Phuket Gov faces battery of 17 ambassadors

[Tboy928]

Ambassadors from around the world have been pointing out the problems to Governors for years and nothing has ever been done. Nothing will change and the same points will be discussed at next years meeting. What would these meddling farangs know?

Sadly you are correct

Is like swim upstream, you dont get anywhere, Karon Beaches nice place , but kill 10 people every year, but do you see info about this in the hotels there, or big signs on the beach, does the Hotel owners tell their customers ? TUK TUK guys overcharge their customers for the 2 km drive , and try get as mutch money as they can every time, pay to mutch money to central operator , that probaly kick some of this money upwards. And nobody do anything about it. Meter taxis get beaten up, if pick up someone in the street Patong , its called anarki . BUS system that was planned,on ice, because tuk tuk mafia dont like it.. Phuket is so nice place, and damaged by this low life people!!!

[gemguy]

We ate well, we drank, we enjoyed the nice hotels and beaches while some of us got laid and then we all agreed to leave the problems and solutions in the capable hands of our Thai counterparts...what more can you expect us to do.

See you all next year.

[clockman]

Remember you are dealing with spoilt children, with attitude! Hope Myanmar takes all there tourists. Then lets see them cry!

[impulse]

Wanna see something done about Phuket? Commercial solutions would probably work much quicker than diplomatic solutions.

Convince all travel insurance companies to demand a surcharge for travel to Phuket (or any other dangerous locale). Or to simply exclude coverage for anyone traveling in those areas.

Enough tourists will get the message to put a dent in the sweaty tourist $$$$. That will get their attention.

All the nice diplomacy won't amount to diddly as long as the numbers and $$$$$ stay up there.

They will if they're losing money here.

So they won't ...

Insurance companies are wizards at figuring out where their risk is. If they're not paying out more than they are taking in with customers traveling to XXXXX, perhaps the perception of risk is greater than the actual risk?

I don't know. Never been to Phuket. Pattaya is closer to home and though the place looks and feels extremely dodgy, I doubt my chances of getting scammed/hurt/robbed/killed are any higher than they are in Bangkok. But a good actuarial could look it up in a heartbeat.

[NamKangMan]

Wanna see something done about Phuket? Commercial solutions would probably work much quicker than diplomatic solutions.

Convince all travel insurance companies to demand a surcharge for travel to Phuket (or any other dangerous locale). Or to simply exclude coverage for anyone traveling in those areas.

Enough tourists will get the message to put a dent in the sweaty tourist $$$$. That will get their attention.

All the nice diplomacy won't amount to diddly as long as the numbers and $$$$$ stay up there.

They will if they're losing money here.

So they won't ...

Insurance companies are wizards at figuring out where their risk is. If they're not paying out more than they are taking in with customers traveling to XXXXX, perhaps the perception of risk is greater than the actual risk?

I don't know. Never been to Phuket. Pattaya is closer to home and though the place looks and feels extremely dodgy, I doubt my chances of getting scammed/hurt/robbed/killed are any higher than they are in Bangkok. But a good actuarial could look it up in a heartbeat.

I think your "chances" of being "hurt" in a road accident are a lot higher here on Phuket.

[khaowong1]

Ambassadors from around the world have been pointing out the problems to Governors for years and nothing has ever been done. Nothing will change and the same points will be discussed at next years meeting. What would these meddling farangs know?

Sadly you are correct

I agree but as a Devils Advocate, why should Phuket change its ways? Tourists still flock to the place, people still gush on about how "Lovely" the place and people are, so where is the incentive to change?

If you owned a restaurant, abused your customers with poor servvice and lousy food -but the place was always full- would you change your ways?

Just sayin

Talking about the goose that laid the golden egg. The Thai's would eat the goose, laying eggs takes some time.. worry about it tomorrow.

[theajarn]

Ambassadors from around the world have been pointing out the problems to Governors for years and nothing has ever been done. Nothing will change and the same points will be discussed at next years meeting. What would these meddling farangs know?

