Thai Airways 'drop' Koh Samui

[Tropicalevo]

I have heard that Thai Airways will stop flying to Koh Samui in January.

Looking at the schedule - there appear to be no flights after 15th Jan 2013.

Anyone out there have more info on this one?

[oldsailor35]

Well if thats the case, then i will no longer be using Thai Air, as i only use my FF points for the BKK - Samui leg of my journeys ! There is no way i will use BANDIT AIR ! I will just fly to Suratthani in future with Air Aisia.

[Rooo]

Either priced out or the more logical explanation " SMILE AIR " subsidiary I think that's the right name.

[Rooo]

http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/thai-smile-settles-on-unique-hybrid-model-with-premium-economy-and-mixed-network-70908

"Thai Smile"

[starcandle]

I have friends coming from the UK next year.

Usualy they use Quatar Emirates or etihad via U A E to BKK ,then on to Samui with Bangkok Air.

For next year they are flying direct to Phuket from the U A E, saving about 200 pounds per person.

I will be spending a few days on Phuket with my friends then Driving us all back to Samui.

My point is that my friends have never been to phuket and it's the saving on their air fare that's sending then there, so how many

other tourists are swerving Samui due to the high costs of Flights ! also Phuket is a great place (as is Samui) so why would a holiday maker

over spend coming to Samui when a great time could be had in Phuket which is big enough to just change locations each vacation.

If I never lived on Samui I'm confident they would'nt come here at all.

[Birdman]

Because Koh Samui has many things Phuket hasn't and vice versa. Why are people going to Tioman, if they could stay in Penang. Or Boracay, if they could stay on Mindoro. Or Lombok, if they could stay on Bali. Or Koh Phangan, if they could stay on Samui?

[ydraw]

What does Samui have that Phuket doesn't? The only thing I can think of is the full moon party, which is of little interest to anyone over 30.

The airport in Samui is a big problem for tourism here, and not just because of the BKK airways monopoly, but also because the inability to land jumbos cuts a lot of the major carriers out of the market.

[livinthailandos]

I heard about the thai airways drop as well from at least 3 other websites, although no much detail as to why but only a few speculations from other posts I read

1. Landing charge was increased from 3,000 USD to 5,000 USD

2. Thai airways is reducing its airline fleet and the only airplanes that can land on samui they are getting rid of

3. Political issue / corruption to get them out of the bangkok - samui route

If there is a particular reason that thai airways is dropping the route I wonder before how long if silk air, firefly quit flying here as well, after all bangkok airways own the airport and can literally do whatever they want

[Birdman]

What does Samui have that Phuket doesn't? The only thing I can think of is the full moon party, which is of little interest to anyone over 30.

you really don't know? Samui is much nicer than Phuket considering that smooth and relaxed coconut/palms/islandfeeling. You can relaxe under palm trees in front of your hut/bungi/villa next to the nice sea without any disturbance even on major beaches like Menam, Bophut and Lamai. While on all major beaches on Phuket there are endless rows with beach chairs, umbrellas, for which you have to pay 150? countless hawkers and jet skies, almost no palm trees or vegetation next to the beach, almost everywhere a hectic street along the beach, no bungalow resorts direkt on the beach. And where do they have a place like FV? pleasant walking streets like at Menam and FV? the whole inner island coverd with lush forest and waterfalls etcetcetc

[ydraw]

Sounds like you've never been to Rawai beach or anywhere except Patong in Phuket. It's kind of like if someone described Samui and only referred to Chaweng Beach Road. And since I live on Lamai beach I can tell you with a fair bit of confidence that it also has beach chairs, umbrellas, hawkers and jet skis.

Phuket has everything Samui does, but the main thing it has that Samui doesn't is a proper international airport, which is why tourists have been deserting Samui and hitting Phuket in bigger and bigger numbers every year since the Tsunami.

