Phuket Thrives Once More, But Beware Its Dark Side

[webfact]

Phuket thrives once more, but beware its dark side

Lindsay Murdoch

Go-go dancers at an open-air bar in Patong Beach, File photo. Source: Wikipedia

A SCANTILY clad Russian dancer clings to a pole behind a second-storey street-front window of a nightclub called L'Amour.

A large Australian flag flutters below her in a breeze coming off the Andaman Sea. Across the street the Aussie Bar is crowded with young Australian drinkers, many of them bare-chested, who are shouting to be heard above music thumping from nearby bars.

Away from the seedy red-light district of Patong Beach it's boom time on Phuket seven years after the Boxing Day tsunami hit southern Thailand with awesome savagery, killing more than 5000 people and wiping out the region's tourism industry.

Phuket international airport is being upgraded to accommodate 12.4 million visitors a year by 2014. The island once known as the ''Pearl of the Andaman Sea'' is undergoing a building frenzy with 43,000 hotel rooms open and at least 7000 more units in the pipeline.

But Larry Cunningham, Australia's honorary consul on the island, has spoken out about scams , criminality and bad behaviour that are ruining the holidays of Australians, including a new wave of ''schoolies''.

Up to 25,000 Australian tourists a month are now visiting Phuket, most of them arriving on cheap direct flights, lured by the high Australian dollar and an exotic location.

''Many Australians come here behaving as if the same standards and laws apply in Thailand as they do in Australia,'' says Mr Cunningham, a property developer from Sydney who has lived on Phuket for 11 years.

Full story and pictures: http://www.smh.com.a...1225-1p9kn.html

-- smh.com.au 2011-12-26

[geriatrickid]

According to TVF's resident experts, tourism had collapsed around the country and tourism was dead.

The swollen numbers in Phuket and the surrounding areas of Krabi, Koh Samui etc., have been so large, that the small national decrease due to the recent flooding has in large part been offset.

Its not just the Australians, but this year, the Russians (typically younger, better groomed and wealthier than their western counterparts) and the Hong Kong Chinese are here in greater numbers. Of more value has been the rebound of Swedish tourists. I haven't seen Swedes in this density for at least a few years. The money that is being churned at some of the bars and restaurants is crazy. The Swedish table next to me dropped about 10,000 baht on food and wine a couple nights ago, while our 2000 baht dinner for 2 looked tame in comparison. Even in a MCD where we stopped for reconstituted chicken bits at 120 baht, the English family of 4 had managed a bill of 1200 baht+

[BookMan]

On the SMH website, where this article comes from , the teaser headline reads 'A Descent Into Hell', Not exactly a warm and fuzzy article about the good side of phuket.

But doesn't look like any of the tourist scams are keeping away the Aussies. I don't think half the Aussie tourists know or care about them.

Jet skis: maybe they know.

Motorcycles: everyone thinks it wont happen to them.

Tuk Tuk rip offs: Most don't care, it is still cheaper than Australian taxis.

One thing I didn't know. Apparently, according to the article, up to 50 Aussies die a year on phuket!

On a side note. Id love to know what the percentage of Russian tourists visiting thailand is now

[FOODLOVER]

Dont believe your own bullshit, you may start to believe it.

[friendphil]

Interesting headline, but where's the story? Maybe if I followed the link and read more. The "beware it's dark side" part is what I was interested to learn about, but the story addresses that very little.

A post mentions the SMH webgsite... I'd like to have the URL-- SMH doesn't register, sorry.

I know some young friends of friends visiting Phuket now, and would like to be able to make them aware of any appropriate warnings.

[travelmann]

Another dump in the making then!

[travelmann]

I Liked this part.....funny eh!!

''Thai police view the making of false declarations very seriously,'' he says.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/phuket-thrives-once-more-but-beware-its-dark-side-20111225-1p9kn.html#ixzz1hbHwBTfb

[wxyz]

definitely go to the link to read the rest of the story

"Larry Cunningham, Australia's honorary consul" is doing ozzies no favors imo

"Up to 50 Australians a year die on Phuket, half of them from natural causes and the rest from road accidents, misadventure or suicides."

half from natural causes, ya right,

road accidents, by road agents no doubt and "misadventure" is a cause of death? what the hell is that?

and we all know that everybody comes to the LOS for suicide

the expat bodies are piling up in phuket, so it appears

Edited December 26, 2011 by wxyz

[jackr]

Good enough, as long as it keeps the Aussies down there.

