Samui - low season biting harder than usual ?

[MrWorldwide]

Hoping to hear from locals or anyone who has been to Koh Samui in the last 2-3 weeks. I've been told that the island is in the grip of a profound low season - just wanted some independent verification. From memory, the curfew was lifted on Samui at the same time as Patts, and there are still tourists here even if its not at February levels.

Thanks in advance.

[Gringogazzer]

The wife & I are on a low season walkabout at the minute. The last 2 months. Been down the eastern seaboard & now back on the west, Krabi.

I've never seen Thailand so quiet before. But I'm loving it.

The restaurants are empty, so good service. The beaches are quiet or empty, so good for a walk or drinking coffee. The roads are free of one time moped (scooter) riders, only เด็กแว้น (boy racer) to worry about. Buses & planes with few passengers, so not cramped & accomadation is offered to us at a discount without having to ask or press for it.

Sorry for the people that make a living in these parts, but great for the tourist.

They should make an advert for this, come & visit the empty beaches because it's lovely.

Haven't been to Ko Sumui because it's too familiar to me.

Back to normal by December I suppose.

[MrWorldwide]

Thanks for the feedback gringogazzer.

[finy]

Great news, should find somewhere cheap to live next week.

[HeijoshinCool]

Guess no business means they will be raising their prices to compensate.

[Rooo]

Moved to Samui forum for local input.

[Rooo]

You can also have a read HERE.

[JDGRUEN]

I have been all over Ao Nang for the past few weeks. Much of this time has been spent looking for a good bargain on rent. There are seemingly hundreds and hundreds of guest houses, serviced apartments, hotels, hostels, upscale resorts, bungalow 'resorts'... and from my unofficial account I think a conservative occupancy rate is at 25% or lower. Restaurants are near empty all the time. There is a constant but small stream of people on the beach walk road but it is small as I say. Late afternoon in the heat - barely anyone to see. Night time gets more active. Street hawkers of tailor shops, restaurants, gift shops, etc seem desperate - to get a few people inside. I haven't seen anyone in a tailor shop at all. If if wasn't for the base level population of long term expats the pharmacies would be hurting too...

Edited June 21, 2014 by JDGRUEN

[spidermike007]

Samui is very slow right now. Super pleasant. Does that mean anyone is lowering their prices? That would be creative and progressive behavior. Has anyone ever seen that on Samui? It can be a very pleasant place, as long as you have a great attitude. Right now, heavy rains in the PM, which is keeping things cool.

Spidermike

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MrWorldwide]

I have been all over Ao Nang for the past few weeks. Much of this time has been spent looking for a good bargain on rent. There are seemingly hundreds and hundreds of guest houses, serviced apartments, hotels, hostels, upscale resorts, bungalow 'resorts'... and from my unofficial account I think a conservative occupancy rate is at 25% or lower. Restaurants are near empty all the time. There is a constant but small stream of people on the beach walk road but it is small as I say. Late afternoon in the heat - barely anyone to see. Night time gets more active. Street hawkers of tailor shops, restaurants, gift shops, etc seem desperate - to get a few people inside. I haven't seen anyone in a tailor shop at all. If if wasn't for the base level population of long term expats the pharmacies would be hurting too...

Thanks JD - precisely the feedback I was looking for. Greatly appreciated, sir.

[Tropicalevo]

I have not noticed that this year is any better/worse than previous years. The only 'coup effect' that I have noticed is that less people are stopping over for shopping in Bangkok. They are coming stright to Samui.

December to end April was more busy than ever. (Villa rentals)

May was quiet (as always).

Early June - quiet but still people renting villas.

End of June - pretty well all booked up again for the July/August high season. I have noticed more people flying in earlier before the flight price increases on 1st July.

Bars are quieter - but that is true even when we are busy. Today's Samui visitors do not seem to go to bars as much as previous years.

[Rooo]

I have been all over Ao Nang for the past few weeks. Much of this time has been spent looking for a good bargain on rent. There are seemingly hundreds and hundreds of guest houses, serviced apartments, hotels, hostels, upscale resorts, bungalow 'resorts'... and from my unofficial account I think a conservative occupancy rate is at 25% or lower. Restaurants are near empty all the time. There is a constant but small stream of people on the beach walk road but it is small as I say. Late afternoon in the heat - barely anyone to see. Night time gets more active. Street hawkers of tailor shops, restaurants, gift shops, etc seem desperate - to get a few people inside. I haven't seen anyone in a tailor shop at all. If if wasn't for the base level population of long term expats the pharmacies would be hurting too...

Thanks JD - precisely the feedback I was looking for. Greatly appreciated, sir.

The feed back is about Ao Nang & not Samui.

[samuibruno]

personally was in chaweng on tuesday evening

and the place was surprisingly busy

we were lucky to get a table in one of the new restaurants around central mall

so hard times at present ?

not for some

[PoorSucker]

From memory, the curfew was lifted on Samui at the same time as Patts,

Curfew on Samui, when did that happen.

[notmyself]

From memory, the curfew was lifted on Samui at the same time as Patts,

Curfew on Samui, when did that happen.

One night, 22nd of May? It was a Thursday anyway.

Business owners I have spoken to say it is a little quieter than last year and last year was a little quieter than the previous.