Edited September 10, 2012 by ydraw

[Birdman]

I have lived and worked on Phuket before Samui and this is Lamai during last high season, you can't see beach chairs, but there are some

if you say Phuket has everything that Samui does you clearly have no sense of the world we are living in

[notmyself]

Anything which keeps the tourists away is good in my book.

[Tropicalevo]

Anything which keeps the tourists away is good in my book.

Sorry, but that is a pretty parochial view.

No tourists means

No hospitals except Nathon and it was pretty basic only having to serve 20xxx locals

No 7/11's or Familymarts

No Makro, Big C, Tesco, Calibri, Choice Foods, All Star etc etc

Mama Pap shops selling ,ilk/bread etc well past its sell by date

No Airport

Worse infrastructure (no tarmac roads, bigger and better pot holes, shixxy drains and more floods EVERY time it rains)

Cruppy internet and telephone system (six months for a telephone line if you are lucky)

Only two ATM machines on the island

No taxis - just unlicenced and uninsured private cars who charged todays prices 12 years ago or songthows (in some areas)

Car hire - Suzuki jeeps or the occasional truck (no cars or automatic scooters)

No fresh bread - unless you stayed in a big hotel, and there were not many

All commerce and bill paying had to happen in Nathon

More frequent power cuts and water shortages

But hey - the beaches were empty (and dirty - no one cleaned them)

and you did not have to queue in a restaurant.

[smokie36]

I'm waiting for your list of plusses Tropicalevo.....<taps foot impatiently....>

[smokie36]

24 hour party people on Samui?

No need to pay your bar bill for three months?

[notmyself]

Anything which keeps the tourists away is good in my book.

Sorry, but that is a pretty parochial view.

No tourists means

No hospitals except Nathon and it was pretty basic only having to serve 20xxx locals

No 7/11's or Familymarts

No Makro, Big C, Tesco, Calibri, Choice Foods, All Star etc etc

Mama Pap shops selling ,ilk/bread etc well past its sell by date

No Airport

Worse infrastructure (no tarmac roads, bigger and better pot holes, shixxy drains and more floods EVERY time it rains)

Cruppy internet and telephone system (six months for a telephone line if you are lucky)

Only two ATM machines on the island

No taxis - just unlicenced and uninsured private cars who charged todays prices 12 years ago or songthows (in some areas)

Car hire - Suzuki jeeps or the occasional truck (no cars or automatic scooters)

No fresh bread - unless you stayed in a big hotel, and there were not many

All commerce and bill paying had to happen in Nathon

More frequent power cuts and water shortages

But hey - the beaches were empty (and dirty - no one cleaned them)

and you did not have to queue in a restaurant.

I remember 3 ATMs

Mean the 'stoked' expansion of tourism.

[Tropicalevo]

Sorry notmyself - I had a long day yesterday.

It's the big trade-off.

A quiet tropical paradise v all week-end shopping in local shops trying to find cheese, butter and bread that has not gone moldy.

The tourist boom has brought loads of benifits - the best one being the improved drainage, but the hoards of glaring white, 'never ridden a bike before' kamikazi idiots and the wanna be Rossi and Schumacher hopefuls make a journey on the roads here a tad dicey.

[notmyself]

Sorry notmyself - I had a long day yesterday.

It's the big trade-off.

A quiet tropical paradise v all week-end shopping in local shops trying to find cheese, butter and bread that has not gone moldy.

The tourist boom has brought loads of benifits - the best one being the improved drainage, but the hoards of glaring white, 'never ridden a bike before' kamikazi idiots and the wanna be Rossi and Schumacher hopefuls make a journey on the roads here a tad dicey.

It is indeed a trade-off. In a way I'm happy Bang Kwang airlines costs a bomb because it does to some extent reduce the number of tourists as does the 'any slower and we would be going backwards' ferry service from the mainland but on the other hand Samui need the revenue. Imagine what it would be like if that bridge ever got built..

[robsamui]

[

Anything which keeps the tourists away is good in my book.

Sorry, but that is a pretty parochial view.