Nothing, but you can bet that the Phuket governor will be discussing ways in which to cheat and harass tourists less blatantly while raking in more dough for himself. Maybe he will take public relations more seriously... but that doesn't mean doing justice for the tourists. Who cares about the stupid farang goose that lays the golden eggs ... more will come. I think we stupid farangs have proven that over and over. Anyone see tourists staying away from these places?

It appears we are not so united in our efforts ourselves.

[kurnell]

I reckon I have a maximum of 30 years left in me and I plan to spend those 30 years in Thailand and I fully expect nothing to change in those 30 years. Thailand is basically the same as what it was when I arrived 24 years ago.

[theajarn]

It only takes one tourist to be ripped off, and 100 back home will hear about it.

Look at the Aussie travel agent, murdered at Phuket some months back. Believe me, half the country knew about it in no time at all.

and yet, the Aussies still keep coming............

Only the low end that don't spend as much.

That's a terrible generalisation of Aussies, mate. : P

[theajarn]

I reckon I have a maximum of 30 years left in me and I plan to spend those 30 years in Thailand and I fully expect nothing to change in those 30 years. Thailand is basically the same as what it was when I arrived 24 years ago.

You are probably right there. Thailand hasn't changed for the better or worse. It's just our perception of it has. The only people here who think Thailand is all about cheap xxxxxx, prostitution and corruption are the ones who have lived there for a while. Otherwise everyone I've spoken to here say they'd love to go to Thailand i.e.: Phuket, Pattaya etc.

I try to persuade them not to, but otherwise they're free to make their own decisions (and that's when I advise them to check out ThaiVisa first ; ) )

I mean hey -- Thailand still is the best place for druglords and the filthy rich (and even not-so-rich) to retire. But as a family destination? Better stick to the hi-so places in Cha-am and Hua-hin for that.

Edited June 15, 2013 by metisdead
Inapropriate language removed.

[pomchop]

And immediately after the meeting concluded all the ambassadors went to the front of the Marriott to get into their private limos for the airport....unfortunately they were met with a group of tuk tuk thugs who pulled the limo drivers out and beat them with lead pipes for having the audacity to impose on THEIR turf.....then the ambassadors boarded tuk tuks and were delivered to the airport for only 2000 baht per person.....Plus Tip.

[Jimi007]

Amazing how many clueless posts there are on this topic... I'm happy to see the same issues are made public in the news, yet again. Keep it up. They can't ignore the subject forever. By the way, there isn't much traffic here right now, not very many tourists and all the Thais that came here to make money from the tourism trough from other provinces have gone back to wherever they came from! Life is good!

[thaibeachlovers]

This may a a different question for another area BUT

While we now that "tourist Farang" have issues. Is it relatively safe for us "Thai living farang" to visit Phuket. My gf wants to go there and to be honest i would to mind it either.

I can only speak for myself, but till they eliminate the taxi mafia and allow a decent, cheap beach to beach service I for one will never go back ( used to go there a lot ).

The jet ski hoodlums don't bother me as I think anyone that uses those antisocial machines deserves what they get.

If you haven't been already, the beaches of Krabi ( Lanta, Railay ) are far superior to anything on Phuket.

PS I most certainly do not recommend Phi Phi.

Edited June 16, 2013 by thaibeachlovers

[thaibeachlovers]

Nothing will begin to change until the locals see how low the cash-flow is with the new, non-Western tourist demographic mix. Wait, even then, it'll not change but for a Grand "We Want You[r money] Back Euro-Farang" Sale Promotion by the TAT. End of day: if everyone votes with their wallets, things change. Only market forces change business operators' minds on how best to conduct business.

That might be true in the west, but in LOS.............................?

In Pattaya, the bars are virtually empty of customers, but will they change policies to attract the farang customers back .

