Hi-So Holidays Harder To Afford For Phuket Tourists

[KarenBravo]

@NKM

You're well known for your "Chicken Little" syndrome.

Been hearing it for years from numerous people, yet every year more and more tourists come.

All the problems described have been in Phuket for decades, yet every year sees more records broken for tourist arrivals.

The sky has not fallen and it won't fall in eight years time, either.

[iSabai]

precisely why i avoid Phuket like a plague. In Bangkok I can have a world class meal for 300 baht, be treated no differently than any of the other middle class Thais sitting next to me, with genuinely great food. After dinner, I can jump into an air conditioned cab, pay 70 baht for a ride halfway across town, and maybe even get a smile at the end of it. If I want the beach, I can go down to Sam Roi Yod or Baan Krut, where nobody hassles me, quotes me farcical prices for a tuk tuk ride, nor any other aggravation. It's a pity such a nice place became one of the world's biggest eyesores.

Really now? I suspect you should review your understanding of the therm "world-class" or ease up on the hyperbole.

In a "world-class" eatery, it is unlikely you could get a beer for 300 Baht, let alone an entire meal.

I asked the very same question, still no responce........

This kind of thing irks me no end, and is in the same vein as people saying street food is the best.... followed swiftly by the complaints about being sick

So then you guys are sayin' that McDonald's is not world class? Even after I've spent my ฿300??

Edited March 22, 2013 by iSabai

[sandhurstmolonski]

Phuket is now a high cost place to visit. It is not cheap. Price fluxuations,are normal. A shit hole hotel in London costs a small fortune. English people the world over are know for whinging and moaning and,want cheap. But their own country is,expensive.

If people dont want to.pay the prices ANYWHERE they will not go to that place and numbers will determine pricing.

Same in Phuket. I agree the place is getting expensive but that is more Patong. Other parts are better.

If too expensive to go... Stay home

I agree with this ..The main point being not ALL of Phuket is ridiculous pricing ..Patong for sure ..But , the Island is much more than Patong .

Last time in Patong , I noticed it seemded to be even more xxxxy than Kata ..used to be the other way round . There are still some good spots , its not all about Patong.

[sandhurstmolonski]

precisely why i avoid Phuket like a plague. In Bangkok I can have a world class meal for 300 baht, be treated no differently than any of the other middle class Thais sitting next to me, with genuinely great food. After dinner, I can jump into an air conditioned cab, pay 70 baht for a ride halfway across town, and maybe even get a smile at the end of it. If I want the beach, I can go down to Sam Roi Yod or Baan Krut, where nobody hassles me, quotes me farcical prices for a tuk tuk ride, nor any other aggravation. It's a pity such a nice place became one of the world's biggest eyesores.

Really now? I suspect you should review your understanding of the therm "world-class" or ease up on the hyperbole.

In a "world-class" eatery, it is unlikely you could get a beer for 300 Baht, let alone an entire meal.

I asked the very same question, still no responce........

This kind of thing irks me no end, and is in the same vein as people saying street food is the best.... followed swiftly by the complaints about being sick

So then you guys are sayin' that McDonald's is not world class? Even after I've spent my ฿300??

Thats one thing that I sure dont understand in THAI ............Macdonalds , such great food everywhere and dudes consume this S*it ,

[candypants]

When travelling I always go for the local street food rather than over-priced and tourist oriented restaurants.

when travelling, I dont make rules and wide sweping generalizations about what i do and do not eat.

I eat whatever the hell i please.

In fact i do that when i am at home too.

Edited March 22, 2013 by candypants

[sandhurstmolonski]

@NKM

You're well known for your "Chicken Little" syndrome.

Been hearing it for years from numerous people, yet every year more and more tourists come.

All the problems described have been in Phuket for decades, yet every year sees more records broken for tourist arrivals.

The sky has not fallen and it won't fall in eight years time, either.

True ..

BUT , far from the same levels of Drama for " Decades " . Check how many place to stay in Phuket 25 years ago ..It will suprise .