[maidu]

Aussies crowding in to Phuket, Russkies crowding Pattaya. ...and all the while, jetski extortionists making tens of thousands of baht per day on the same little scrape that could be fixed with a bit of epoxy and a minute of sandpapering. I'll stay up north, thanks.

[Reasonableman]

In Pattaya, my hotel recently had a prominent notice for guests NOT to hire/use jet skis, due to the danger of scammers there, too. Nevertheless, the place was awash with jet skis, parasailers, speedboats, and everything else that Pattaya is infamous for.

[sydneyjed]

definitely go to the link to read the rest of the story

"Larry Cunningham, Australia's honorary consul" is doing ozzies no favors imo

"Up to 50 Australians a year die on Phuket, half of them from natural causes and the rest from road accidents, misadventure or suicides."

half from natural causes, ya right,

road accidents, by road agents no doubt and "misadventure" is a cause of death? what the hell is that?

and we all know that everybody comes to the LOS for suicide

the expat bodies are piling up in phuket, so it appears

Drug overdoses,drownings..falling off balconies...that's death by misadventure!

Larry Cunningham the honorary consul does a great job for the many Aussies that get into trouble down in Phuket...He also speaks his mind and did not hold back earlier in the year when the meeting was held with all the local authorities on the island...minus the mayor!...He told them all what he thought of the jetski scam going on and which people conspicuous by their absense were to blame for it!

[elektrified]

"The island once known as the ''Pearl of the Andaman Sea'' is undergoing a building frenzy with 43,000 hotel rooms open and at least 7000 more units in the pipeline."

Sounds like Phuket is becoming the "sewer of the Andaman Sea"... That's too bad. I have not been in a few years now, sounds like things have changed a lot. Will be there in June. Too bad they can't contain all this garbage in one area like Pattaya. I first went there in 1989, was lovely, Karon only had a few hotels and there was almost no one on the beach during the day as it was not popular... those were the days...

The go go dancers in the photo look Thai to me, not sure where the Russian thing comes from. I can't imagine foreign prostitutes there...

[nicky1982]

Just looking to go to Phuket, flight's are all fully booked ..

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Interesting headline, but where's the story? Maybe if I followed the link and read more. The "beware it's dark side" part is what I was interested to learn about, but the story addresses that very little.

A post mentions the SMH webgsite... I'd like to have the URL-- SMH doesn't register, sorry.

FFR, and not just in this context, google is your friend - just take an ordinary likely-to-be-unique text string, enclose it in quotes and you will get results like this:

http://www.google.com/search?q="seven+years+after+the+Boxing+Day+tsunami+hit+southern+Thailand+with+awesome+savagery"

The go go dancers in the photo look Thai to me, not sure where the Russian thing comes from. I can't imagine foreign prostitutes there...

Yes, as the caption clearly states, the photo is stock WP and nothing to do with that specific bit of text.

And you obviously haven't walked around Nana Neua's intersection with Sukhumvit, or Pattaya or Karong at night in the last ten years have you? There are foreign hookers everywhere - but they're only attractive in high-rent areas, most notably the private "gentleman's clubs" frequented by Thais and other Asians. They might be Uzbeki, but as long as they're fair-skinned they can claim to be farang, big face for the guys. And boy the Arabs sure like theirs extra-chunky!

To me it's like buying Australian wine in Paris, but hey that's what so great about the world, there's something to suit every taste!

8-)

[Hooters]

A lot of tourists especially from OZ fly direct to phuket and this gives tuk tuk drivers and jet ski guys an edge. Flying direct there are a lot newbs who think that an indian tailors version of slang is really cool. they happy to pay 150bht for a Tuk Tuk its $5 bucks or so this is NOTHING to them they couldnt care less if it was 300bht since they get to enjoy the experience

Personally if Im not going to the islands then Pattaya is a better choice only 10bht bus, a real walking st and accommodation dirt cheap.

