.

[BangrakBob]

Boater, fair call.

I would also say that the dynamics of the Samui visitor has changed.

If you are actually on a Bkk Air flight you would see the amount of couples in their late 20-30's, young families and then the next gen up 45-60.

Of course you still get the young crowd but they are merely transient Island hoppers.

Asian visitors Koreans, Chinese, Japanese any nese....but as you say boater they travel in there own circles. You will often see large massage spa's in unusual locations, wondering how on earth they would make a buck. If you actually sit there long enough you would see bus loads of these asian tour groups pull up and unload.

Most of the vistors I encounter here today are more affluent than that of when I first came here 10 years ago.

Thailand is getting more expensive I do agree with that, but so is the rest of the world. I have recently travelled to Europe and Australia the living standard I have here would cost 2.5 to 3 times as much.

As for Bkk Airways, they can only play Russian Roulette for so long, I am not sure if you are aware of the large land holding's they have on the Island. Give it another 10-12 year and you will be saying....ooohhhhh I remember the days that Bkk Airways use to fly ATR's into Samui.

You better believe it that changes are in the wind!!

Samui will never die, it is merely finding its feet.

Good post and I'd have to agree, changing, adapting, evolving.

[Rooo]

Perhaps you should make a forum search from 5 to 6 years back,, same opinions.

[smokie36]

Perhaps you should make a forum search from 5 to 6 years back,, same opinions.

True but now prices are equivalent to those in Europe for flights and beer and I guess other essentials I haven't considered.

Oh yeah taxis....!

[Boater]

Perhaps you should make a forum search from 5 to 6 years back,, same opinions.

i did that the other night .... as the forum starts to get active around the beginning of 2005....

back then , people where compaling about BKK, infrustuture ect ect, and if you look further, so many promoises for better well everything...

if you had asked in 2005 / 2006 what you think samui would be like in 2011, the answers would be alot different from the reality are in now ...

waterpark- never happened - 2 nd airport - never happened - Tarmac around the ring road - part happened - city status - never happened - Central World - never happned - marina - never happened - Certian Real Estate Projects - to many to list - better flood prevention - never happned - sorting out the electric - never happned - faster internet - starting to happen

the list can go on and on and on

how many posters came living the dream - hundreds.... most now departed

[smokie36]

Perhaps you should make a forum search from 5 to 6 years back,, same opinions.

i did that the other night .... as the forum starts to get active around the beginning of 2005....

back then , people where compaling about BKK, infrustuture ect ect, and if you look further, so many promoises for better well everything...

if you had asked in 2005 / 2006 what you think samui would be like in 2011, the answers would be alot different from the reality are in now ...

waterpark- never happened - 2 nd airport - never happened - Tarmac around the ring road - part happened - city status - never happened - Central World - never happned - marina - never happened - Certian Real Estate Projects - to many to list - better flood prevention - never happned - sorting out the electric - never happned - faster internet - starting to happen

the list can go on and on and on

how many posters came living the dream - hundreds.... most now departed

TVF was bouncing in 2003....no prisoners taken back then....errrm so I'm told..

Everyone was full of optimism in 2005...money was rolling around both here and in Europe....beer was half the price and the bars were full of young crowds enjoying themselves.

Even the backpackers were still in Chaweng although you could see that scene dying already. I go to Phnom Penh and see it healthy there now.....much more vibrant place Cambodia for us cheapskates....

[PattayaPhom]

Apart from BKK Aiways prices, have prices for food, drinks etc really increased that much over the past 5 years in Thailand......I believe not, especially compared to the rampant inflation that the West is now enduring......Bad XE Rates are not the fault of Samui and vendors/owners cant reduce their rates by 50% just because Sterling/Euro has dropped the equivelant...It is expensive, you can get an all inclusive deal in the Carribbean cheaper than a deal to Samui....whats the answer???devalue THB or something else?

[Maipenrai007]

Perhaps you should make a forum search from 5 to 6 years back,, same opinions.

i did that the other night .... as the forum starts to get active around the beginning of 2005....

back then , people where compaling about BKK, infrustuture ect ect, and if you look further, so many promoises for better well everything...

if you had asked in 2005 / 2006 what you think samui would be like in 2011, the answers would be alot different from the reality are in now ...

waterpark- never happened - 2 nd airport - never happened - Tarmac around the ring road - part happened - city status - never happened - Central World - never happned - marina - never happened - Certian Real Estate Projects - to many to list - better flood prevention - never happned - sorting out the electric - never happned - faster internet - starting to happen

the list can go on and on and on

how many posters came living the dream - hundreds.... most now departed

Marina, not sure if you know but that's under way at Lipa Noi. On the headland past NIkki Beach.

Central World, well I think they are busy repairing in Bkk.

You forgot to mention the bridge from the Mainland, haven't seen them start on this one.

[carmine]

Same old topic, same old answers really.

We don't get as any tourists as we would because of the many we lose to Phuket, Krabi and Pattaya, thanks almost totally to Bangkok Airways.