I love Phuket ...however the planning on the Island ( of development ) could have been a little better .

[dighambara]

Maybe try somewhere else in Thailand if Phuket is too expensive?

a bottle of beer that costs 70 baht (just under £2)

Since when is £1.57 'just under' £2?

You can get lovely freshly squeezed OJ from a street vendor for ฿20 (75 satang north of 43p at today's rate)

Certainly you meant 10 Baht fo fresh squeezed and 7 Baht for the slush variety.

[Jimi007]

Aussie dollar still looking good , has only dropped 2 baht. from 32 to 30. six years ago it was only 25 baht .

That's what I was thinking when I was reading the article.

Obviously the author is upset because his country's currency has dropped.

Not all currencies are dropping vs the baht.

But yes, things are more expensive than they used to be. (it's called inflation)

One item I've bought here year after year is Havana Club 3 year old rum. It was about ฿530 or less for years. Then suddenly ฿680 this year. That's not inflation, that's greed, like may things here. Plus the exchange rate should lower the price for most imported items, not raise them, including fuel. Again, greed.

Edited March 22, 2013 by Jimi007

[Guest]

The Thai government should take time to think about the value of the Thai baht as they rely heavily on tourism from the west, which if they do nothing, will rapidly diminish.

Tourism to Thailand accounts for between 5% to 6% of Thai GDP. If most tourists are now coming from Russia, China and Australia, then the percentage from Western tourists is probably less than 3% of GDP. Kind of makes your statement that the Thai government "relies" on it, rather silly.

The major benefit of a strong Baht is cheaper energy costs as oil is denominated in US dollars. If oil is cheap, the cost of most manufactured products also become cheaper due to either oil as a source for a raw material (i.e. plastics, fertilizers) and/or transportation costs go down. This leads to higher profits for Thai manufacturers.

Otherwise I agree, but high Bath will make the labor expenses higher when exporting the products out of Thailand.

Oil and gas prices are defined by the supply and demand. USD is only one way to show the price.

[jrincon17]

Ita a vacation for most, if you dont save for your vacation then you shouldnt take one. If you cant afford a beer dont buy one. Thailand has plenty to offer everyone.

Edited March 22, 2013 by jrincon17

[Jimi007]

Oil and gas prices are defined by the supply and demand. USD is only one way to show the price.

Yes oil is traded in US Dollars, but if you think the price of gas is based on supply and demand you have been duped into oil company rhetoric!

[Guest]

Oil and gas prices are defined by the supply and demand. USD is only one way to show the price.

Yes oil is traded in US Dollars, but if you think the price of gas is based on supply and demand you have been duped into oil company rhetoric!

Fine "supply and demand". Yes it's an cartel, but it still does follow the same rules, even if there is a latency between changes.

It was quite interesting to hear few years ago how Canada is selling it's oil to USA, and then import oil from Venezuela for their own usage, which the USA can not do.

Messy world of politics and economy.

[NamKangMan]

@NKM

You're well known for your "Chicken Little" syndrome.

Been hearing it for years from numerous people, yet every year more and more tourists come.

All the problems described have been in Phuket for decades, yet every year sees more records broken for tourist arrivals.

The sky has not fallen and it won't fall in eight years time, either.

I've heard the "killed the golden goose" thing before KB, not sure what the "Chicken Little" thing is.

Anyway, there maybe more tourists coming here, but they are Chinese and Russian. Neither nationality are "starry eyed" enough to go back home, sell their house, and come back over here and buy a bar girl, property and and a bar/salon, and send money to Issan.

All those hundreds and hundreds of farang beer bars and businesses - what do you think will become of them in 8 years time????

Of course, the sky will not fall down on Phuket, but the real question is, what is the Phuket administration doing to "hold the sky up?"

Answer - absolutely nothing.

Edited March 22, 2013 by NamKangMan

[Guest]

I must say I enjoy when NKM and KB are sharpening their nails.. Please fight.