[Microwave]

This article is the best I could find about the number of Russian tourists (and other nationalities) to Thailand. The website claims that most Russian tourists visit Pattaya and Phuket:

http://patonghill.com/blog/russian-tourism-on-the-rise/

After clicking the "over 659,000 tourists from Russia" link, excel spreadsheets breakdown the numbers of arriving tourists into Thailand by month and by nationality. Scrolling down the page there's a caption which reads, "Tourist Profile" with one of the categories being "Sex-Travel". It's not what you think! When clicked, the pdf file shows the arrivals grouped by sex and nationality for Jan. - March 2011. It doesn't indicate the reason for these people visiting Thailand...

The first time I visited Phuket was Christmas 1983. Patong beach was 1 desolate sandy road and a few bungalows. But the island was rife with rumours about plans for a Club Med and other such hotels.

Never mind, I'm just showing my age...

[dude007]

I Liked this part.....funny eh!!

''Thai police view the making of false declarations very seriously,'' he says.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.a...l#ixzz1hbHwBTfb

that's the best part of the article indeed!

[dude007]

tough article and sad to read but allas, it's so true! Tourists can't be careful enough! My friends I transported from the airport yesterday were thoroughly briefed but despite my warnings got ripped-off for thousands of Thai Baht at a Bangla stupid ping-pong show!

Edited December 26, 2011 by dude007

[BookMan]

This article is the best I could find about the number of Russian tourists (and other nationalities) to Thailand. The website claims that most Russian tourists visit Pattaya and Phuket:

http://patonghill.co...sm-on-the-rise/

After clicking the "over 659,000 tourists from Russia" link, excel spreadsheets breakdown the numbers of arriving tourists into Thailand by month and by nationality. Scrolling down the page there's a caption which reads, "Tourist Profile" with one of the categories being "Sex-Travel". It's not what you think! When clicked, the pdf file shows the arrivals grouped by sex and nationality for Jan. - March 2011. It doesn't indicate the reason for these people visiting Thailand...

The first time I visited Phuket was Christmas 1983. Patong beach was 1 desolate sandy road and a few bungalows. But the island was rife with rumours about plans for a Club Med and other such hotels.

Never mind, I'm just showing my age...

Thanks for those links. I looked at the spreadhseets on the Tourism website. A huge increase in Russian visitors in 2 years.. 850 000 for 2011!

Interesting about Phuket... How quickly it all changes.

[Oberkommando]

It has always surprised me why so many people continue to visit one of the unfriendliest and expensive places in Thailand.

[johnsuma]

ATTN: Nicky 1982.

That fact perhaps save your life, be greatfull and go to another sunny place...

[tominbkk]

A lot of tourists especially from OZ fly direct to phuket and this gives tuk tuk drivers and jet ski guys an edge. Flying direct there are a lot newbs who think that an indian tailors version of slang is really cool. they happy to pay 150bht for a Tuk Tuk its $5 bucks or so this is NOTHING to them they couldnt care less if it was 300bht since they get to enjoy the experience

I went to the states for xmas, and had no choice but to take a taxi to my brothers house, less than 10 miles ( not more than 15 minutes) away from the airport. $35 (1200 Baht) later......then of course you need to tip at least 15% I gave more, since it was christmas time. Still though, GOUGE!!!!!!

[moskito]

Wiping out the tourism industry??? AFTER the Tsunami Phuket became very popular in Europe and everywhere else in the world. But instead keeping the island nice like it was before, they are building building building....Phuket is not nice anymore and has become more like a Calla Millor in Spains Mallorca. If tourists need dirt everywhere they dont have to travel 10-12000km so the Germans, Norwegians, Danish, Sweds and some more European Nations not visit Thailand anymore...instead the travel agents bringing Russians here...Russians Russians Russians where ever you look. Specially in the shopping centers because most of them never visiting Thai Restaurants or Bars, they dont like the ThaiFood and they bring their own ladys (((: ....or they go for the russian "ladys" dancing in Patong...btw...how is that possible??????

Traffic is becoming rediculous THANKS TO THE TUKTUK Mafia with their unbelivable prices here. Why doing 10 rides for a reasonable price like 50 baht if a stupid tourist coming and pay 3-500 for the same way in one time. Every morning an idiot getting up, you just have to find him....

More and more people renting cars now because they had accidents with motobikes already...areas which were quiet just 4-6 years ago are stuck with traffic now.... Pearl of the Andaman?? Phuket is becoming a sh1tehole more and more every day.....

[FOODLOVER]

Interesting headline, but where's the story? Maybe if I followed the link and read more. The "beware it's dark side" part is what I was interested to learn about, but the story addresses that very little.