I believe Samui remains the nicest option of tourist areas despite the locals best efforts to ruin the place with tacky greedy ideas. Shame really, but hey ho. I didn't come here to make a fortune which is a good thing in respect of how things will be here longterm.

As i have posted before, Samui will only really have 14 days per year of it being anything near to full occupancy. All for the usual reasons such as global economy, BKK Aiways, cronic oversupply here etc etc and the average monthly intake of tourists just isn't enough to support all the businesses here.

But still the newbies arrive to throw away their money with stupid ill thought out business ventures which allow gredy landlords to keep raising rents to unsustanable levels. Laughable really which a touch of madness to it.

[livinthailandos]

As to the OP. you'll get all kinds of answers from this topic. i can only add my opinions

Samui as a tourist destination will never ever get as many tourists as somewhere like phuket or krabi or pattaya, why assuming you take bangkok airways out. There just isn't enough room for development for a huge airport like phuket has or pattaya. Assuming you got air asia into the mix samui tourist numbers still would never ever get higher than 1 million tourists.

Besides samui, samui has to compete not only with other tourists destinations in thailand but with also other tourist destinations globally as well. The real issue is thailand has no real idea on how to market or advertise thailand has a tourist destination. The people at TAT might as well be brain dead. I've seen at least countries like egypt, malaysia, singapore, korea, india at least try to put something out more appealing and marketable than thailand's old advertising slogan.

As for tourists you'd probably get more answers depending on who you ask but as you can tell other nationalites are making up for the loss of europeans or brits but again markets change all the time. Europeans, brits, austrailans will still be here probably in less amounts than before though. To many of the businesses on the island just have not change their product or service to cater to the new market of tourists which most of them will go out of business. The other issue is to realize that with new markets they stay a lot less than europeans or brits.

[robsamui]

Yep - what's been said has just about summed it all up.

Pre-Tsunami Samui was gradually growing but already changing from the backpackers towards the family package holidays.

The after the tsunami Samui went crazy, max occupancies and all holidays switched from Phuket to Samui - thousands of workers came to Samui - and construction really exploded.

TAT stats for Samui tourism from 2006-7 = 9% more tourists every year (with a big blip post-tsunami). Govt stats for same period = 24% more residential construction. Work it out for yourself.

Many more tourists from Asia to be seen now - Korea, Japan, HK, plus Singapore and even India. All the hotels I deal with tell me they are targeting the Asian market.

At the turn of the millennium there were few families with children here and Chaweng and Lamai were full of single guys. Now it's reversed. Prices up across the board, infrastructure only superficially improved (as in when it rains the 20-inch high water now goes away after 5 or 6 hours instead of 5 or 6 days) etc etc etc.

BUT - Samui is probably the prettiest place other than maybe some off-the-map parts of the Krabi and PiPi areas. Get out of Chaweng and it's still lovely, ins spite of all the moaning and grumbling. I love it!

(Today, anyway.)

R

[69Andy]

Some good points

With the currant financial climate every where I’m sure tourism is down at every resort around the world, lets just hope it starts to turn a corner soon.

I’m sure all the local business will evolve with the change of customer.

[SAFWAN]

1317886075[/url]' post='4747246']

Yep - what's been said has just about summed it all up.

Pre-Tsunami Samui was gradually growing but already changing from the backpackers towards the family package holidays.

The after the tsunami Samui went crazy, max occupancies and all holidays switched from Phuket to Samui - thousands of workers came to Samui - and construction really exploded.

TAT stats for Samui tourism from 2006-7 = 9% more tourists every year (with a big blip post-tsunami). Govt stats for same period = 24% more residential construction. Work it out for yourself.

Many more tourists from Asia to be seen now - Korea, Japan, HK, plus Singapore and even India. All the hotels I deal with tell me they are targeting the Asian market.

At the turn of the millennium there were few families with children here and Chaweng and Lamai were full of single guys. Now it's reversed. Prices up across the board, infrastructure only superficially improved (as in when it rains the 20-inch high water now goes away after 5 or 6 hours instead of 5 or 6 days) etc etc etc.

BUT - Samui is probably the prettiest place other than maybe some off-the-map parts of the Krabi and PiPi areas. Get out of Chaweng and it's still lovely, ins spite of all the moaning and grumbling. I love it!

(Today, anyway.)

R

The last Para says it all & end of story.

[carmine]

Apart from BKK Aiways prices, have prices for food, drinks etc really increased that much over the past 5 years in Thailand......I believe not, especially compared to the rampant inflation that the West is now enduring......Bad XE Rates are not the fault of Samui and vendors/owners cant reduce their rates by 50% just because Sterling/Euro has dropped the equivelant...It is expensive, you can get an all inclusive deal in the Carribbean cheaper than a deal to Samui....whats the answer???devalue THB or something else?

A weaker baht would solve the tourism decline. People would also be much happier to wear the cost of Dick Turpin Airline if they were getting, for example, 60baht to the pound or 47baht to the euro. Tourists would also spend more when they are here. Prics haven't changed much over the years as has already been said.