[harrry]

Nothing will begin to change until the locals see how low the cash-flow is with the new, non-Western tourist demographic mix. Wait, even then, it'll not change but for a Grand "We Want You[r money] Back Euro-Farang" Sale Promotion by the TAT. End of day: if everyone votes with their wallets, things change. Only market forces change business operators' minds on how best to conduct business.

That might be true in the west, but in LOS.............................?

In Pattaya, the bars are virtually empty of customers, but will they change policies to attract the farang customers back .

Of course not.,...Thery will sell the bar to another silly farang. He will put the prices up so he can make money. Less customers so the pretty girls go back hom,e sending thir much older and wrinkled sisters in their place.

Next year another farang bar will be for sale to a willing buyer.

[thaibeachlovers]

Nothing will begin to change until the locals see how low the cash-flow is with the new, non-Western tourist demographic mix. Wait, even then, it'll not change but for a Grand "We Want You[r money] Back Euro-Farang" Sale Promotion by the TAT. End of day: if everyone votes with their wallets, things change. Only market forces change business operators' minds on how best to conduct business.

That might be true in the west, but in LOS.............................?

In Pattaya, the bars are virtually empty of customers, but will they change policies to attract the farang customers back .

Of course not.,...Thery will sell the bar to another silly farang. He will put the prices up so he can make money. Less customers so the pretty girls go back hom,e sending thir much older and wrinkled sisters in their place.

Next year another farang bar will be for sale to a willing buyer.

That is certainly true, but I was meaning the council and hotels. Putting up hotel prices by 25 % when the baht is at record highs and council policies that discriminate against the nightlife industry isn't a good way to attract punters back.

[Lancelot]

Maybe karma will intervene ande only mainland Chinese and Russians will visit Phuket. Picture it- Chinese strolling down the middle of the street, snarling traffic and Russians duking it out with tuk tuk drivers

Would keep me from ever going back

[bumpkin]

Maybe those with serious and genuine comments to make about treatment of their fellow countrymen visiting Thailand, should write their comments to their appropriate Ambassadors. Venting spleen on this forum is sometimes amusing, but there is little chance of this being reviewed in the Embassies. The more people who make legitimate comments to the appropriate places, the harder it is for the recipents to claim they were unaware of the situation. Boring as it might be, write to your Embassy, write to the Travel magazines back home, write to the TV stations travel programs. Publicity really works.

Edited June 16, 2013 by bumpkin

[NamKangMan]

Maybe those with serious and genuine comments to make about treatment of their fellow countrymen visiting Thailand, should write their comments to their appropriate Ambassadors. Venting spleen on this forum is sometimes amusing, but there is little chance of this being reviewed in the Embassies. The more people who make legitimate comments to the appropriate places, the harder it is for the recipents to claim they were unaware of the situation. Boring as it might be, write to your Embassy, write to the Travel magazines back home, write to the TV stations travel programs. Publicity really works.

The various Embassies are well aware of the issues here. They obviously receive more complaints, and requests for assistance, from Phuket, than anywhere else in Thailand. Phuket is obviously a drain on their resources.

They hold these meetings every year, and every year the same issues are raised.

Nothing changes here - so the European tourists take change upon themselves, by not coming back here anymore.

Edited June 16, 2013 by NamKangMan

[Mike Punter]

Nothing will change because of this, load of hot air but I am sure those ambassadors had a nice expenses paid holiday in Phuket.

I am glad they really pressed home the biggest problem - safe swimming flags on the beaches! Doesn't offend anyone does it? Typical fat cat waste of space.

See you next year! BTW, it's much nicer here in Dec-Jan!

Do you have any clue how many tourists DROWN on phuket every year? Better flagging on some beaches might help. Then again, so would swimming lessons and brains, but these are harder to enact.

But I agree, nothing will change until the head honcho of the mafia (I won't name him, but we all know who he is) is removed and the TukTuk mafia (and their buddies the "taxi" operators and JetSki operators) are removed.