This is quite related to this discussion http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/627804-yingluck-urges-t-a-t-to-attract-more-high-end-tourists-into-thailand/

Thailand wishes to get more quality tourists who spends more while they are staying here. Basically the trend is at least noted on the top level of the country.

[Hanuman2547]

You say,who wants to holiday in England? The answer is,most of the world.It seems all of the world wants to visit England and no one wants to go back to their own country. England is a great place. When I tell people I am from england they always say the same thing,"You are lucky".

Even though we are ruled by a bunch of anti-british politicians (I mean Cameron,the Lib/Dem Con and the establishment)the indigenous people are sharp,modern and very intelligent. We are lucky to live in such a well organised country.Such a beautiful country,too.Could it be that people envy us!

Isn't England the place with never ending rain and grey skies? (At least it is in most movies :-)

English weather is pretty much like the state of New York, some days good, some days bad, some years we have too many grey days, and other years we are spoilt with lots of blue skies. We don't try to paint our country with rose coloured specs, so in movie and TV we portray it as it really is, sometimes raining and some days sunny

English weather, from what I've been told is more closer to Seattle than New York.

[Hanuman2547]

Isn't England the place with never ending rain and grey skies? (At least it is in most movies :-)

Yes, and the smog - don't forget the smog. And Jack the Ripper. He's always walking around the smog filled streets.

In my bucket list: Pendine sands in S. Wales

- just like Phuket except, no tuk-tuks, no hassles, quiet, etc. Maybe like Phuket was 30 years ago.

Just like Phuket?? Hmmm..........I bet the water temp off the coast is a bit different than the water temp in Phuket.

[iSabai]

Aussie dollar still looking good , has only dropped 2 baht. from 32 to 30. six years ago it was only 25 baht .

That's what I was thinking when I was reading the article.

Obviously the author is upset because his country's currency has dropped.

Not all currencies are dropping vs the baht.

But yes, things are more expensive than they used to be. (it's called inflation)

One item I've bought here year after year is Havana Club 3 year old rum. It was about ฿530 or less for years. Then suddenly ฿680 this year. That's not inflation, that's greed, like may things here. Plus the exchange rate should lower the price for most imported items, not raise them, including fuel. Again, greed.

Actually, that's not greed, that's taxes. Er... well yeah okay, same same.

But over the years booze and ciggie prices have fairly regularly risen due to increased taxes. And those increases are usually announced beforehand. Though that doesn't make them any easier to swallow...

[Jimi007]

Aussie dollar still looking good , has only dropped 2 baht. from 32 to 30. six years ago it was only 25 baht .

That's what I was thinking when I was reading the article.

Obviously the author is upset because his country's currency has dropped.

Not all currencies are dropping vs the baht.

But yes, things are more expensive than they used to be. (it's called inflation)

One item I've bought here year after year is Havana Club 3 year old rum. It was about ฿530 or less for years. Then suddenly ฿680 this year. That's not inflation, that's greed, like may things here. Plus the exchange rate should lower the price for most imported items, not raise them, including fuel. Again, greed.

Actually, that's not greed, that's taxes. Er... well yeah okay, same same.

But over the years booze and ciggie prices have fairly regularly risen due to increased taxes. And those increases are usually announced beforehand. Though that doesn't make them any easier to swallow...

You can think that, but I know that other rums from the same region have not increased nearly as much, nor has the same red wine I've been drinking here for years. Yes there was a tax increase, but not by ฿150 per 750cl bottle. And again, the Baht has been high compared to the foreign currencies that these imports are bought with, so sorry, I'm not buying it. And once again oil is traded in US dollars which hit a several year low against the Baht, have fuel (gasoline) prices here dropped accordingly? The answer is no.

Edited March 22, 2013 by Jimi007

[Guest]

You can think that, but I know that other rums from the same region have not increased nearly as much, nor has the same red wine I've been drinking here for years. Yes there was a tax increase, but not by ฿150 per 750cl bottle. And again, the Baht has been high compared to the foreign currencies that these imports are bought with, so sorry, I'm not buying it. And once again oil is traded in US dollars which hit a several year low against the Baht, have fuel (gasoline) prices here dropped accordingly? The answer is no.

