Article On Samui And Tourism In Thailand

[phuketsiam]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story...1686848,00.html

[sriracha john]

'It's not paradise any more and I guess it never will be,' said Katie, surveying the scene around her and wondering whether, at 25, it's time to move on.

The operative sentence. Samui's best times are in the past.... oh well, scratch another island off the list and continue to search for another.

Last year, during high season, it was so busy that some tourists were found sleeping in temples. For some it is all good news - property developers, the sex trade, wealthy expats and ex-cons are reaping the benefits.

And it was much busier and noisier than she'd expected.

The pot-holed and flood-damaged road through the town was teeming with traffic, the air thick with dust and petrol fumes.

'These men have come down from the mountains. They earn around 1000 Baht (around £14) a month. They have no running water and live in dilapidated huts with children running around in rags and bare feet.' This is the side of paradise hidden from tourists.

He recalled an incident, which happened the same night as the murder of Katherine, in which a 15-year-old Thai boy was stabbed through the heart by another Thai man in a petty argument over money. In another widely talked about incident, three men walked into a bar in early December and shot an off-duty policeman who had been trying to clamp down on the drugs trade. 'Nowadays in Samui people will get shot over a queue for a motorbike taxi,' he said. 'There are more guns in Samui than permanent residents. Gangs of people are trying to control territory and they are prepared to kill to control it.'

I met a group of ex-pat British women, who had lived in Samui for between three and 10 year. Police were dismissive when one asked for help in dealing with a violent ex-boyfriend. 'They asked if the man, who was a Thai, was my boyfriend and when I told him he was my ex they said they couldn't do anything,' she said.

And the disturbing, but nevertheless truthful, conclusion:

In the case of Katherine Horton, the sad truth is that if she had been raped and not murdered people here wouldn't have been that bothered.

I leave Samui to all the Samui-philes that love it... go ahead, you're welcome to it.

[evadgib]

I leave Samui to all the Samui-philes that love it... go ahead, you're welcome to it.

....the 'Samui-philes that live here' will suffice

[Templer]

Well sorry guys this is not the Lamai that I know and love

Yes it has changed, and not for the better,

OK I do not live there, but have been holidaying in Lamai since 97,

Falaraki it definitely is not.

[limbos]

10.000 prostitutes on Samui, did I miss something?

[somchai jones]

I read a very similar piece about Bangkok fifteen years ago before I first went there.

All my friends in London commented on how brave I was to be going there alone and how I hould be so careful etc as I'd never get out alive.

Their opinions came from reading sensationalist Brit newspaper stories.

Of course I was delighted when I realised how much safer I was in Bangkok than London and ended up staying for several years.

When I first visited Samui in 91, it truly was the best place I'd visited up to that point.

Very different now of course with the inevitable development that has gone on, but still I place I visit and indeed enjoy very much.

Most of the points raised in the article could apply to Bangkok, Phuket or Pattaya of course and whichever of those places I happen to be in, I still enjoy.

My advice to the person in the Observer article would be that if they're looking for somewhere that isn't developed, go and spend some time in rural Thailand, learn the language and see how you get on.

One thing that I'd bet will happen is that if she does go home to England, it won't take long for her to start missing Samui, especially once she has a night out in any typical town centre and is reminded how f*c*ed up they are with drunken idiots roaming the streets - not the 'happy' kind, the violent, abusive, waste of space kind.

[LaoPo]

10.000 prostitutes on Samui, did I miss something?

Media

LaoPo

[somchai jones]

'It's not paradise any more and I guess it never will be,' said Katie, surveying the scene around her and wondering whether, at 25, it's time to move on.

The operative sentence. Samui's best times are in the past.... oh well, scratch another island off the list and continue to search for another.

No, it's not an island you want people, go to Sri Racha.

Head for John's house.

Full of Morriseyesque cynicism and equipped with a batch of newspapers under one arm and a knowing look on his face, he cuts a fine figure.

The host with the most, he's a real bag of laughs and will keep you amused for hours with his optimistic views and opinions.

[Rooo]

Sriracha I own land down your neck of the woods lol ........

[Rooo]

The funniest thing is MOST CRITICAL people of samui have never been here.

Phuketsiam so What is your point?You like reading your own sensationalist posts?What credence do you give them ? Typical POM reporting lmao.

Wake up the whole world is changing if you didn't notice.......OOOOH no ?

Sorry the locals have offended THE TOURISTS by having the mod cons.

Why are you people so obsessed with keeping Samui or Thailand in general in the PAST , how good it used to be.