No tourists means

No hospitals except Nathon and it was pretty basic only having to serve 20xxx locals

No 7/11's or Familymarts

No Makro, Big C, Tesco, Calibri, Choice Foods, All Star etc etc

Mama Pap shops selling ,ilk/bread etc well past its sell by date

No Airport

Worse infrastructure (no tarmac roads, bigger and better pot holes, shixxy drains and more floods EVERY time it rains)

Cruppy internet and telephone system (six months for a telephone line if you are lucky)

Only two ATM machines on the island

No taxis - just unlicenced and uninsured private cars who charged todays prices 12 years ago or songthows (in some areas)

Car hire - Suzuki jeeps or the occasional truck (no cars or automatic scooters)

No fresh bread - unless you stayed in a big hotel, and there were not many

All commerce and bill paying had to happen in Nathon

More frequent power cuts and water shortages

But hey - the beaches were empty (and dirty - no one cleaned them)

and you did not have to queue in a restaurant.

I remember 3 ATMs

Mean the 'stoked' expansion of tourism.

Up until 1999 there was just the one International ATM on all of Samui - in Nathon. (There was another one in Chaweng but only taking internal Thai ATM cards . . . and there may have been others, but only the one in Nathon would take international credit/debit cards: people used to make weekly trips over from KPG just to use it.)

R

[Tropicalevo]

Imagine what it would be like if that bridge ever got built..

Perish the thought. Horrific

[notmyself]

Up until 1999 there was just the one International ATM on all of Samui - in Nathon. (There was another one in Chaweng but only taking internal Thai ATM cards . . . and there may have been others, but only the one in Nathon would take international credit/debit cards: people used to make weekly trips over from KPG just to use it.)

R

September '99 there was 2 at the north end of Chaweng, Out of cash most of the time though.

[lazeeboy]

[

Anything which keeps the tourists away is good in my book.

Sorry, but that is a pretty parochial view.

No tourists means

No hospitals except Nathon and it was pretty basic only having to serve 20xxx locals

No 7/11's or Familymarts

No Makro, Big C, Tesco, Calibri, Choice Foods, All Star etc etc

Mama Pap shops selling ,ilk/bread etc well past its sell by date

No Airport

Worse infrastructure (no tarmac roads, bigger and better pot holes, shixxy drains and more floods EVERY time it rains)

Cruppy internet and telephone system (six months for a telephone line if you are lucky)

Only two ATM machines on the island

No taxis - just unlicenced and uninsured private cars who charged todays prices 12 years ago or songthows (in some areas)

Car hire - Suzuki jeeps or the occasional truck (no cars or automatic scooters)

No fresh bread - unless you stayed in a big hotel, and there were not many

All commerce and bill paying had to happen in Nathon

More frequent power cuts and water shortages

But hey - the beaches were empty (and dirty - no one cleaned them)

and you did not have to queue in a restaurant.

I remember 3 ATMs

Mean the 'stoked' expansion of tourism.

Up until 1999 there was just the one International ATM on all of Samui - in Nathon. (There was another one in Chaweng but only taking internal Thai ATM cards . . . and there may have been others, but only the one in Nathon would take international credit/debit cards: people used to make weekly trips over from KPG just to use it.)

R

remember those days well rob...

[PoorSucker]

What does Samui have that Phuket doesn't? The only thing I can think of is the full moon party, which is of little interest to anyone over 30.

We have a nice summer season.

Rainfall Phuket:

Rainfall Samui:

[John 1]

What does Samui have that Phuket doesn't? The only thing I can think of is the full moon party, which is of little interest to anyone over 30.

We have a nice summer season.

Rainfall Phuket:

Rainfall Samui:

I would like the rain Phuket get's this 3 months with no rain is boring.