<deleted> the value of oil have nothing to do with what is the value of USD, even if the prices are in US Dollars.

The value of each item sold is based of availability and not based of some countries currencies. Almost all currencies are floating, which basically means that the currencies are just some numbers, which changes represent how the countries are run.

If you say that value of an oil barrel is based of USD, then you are thinking in the same way as Thai bar gilrl who think "Ah, Euro is 38 baht so the people in Europe are 38 times richer than us". Very few of us get 20.000 Euros per month in Europe.

Oil is traded by it's current market value which is then reflected to the value of US dollar. If the value of oil keeps the same and the USD drops down, then the value of oil compared to the USD is higher.. this means that the barrel of oil is higher priced in USA. At the same time the barrel of oil might be lower priced in Thailand, Singapore and Australia.

[Jimi007]

You can think that, but I know that other rums from the same region have not increased nearly as much, nor has the same red wine I've been drinking here for years. Yes there was a tax increase, but not by ฿150 per 750cl bottle. And again, the Baht has been high compared to the foreign currencies that these imports are bought with, so sorry, I'm not buying it. And once again oil is traded in US dollars which hit a several year low against the Baht, have fuel (gasoline) prices here dropped accordingly? The answer is no.

<deleted> the value of oil have nothing to do with what is the value of USD, even if the prices are in US Dollars.

The value of each item sold is based of availability and not based of some countries currencies. Almost all currencies are floating, which basically means that the currencies are just some numbers, which changes represent how the countries are run.

If you say that value of an oil barrel is based of USD, then you are thinking in the same way as Thai bar gilrl who think "Ah, Euro is 38 baht so the people in Europe are 38 times richer than us". Very few of us get 20.000 Euros per month in Europe.

Oil is traded by it's current market value which is then reflected to the value of US dollar. If the value of oil keeps the same and the USD drops down, then the value of oil compared to the USD is higher.. this means that the barrel of oil is higher priced in USA. At the same time the barrel of oil might be lower priced in Thailand, Singapore and Australia.

We are getting way off topic at this point! <deleted> is right! Since the Baht is a a several year high against the USD, then the price should be lower in Baht at the pump here simply because of the exchange rate. Just as any imported good should have declined, instead of increased. A barrel of oil has declined in the past month as well. http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/market-data/oil Have you noticed much of a decline at the gas pump?

Edited March 22, 2013 by Jimi007

[Guest]

<deleted> is right! Since the Baht is a a several year high against the USD, then the price should be lower in Baht at the pump here simply because of the exchange rate. A barrel of oil has declined in the past month as well. http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/market-data/oil Have you noticed much of a decline at the gas pump?

Argh. You don't really get it, yet.

If we would have an common currency in the world, this would be much more simpler. In this case the price of the oil would be bound to this world currency, which is not changed what ever is changed in individual countries. This would be ideal situation to make clear how commodities are traded.

Actually there is few world wide currencies which show what is really going on. These are oil, gold and gas. The prices of these vary due demand and supply. You can buy bar of gold and trade that anywhere in the world for the price you purchased it.

Bath, Yen, USD, EURO they all just reflect the value how each of these monetary zones are doing compared to others.

In all. If one economical zone is failing to produce importance to the world, their currency will fail against the countries who do better. This is what have been happening to the Europe and to the USA for the past few decades.

[pipsqueak]

Mariners compass pub gorleston on sea norfolk uk £2.00 for a pint of carlsberg £1.50 for bottles fill ya boots!!!

[Guest]

Mariners compass pub gorleston on sea norfolk uk £2.00 for a pint of carlsberg £1.50 for bottles fill ya boots!!!

I'll probably need to check what is the price of a beer at Taganga, Colombia at the moment. That's equally relevant as the price of the beer on the location you mentioned.