You have to remember our countries of our childhood used to be different to, we go forward.

Try living in our countries, on a tourist VISA indefinetly?Canada,US,UK.Australia?You are joking!

So most of the THAILAND BASHERS WAKE UP lmao.

[sbk]

I find the whole idea that development brought crime completely laughable. Certainly, it has brought MORE crime but murder has existed since Cain slew Abel.

Take the rose colored glasses off people, everywhere has problems and instead of kicking the place when its down get off your duff and do something.

[Rooo]

That's the way SBK good on you mate.Some of these people's notions are just laughable.

[phuketsiam]

The funniest thing is MOST CRITICAL people of samui have never been here.

Phuketsiam so What is your point?You like reading your own sensationalist posts?What credence do you give them ? Typical POM reporting lmao.

Wake up the whole world is changing if you didn't notice.......OOOOH no ?

Sorry the locals have offended THE TOURISTS by having the mod cons.

Why are you people so obsessed with keeping Samui or Thailand in general in the PAST , how good it used to be.

You have to remember our countries of our childhood used to be different to, we go forward.

Try living in our countries, on a tourist VISA indefinetly?Canada,US,UK.Australia?You are joking!

So most of the THAILAND BASHERS WAKE UP lmao.

To answer you Rooo, I have been to Samui a couple of times, before they built the Tesco Lotus tho, so my image is dated. No I do not enjoy reading my own posts, sensationalist or not, and in any case this is just a link to article in a respectable (some would argue) newspaper, that I thought would be of interest to some of the people here. This is the image of Samui in recent times from other parts of the world, accurate or not it is however the press Samui is getting, I don't say I agree with it, haven't been there since before 2000, but thats how it is. Its like people assuming my wife is BG or ex BG cos she's Thai, they are wrong, I could scream or shout till the cows come home and it would make no difference, some people will think that and I have to get used it, deal with it, as does she, doesn't make them right, but what can you do. Now having spent some time in Sydney I could make inaccurate generalisations about Aussie's based on that, but I won't cos I'm smarter than that.

Thailand tourist trade rely's on its image, so its image to the great masses and the press its receives is relevant, like it or not agree with it or not.

[sriracha john]

'It's not paradise any more and I guess it never will be,' said Katie, surveying the scene around her and wondering whether, at 25, it's time to move on.

The operative sentence. Samui's best times are in the past.... oh well, scratch another island off the list and continue to search for another.

No, it's not an island you want people, go to Sri Racha.

Head for John's house.

Full of Morriseyesque cynicism and equipped with a batch of newspapers under one arm and a knowing look on his face, he cuts a fine figure.

The host with the most, he's a real bag of laughs and will keep you amused for hours with his optimistic views and opinions.

I've loads of optimism... but sorry, just not much for your chosen "paradise."

As such, it's just an opinion based upon first-hand experiences and conversations and research... same as yours is just an opinion. Is it any more valid than mine? No.

Is mine more valid than yours? No.

As previously stated, if you like Samui, then good for you. I'm happy that you can enjoy it.

If you do, then you most likely would feel out of place and uncomfortable with Sriracha.

Have a happy day.

[Rooo]

Thank you Phuketsiam & John for your replies.

[somchai jones]

'It's not paradise any more and I guess it never will be,' said Katie, surveying the scene around her and wondering whether, at 25, it's time to move on.

The operative sentence. Samui's best times are in the past.... oh well, scratch another island off the list and continue to search for another.

No, it's not an island you want people, go to Sri Racha.

Head for John's house.

Full of Morriseyesque cynicism and equipped with a batch of newspapers under one arm and a knowing look on his face, he cuts a fine figure.

The host with the most, he's a real bag of laughs and will keep you amused for hours with his optimistic views and opinions.

I've loads of optimism... but sorry, just not much for your chosen "paradise."

As such, it's just an opinion based upon first-hand experiences and conversations and research... same as yours is just an opinion. Is it any more valid than mine? No.

Is mine more valid than yours? No.

As previously stated, if you like Samui, then good for you. I'm happy that you can enjoy it.

If you do, then you most likely would feel out of place and uncomfortable with Sriracha.

Have a happy day.

If you read previous posts, you'll see that I don't see Samui as paradise at all. Far from it, I have a realistic view.

I do still enjoy it though, yes.

As far as Sriracha goes, I've been there and I did enjoy it. I can enjoy places as contrasting as Khon Kean and Krung Thep, again for different reasons.

Having lived and worked in Thailand for several years in several destinations, I like to keep an open mind and enjoy those different destinations for what they are.

Chok Dee my friend.