[BigC]

cantreally say i blame them after this agust we had a night mare with them. if you use Thai airwarys from the uk - bangkok - samui.

if you do not take the flight to samui and decide to bin theticket for what ever reason. the computer automatically cansels your return flight.

which we did not know unless we tried to leave samui.

proper nightmare.

cant say i am not disapointed as we paid for our seats so we own them. what gives them to right to cansel our seats because we did notshow for 1 flight.

they could have at least contacted us.

well standby was fun 6 hrs in samui then standby back to the UK

i know they were full. so they sold our seat to someone else. the cheeck gits.

i know bangkom airways isexpensive but there are some added benifits but still doesnot justify a family of 4 travelling on holiday to samui with the flights costing more than there hotel. samui must bes losing business to these gangsters

[notmyself]

i know bangkom airways isexpensive but there are some added benifits but still doesnot justify a family of 4 travelling on holiday to samui with the flights costing more than there hotel. samui must bes losing business to these gangsters

The cost of the flights when included with an international leg appear quite small. When I booked a couple of weeks ago the additional cost of BKK-USM return was £31.

[oldsailor35]

I have friends coming from the UK next year.

Usualy they use Quatar Emirates or etihad via U A E to BKK ,then on to Samui with Bangkok Air.

For next year they are flying direct to Phuket from the U A E, saving about 200 pounds per person.

I will be spending a few days on Phuket with my friends then Driving us all back to Samui.

My point is that my friends have never been to phuket and it's the saving on their air fare that's sending then there, so how many

other tourists are swerving Samui due to the high costs of Flights ! also Phuket is a great place (as is Samui) so why would a holiday maker

over spend coming to Samui when a great time could be had in Phuket which is big enough to just change locations each vacation.

If I never lived on Samui I'm confident they would'nt come here at all.

It must be obvious to all that "Bandit Air" have got Samui in their pocket. If it was'nt for their exhorbitantly priced fares , many more tourists would be arriving on Samui !

[oldsailor35]

I heard about the thai airways drop as well from at least 3 other websites, although no much detail as to why but only a few speculations from other posts I read

1. Landing charge was increased from 3,000 USD to 5,000 USD

2. Thai airways is reducing its airline fleet and the only airplanes that can land on samui they are getting rid of

3. Political issue / corruption to get them out of the bangkok - samui route

If there is a particular reason that thai airways is dropping the route I wonder before how long if silk air, firefly quit flying here as well, after all bangkok airways own the airport and can literally do whatever they want

About time that the government bought the airport and extended the runway !

[oldsailor35]

What does Samui have that Phuket doesn't? The only thing I can think of is the full moon party, which is of little interest to anyone over 30.

you really don't know? Samui is much nicer than Phuket considering that smooth and relaxed coconut/palms/islandfeeling. You can relaxe under palm trees in front of your hut/bungi/villa next to the nice sea without any disturbance even on major beaches like Menam, Bophut and Lamai. While on all major beaches on Phuket there are endless rows with beach chairs, umbrellas, for which you have to pay 150? countless hawkers and jet skies, almost no palm trees or vegetation next to the beach, almost everywhere a hectic street along the beach, no bungalow resorts direkt on the beach. And where do they have a place like FV? pleasant walking streets like at Menam and FV? the whole inner island coverd with lush forest and waterfalls etcetcetc

Koh Samui has the "tropical island" atmosphere that Phuket lacks and will never have. This is what tourists are looking for ! Bars, Jetski's, Restaurants and Bar Girls can be found anywhere.

[oldsailor35]

Sounds like you've never been to Rawai beach or anywhere except Patong in Phuket. It's kind of like if someone described Samui and only referred to Chaweng Beach Road. And since I live on Lamai beach I can tell you with a fair bit of confidence that it also has beach chairs, umbrellas, hawkers and jet skis.

Phuket has everything Samui does, but the main thing it has that Samui doesn't is a proper international airport, which is why tourists have been deserting Samui and hitting Phuket in bigger and bigger numbers every year since the Tsunami.

Exactly ! the airport is no longer the benefactor for Samui, but the killer ! As you say, Phuket has the international standard airport, our standard is a "Country Town" airport.