[69Andy]

So in summary Samui is still the same great place its always been , but its getting bigger with loads more hotels ect thanks for all your replies

[itishothere]

So in summary Samui is still the same great place its always been , but its getting bigger with loads more hotels ect thanks for all your replies

Was there a specific reason for you asking the question originally?

[69Andy]

So in summary Samui is still the same great place its always been , but its getting bigger with loads more hotels ect thanks for all your replies

Was there a specific reason for you asking the question originally?

My intention is to purchase a business on Samui in the near future

[Boater]

So in summary Samui is still the same great place its always been , but its getting bigger with loads more hotels ect thanks for all your replies

Was there a specific reason for you asking the question originally?

My intention is to purchase a business on Samui in the near future

well dont spend more then you can afford to lose

[69Andy]

So in summary Samui is still the same great place its always been , but its getting bigger with loads more hotels ect thanks for all your replies

Was there a specific reason for you asking the question originally?

My intention is to purchase a business on Samui in the near future

well dont spend more then you can afford to lose

But I'm sure that would apply to any business on Samui or any where else in the world

[smokie36]

But I'm sure that would apply to any business on Samui or any where else in the world

Don't do it. Big mistake for you.

[limbos]

Perhaps you should make a forum search from 5 to 6 years back,, same opinions.

i did that the other night .... as the forum starts to get active around the beginning of 2005....

back then , people where compaling about BKK, infrustuture ect ect, and if you look further, so many promoises for better well everything...

if you had asked in 2005 / 2006 what you think samui would be like in 2011, the answers would be alot different from the reality are in now ...

waterpark- never happened - 2 nd airport - never happened - Tarmac around the ring road - part happened - city status - never happened - Central World - never happned - marina - never happened - Certian Real Estate Projects - to many to list - better flood prevention - never happned - sorting out the electric - never happned - faster internet - starting to happen

the list can go on and on and on

how many posters came living the dream - hundreds.... most now departed

Marina, not sure if you know but that's under way at Lipa Noi. On the headland past NIkki Beach.

Central World, well I think they are busy repairing in Bkk.

You forgot to mention the bridge from the Mainland, haven't seen them start on this one.

Central Festival is being build in Surat Thani. There will not be enough potetntial customers on Samui to sustain such a complex at the time being.

[69Andy]

Anyone got anything positive to say ?

Thanks again its all taken onboard

Andy

[Rooo]

Anyone got anything positive to say ?

Thanks again its all taken onboard

Andy

Andy Perhaps you could plan ahead & gear up for SKI outfits & odds & ends. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

[Boater]

Anyone got anything positive to say ?

Thanks again its all taken onboard

Andy

Andy Perhaps you could plan ahead & gear up for SKI outfits & odds & ends. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

a snowmobile rental buisness would probably be on par to opening a bar if you want a successful buisness on Samui ....

[BangrakBob]

Anyone got anything positive to say ?

Thanks again its all taken onboard

Andy

The positive thing to do is to not take it all onboard.

Most people on here expect you're another joker with a pocket full of savings and the dream of living on Samui, probably wanting to open a bar next to 10 other bars by the beach, you've done no research, you've no idea about running a business and have been here once before for a week and spent your whole time in Green Mango.

I guess that's because so many do do that, and a lot of these long-time expats have seen so many come and go.

Just don't do it half-arsed, do the research, do the sums, turn over every stone, weigh-up the worst.

I wonder how I'd comment here in 12 months time

[Rooo]

Anyone got anything positive to say ?

Thanks again its all taken onboard

Andy

The positive thing to do is to not take it all onboard.

Most people on here expect you're another joker with a pocket full of savings and the dream of living on Samui, probably wanting to open a bar next to 10 other bars by the beach, you've done no research, you've no idea about running a business and have been here once before for a week and spent your whole time in Green Mango.

I guess that's because so many do do that, and a lot of these long-time expats have seen so many come and go.

Just don't do it half-arsed, do the research, do the sums, turn over every stone, weigh-up the worst.

I wonder how I'd comment here in 12 months time

All jokes aside, there is many a successful business on Samui. Advise is get on the ground, live it breath it before you do anything.

[Tropicalevo]

Anyone got anything positive to say ?

Yes - samui is a great place - warts and all.

Most guests that I interact with, love the island and come back again.

Most ex-pats that I come into contact with on a daily basis are happy here. Yes we have our gripes, but all things considered, it's pretty dammm good.

The wife and I have lived in half a dozen other countries in SE Asia/Pacific rim. They were all great, but Thailand is our first choice. After travelling around Thailand for a while - Samui was the place we chose to build our home.

The weather today was brilliant (another one in the 320 out of 365 good days). The sea was a fantastic colour blue and everything was great. The 33 baht large bottle of ice cold beer was perfect for watching the sun go down. ('er indoors said that the VAT was spot on as well.)

It does not get better than this.