A post mentions the SMH webgsite... I'd like to have the URL-- SMH doesn't register, sorry.

FFR, and not just in this context, google is your friend - just take an ordinary likely-to-be-unique text string, enclose it in quotes and you will get results like this:

http://www.google.com/search?q="seven+years+after+the+Boxing+Day+tsunami+hit+southern+Thailand+with+awesome+savagery"

The go go dancers in the photo look Thai to me, not sure where the Russian thing comes from. I can't imagine foreign prostitutes there...

Yes, as the caption clearly states, the photo is stock WP and nothing to do with that specific bit of text.

And you obviously haven't walked around Nana Neua's intersection with Sukhumvit, or Pattaya or Karong at night in the last ten years have you? There are foreign hookers everywhere - but they're only attractive in high-rent areas, most notably the private "gentleman's clubs" frequented by Thais and other Asians. They might be Uzbeki, but as long as they're fair-skinned they can claim to be farang, big face for the guys. And boy the Arabs sure like theirs extra-chunky!

To me it's like buying Australian wine in Paris, but hey that's what so great about the world, there's something to suit every taste!

8-)

I'm assuming the legs were nice but what about the bouquet?

[Jaivin2011]

Forgive me for saying this and for those who lost love ones in the last tsunami, but I really think that Phuket needs another massive tsunami and hopefully this time, all the local and foreign scum there perish like the jet-ski operators an their families, the taxi and tuk -tul drivers and their families and the unruly local shopkeepers and also the trash farangs there running bars and ag0-go bars, and the various foreign gansgters there.

[BookMan]

Forgive me for saying this and for those who lost love ones in the last tsunami, but I really think that Phuket needs another massive tsunami and hopefully this time, all the local and foreign scum there perish like the jet-ski operators an their families, the taxi and tuk -tul drivers and their families and the unruly local shopkeepers and also the trash farangs there running bars and ag0-go bars, and the various foreign gansgters there.

A metaphorical tsunami i guess (and hope) u mean

[F1fanatic]

It has always surprised me why so many people continue to visit one of the unfriendliest and expensive places in Thailand.

I think its because in many ways it is still one of the most beautiful parts of Thailand. On land, the building work etc. are extremely ugly - but the views out to sea with all the islands is still breath-taking.

Plus, you generally have to live here to realise its not exactly the friendliest place on earth. Tourists see the smiles and it makes for a wonderful holiday 'atmosphere'.

[robertson468]

"The island once known as the ''Pearl of the Andaman Sea'' is undergoing a building frenzy with 43,000 hotel rooms open and at least 7000 more units in the pipeline."

Sounds like Phuket is becoming the "sewer of the Andaman Sea"... That's too bad. I have not been in a few years now, sounds like things have changed a lot. Will be there in June. Too bad they can't contain all this garbage in one area like Pattaya. I first went there in 1989, was lovely, Karon only had a few hotels and there was almost no one on the beach during the day as it was not popular... those were the days...

The go go dancers in the photo look Thai to me, not sure where the Russian thing comes from. I can't imagine foreign prostitutes there...

I think the attraction of white Russian Dances (who may or may not be prostitutes) is mainly for the Russian and Asian Tourists and they have sadly even moved in to Koh Samui, which was more known for Family Holidays and less scams.

[chrisinth]

"The island once known as the ''Pearl of the Andaman Sea'' is undergoing a building frenzy with 43,000 hotel rooms open and at least 7000 more units in the pipeline."

Sounds like Phuket is becoming the "sewer of the Andaman Sea"... That's too bad. I have not been in a few years now, sounds like things have changed a lot. Will be there in June. Too bad they can't contain all this garbage in one area like Pattaya. I first went there in 1989, was lovely, Karon only had a few hotels and there was almost no one on the beach during the day as it was not popular... those were the days...

The go go dancers in the photo look Thai to me, not sure where the Russian thing comes from. I can't imagine foreign prostitutes there...

I think the attraction of white Russian Dances (who may or may not be prostitutes) is mainly for the Russian and Asian Tourists and they have sadly even moved in to Koh Samui, which was more known for Family Holidays and less scams.

It is aimed at the Asian tourists for sure. Can't see many Russians travelling all that way to be ripped off here instead of at home by some bit of skirt on the game.

Still, takes all sorts!