[NamKangMan]

Nothing will change because of this, load of hot air but I am sure those ambassadors had a nice expenses paid holiday in Phuket.

I am glad they really pressed home the biggest problem - safe swimming flags on the beaches! Doesn't offend anyone does it? Typical fat cat waste of space.

See you next year! BTW, it's much nicer here in Dec-Jan!

Do you have any clue how many tourists DROWN on phuket every year? Better flagging on some beaches might help. Then again, so would swimming lessons and brains, but these are harder to enact.

But I agree, nothing will change until the head honcho of the mafia (I won't name him, but we all know who he is) is removed and the TukTuk mafia (and their buddies the "taxi" operators and JetSki operators) are removed.

Yes, a criminal minority are holding the whole tourism industry to ransom here.

Edited June 16, 2013 by NamKangMan

[BanTamo]

In my experience these places can be even more 'difficult' for the 'Tthe-resident farang' as there are groups specifically targeting the 'mia farang.' They know all the 'buttons to push' to manipulate her self-consciousness of no longer being quite the same as her Thai friends and to make her feel uncomfortable about her generally more affluent lifestyle. These groups (gangs may be the better word) are quite expert in psyops-type manipulation and results can be stunning, even, open maybe especially, on her own self-esteem. I've seen several distinct patterns and nine of them are pretty. They can range from simple extortion, to encouraging alienation from the farang spouse, to sexual indiscretion and even rape.

Not in every case, but the modus opperanda is there. Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Bangkok all have practicing expert 'teams' who specialize. Not every spouse is properly equipped to resist their operations.

[BanTamo]

Sorry but apparently I cannot edit my post from within the mobile site. Here's a repost with, I hope, all the typos corrected. Will get ride of the first one when next at the PC.

In my experience these places can be even more 'difficult' for the 'Thailand-resident farang' as there are groups specifically targeting the 'mia farang.' They know all the 'buttons to push' to manipulate her self-consciousness about no longer being quite the same as her Thai friends and to make her feel uncomfortable about her generally more affluent lifestyle. These groups (gangs may be the better word) are quite expert in psyops-type manipulation and results can be stunning, even, or maybe especially, on her own self-esteem. I've seen several distinct patterns and none of them are pretty. They can range from simple extortion, to encouraging alienation from the farang spouse, to sexual indiscretion and even rape.

Not in every case, but the modus opperanda is there. Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Bangkok all have practicing expert 'teams' who specialize. Not every spouse is properly equipped to resist their operations.

[MacChine]

Ambassadors don't change the world, they usually go with the status quo.

These guys got a nice stay and a night in Bangla- yep on the taxpayer.

If they were half serious they would have already issued travel warnings to Thailand, no more travel insurance. That's just about the only thing I can see that would get Bangkok's attention, but ... can't interfere with people's right to travel to foreign countries to get laid- especially theirs.

A start on cleaning up Phuket would be impeachment of the mayors.

Edited June 16, 2013 by MacChine

[MacChine]

Maybe those with serious and genuine comments to make about treatment of their fellow countrymen visiting Thailand, should write their comments to their appropriate Ambassadors. Venting spleen on this forum is sometimes amusing, but there is little chance of this being reviewed in the Embassies. The more people who make legitimate comments to the appropriate places, the harder it is for the recipents to claim they were unaware of the situation. Boring as it might be, write to your Embassy, write to the Travel magazines back home, write to the TV stations travel programs. Publicity really works.

Good idea, and to the tour operators, people should know BTW - so was the lack of publishing the record of traffic fatalities brought up ? Why not?

[KarenBravo]

It's a numbers game.

Two point five million tourists last year.

How many made an official complaint about tuk-tuks and jet-skis, scams and thuggery?

Even if it was ten thousand (which I doubt), that's only a 0.4% complaint rate.

I doubt whether even a western company's PR department would bother to respond to a rate so low.

Too much money and too much inertia. The numbers are on their side for the time being.