[eezergood]

One of the main issues with western tourists is their perception of Thailand. They all want the romantic image of 'old Siam' & still believe the stories told by their mates - you can get a beet for 5 pence etc... and the following:

• Empty beaches with a few smiling locals selling coconuts - but still want access to food, beer, cigarettes & all the locals should of course speak perfect English
• Litlle old ladies walking down the street, selling hand carved trinkets for tuppence - but still have perfectly paved streets & roads, have access to McDonalds, international standard doctors, PC repair shops, 3g connectivity, Iphone service & 10 MBPS wifi EVERYWHERE - of course with all these services provided in the Queens english
• Elephants parading through the streets, man & beast in perfect harmony working together - of course being cared for in perfect conditions & NOT being circus entertainment
• Tuk tuk & rickshaw vendors happily scurrying away whisking you from one place to the next, in perfect comfort & safety with a big smile - of course he speaks like an Oxford scollar
• Silk suits/dresses- all made by yet another smilling goddess, who will be able to cater to you every whim due to her impecable graps of English
• This should all of course cost next to nothing, whilst STILL by some MIRACLE affording the supplers of said services a decent quality of life - of course its Thailand and everything is a cheap as chips mate.
• Finally all of this modern day convenience simply disappears into the myer as you sit on your desserted beach drinking your delicious rum punch cocktail from your smiling would be bartender & hey why not tip him its only 50 pence!

[NamKangMan]

The Thai government should take time to think about the value of the Thai baht as they rely heavily on tourism from the west, which if they do nothing, will rapidly diminish.

Tourism to Thailand accounts for between 5% to 6% of Thai GDP. If most tourists are now coming from Russia, China and Australia, then the percentage from Western tourists is probably less than 3% of GDP. Kind of makes your statement that the Thai government "relies" on it, rather silly.

The major benefit of a strong Baht is cheaper energy costs as oil is denominated in US dollars. If oil is cheap, the cost of most manufactured products also become cheaper due to either oil as a source for a raw material (i.e. plastics, fertilizers) and/or transportation costs go down. This leads to higher profits for Thai manufacturers.

The tourism industry to Thailand may only be 6% of GDP, but it employs around 27% of the working population, either directly, or indirectly.

A shrinking tourism industry for Thailand will not hurt GDP so much, but means a lot of unemployed Thai's.

Edited March 23, 2013 by NamKangMan

[eezergood]

still not convinced, the same was said for Bail after the bombing - normal service has resumed, albeit after some time

[NamKangMan]

still not convinced, the same was said for Bail after the bombing - normal service has resumed, albeit after some time

The Bali bombings were major terrorist attacks. Tourists have flocked back to Bali because they believe their safety and security is fine there now.

The same can't be said for Phuket. The same BS scams and rip offs are STILL here, after so many years.

Nothing postive has been implemented here for tourists, or the tourism industry, in years.

Phuket is failing due to bad management. Hardly "same same" as the Bali bombings.

[Chopperboy]

Just to put it all in perspective, way back in 1996 I only got 36 baht per pound, A very few years later it went as high as 90 baht (for a very few days). My point is that exchange rates fluctuate up and down over time.

The best I ever got was 89.95.

True what you say, but in addition things have got much more expensive here!

[grumpyoldman]

Just to put it all in perspective, way back in 1996 I only got 36 baht per pound, A very few years later it went as high as 90 baht (for a very few days). My point is that exchange rates fluctuate up and down over time.

Right now though LIK is a bit of a double whammy.

Everything getting more and more expensive on top of the poor exchange rates.

[eezergood]

still not convinced, the same was said for Bail after the bombing - normal service has resumed, albeit after some time

The Bali bombings were major terrorist attacks. Tourists have flocked back to Bali because they believe their safety and security is fine there now.

The same can't be said for Phuket. The same BS scams and rip offs are STILL here, after so many years.

Nothing postive has been implemented here for tourists, or the tourism industry, in years.

Phuket is failing due to bad management. Hardly "same same" as the Bali bombings.

Granted hardly the same - but still bad press & perceived lack of safety are two of the major points. The tourism industry here IS growing year on year, the problem lies with the quality (perceived or not) and the spend per tourist ratio