[wolf5370]

Wanna see something done about Phuket? Commercial solutions would probably work much quicker than diplomatic solutions.

Convince all travel insurance companies to demand a surcharge for travel to Phuket (or any other dangerous locale). Or to simply exclude coverage for anyone traveling in those areas.

Enough tourists will get the message to put a dent in the sweaty tourist $$$$. That will get their attention.

All the nice diplomacy won't amount to diddly as long as the numbers and $$$$$ stay up there.

They will if they're losing money here.

So they won't ...

Insurance companies are wizards at figuring out where their risk is. If they're not paying out more than they are taking in with customers traveling to XXXXX, perhaps the perception of risk is greater than the actual risk?

I don't know. Never been to Phuket. Pattaya is closer to home and though the place looks and feels extremely dodgy, I doubt my chances of getting scammed/hurt/robbed/killed are any higher than they are in Bangkok. But a good actuarial could look it up in a heartbeat.

The insurance companies probably cover themselves with small print - Jet Skiis for example are often classed as extreme sports and not generally covered without the surcharge anyway, so getting ripped of by the Jet Skii tosser probably falls through the same hole - people find these things out too late.

If our countries gave a flying hoot about citizen tourists they would make travel agencies post lists of danger spots and no go areas in public viewable areas and customers booking trips to such areas read and sign off acknowledgements (probably voiding their insurance - which should also be stated) - same signage at airports - perhaps with a severity level - add Phuket to it, and as each season goes by with nothing being done, raise its severity level. Do that across the whole EU and it would slowly strangle EU tourism to the island. The uptake of Chinese and Russians are not likely to be as lucrative or as friendly.

[eezergood]

PR exercise only! Placate a few VIP's with string words, then back to business as usual once they are all back in Bangkok.

[spidermike007]

Speaking at the JW Marriott in Mai Khao, Governor Maitree Intusut – after an introductory remark that Phuket appeared to be attractive not only to tourists but also to diplomats – said that discussions covered, among other matters, boat safety and public transport – which he said is “gradually improving”.

He also announced that any tourist with a problem was welcome to contact his office directly, an alternative to dealing with police who have been accused of heavy-handedness – especially in the recent case of a French family who realised that they had emerged from the airport with no entry stamp, went back to airport Immigration and were arrested.

What I want to know is, why wasn't the immigration official who let the family into the country without stamping their passports, either arrested, fined, or permanently fired? Why was the family penalized after Bozo the clown made a mistake? Why was it their issue, and not his? Can anyone take responsibility for a mistake here, ever? Do not get started with the loss of face. All face is, is an excuse to engage in life's greatest form of cowardice. The inability to subject ones self to analysis and introspection. SO, I ask again, why was this family subjected to this insanity? Does anyone think they will ever return? Does anyone care? Is there anyone out there in any industry related to tourism here, who is not completely blind and myopic?

[spidermike007]

Ambassadors don't change the world, they usually go with the status quo.

These guys got a nice stay and a night in Bangla- yep on the taxpayer.

If they were half serious they would have already issued travel warnings to Thailand, no more travel insurance. That's just about the only thing I can see that would get Bangkok's attention, but ... can't interfere with people's right to travel to foreign countries to get laid- especially theirs.

A start on cleaning up Phuket would be impeachment of the mayors.

Ambassadors don't change the world, they usually go with the status quo.

These guys got a nice stay and a night in Bangla- yep on the taxpayer.

If they were half serious they would have already issued travel warnings to Thailand, no more travel insurance. That's just about the only thing I can see that would get Bangkok's attention, but ... can't interfere with people's right to travel to foreign countries to get laid- especially theirs.

A start on cleaning up Phuket would be impeachment of the mayors.

What about following Chinas lead, and arresting, trying, and executing government officials found to be taking money for their own benefit? How long do you think this greedy behavior would continue once they started wasting officials on the lam? About a month?