[PoorSucker]

From memory, the curfew was lifted on Samui at the same time as Patts,

Curfew on Samui, when did that happen.

One night, 22nd of May? It was a Thursday anyway.

Business owners I have spoken to say it is a little quieter than last year and last year was a little quieter than the previous.

Not in south Chaweng,

[notmyself]

From memory, the curfew was lifted on Samui at the same time as Patts,

Curfew on Samui, when did that happen.

One night, 22nd of May? It was a Thursday anyway.

Business owners I have spoken to say it is a little quieter than last year and last year was a little quieter than the previous.

Not in south Chaweng,

Numbers are steadily increasing but what people are doing is changing? Certainly seems to be a lot more preschool kids on the island these days which one assumes means more parents.

[pokerspiv]

Last month was the quietest I can ever remember but it seems to be getting back to normal now.

The issue wasn't the curfew, but rather the coup itself. Many governments upgraded their travel warnings to "do not fly". If that alone wasn't enough to put a lot of tourists off, the fact that it voids their travel insurance would have caused a lot of cancellations too.

[MrWorldwide]

Last month was the quietest I can ever remember but it seems to be getting back to normal now.

The issue wasn't the curfew, but rather the coup itself. Many governments upgraded their travel warnings to "do not fly". If that alone wasn't enough to put a lot of tourists off, the fact that it voids their travel insurance would have caused a lot of cancellations too.

I'm sure the advice varied from one provider to another, but mine decided that the only 'void' claims would be those which were as a direct result of the coup - I took that to mean that being hospitalised in Thailand would not be considered any differently from a claims perspective than it would have prior to the coup unless I was injured as part of some form of civil unrest or other conflict.

http://service.travelinsurancedirect.com.au/customer/portal/articles/1564314-military-coup-in-thailand-faqs

Military coups are a general exclusion – which means anything that happens to you because of the coup IS NOT COVERED, but everything else IS.

So, fall over and break a leg – you’re covered. Miss a flight because the public transport system is closed – sorry, not covered.

Your bag gets stolen from your hotel – covered. Your hotel is locked down by the military and you have to pay to move to a new one – again, not covered.

[limbos]

Notmyself;

Hong Kong had the school year finish so many young kids are on a one or two week rampage on Samui. Planes were packed 9th June from HK to USM the day schools were out.

[spidermike007]

I have not noticed that this year is any better/worse than previous years. The only 'coup effect' that I have noticed is that less people are stopping over for shopping in Bangkok. They are coming stright to Samui.

December to end April was more busy than ever. (Villa rentals)

May was quiet (as always).

Early June - quiet but still people renting villas.

End of June - pretty well all booked up again for the July/August high season. I have noticed more people flying in earlier before the flight price increases on 1st July.

Bars are quieter - but that is true even when we are busy. Today's Samui visitors do not seem to go to bars as much as previous years.

Sounds like you have a great resort, with a loyal base. It is not what I am hearing from others on the island. It is exceptionally slow right now. Yes, it was busy before the coup. Very busy up until the middle of April. But, now it is nearly a ghost town. Which is very nice for those of us that are not in the tourist industry. It could be awhile until foreigners get enough confidence to come back. Right now, from what I hear, they are very afraid of the military. They of course do not realize this is not an Egypt style coup. Nonetheless, they hear the word coup, and run for the hills.

[carmine]

I have not noticed that this year is any better/worse than previous years. The only 'coup effect' that I have noticed is that less people are stopping over for shopping in Bangkok. They are coming stright to Samui.

December to end April was more busy than ever. (Villa rentals)

May was quiet (as always).

Early June - quiet but still people renting villas.

End of June - pretty well all booked up again for the July/August high season. I have noticed more people flying in earlier before the flight price increases on 1st July.

Bars are quieter - but that is true even when we are busy. Today's Samui visitors do not seem to go to bars as much as previous years.

Sounds like you have a great resort, with a loyal base. It is not what I am hearing from others on the island. It is exceptionally slow right now. Yes, it was busy before the coup. Very busy up until the middle of April. But, now it is nearly a ghost town. Which is very nice for those of us that are not in the tourist industry. It could be awhile until foreigners get enough confidence to come back. Right now, from what I hear, they are very afraid of the military. They of course do not realize this is not an Egypt style coup. Nonetheless, they hear the word coup, and run for the hills.

Exactly as i see thing however the good news is that there have been very few cancellations for the important july/august months from what i hear so we should be getting back to normal in the next week or so.

[robsamui]

MrWorldwide - Samui is very much as normal this year.

My work takes me round a lot of different resorts and just about everyone (4 star and 5-star) is at their usual occupancy for this time of year.

The coup didn't even touch Samui - there was not one soldier on the island and nightclubs/bars were unaffected. Bear in mind it is low season on Samui right now - not so many incomers on the streets - but that's to be expected. (Don't forget that the coup coincided with the start of Samui's low season, so it's hard to untangle causes and effect.)

Managers tell me that now maybe 90% of people coming here to stay at resorts are via online/direct bookings rather than tour agents. The sector which seems to be suffering the most is in the middle - the small private beach bungalow resorts are busy (in general), as are the 4-and 5-star resorts.

Trends have changed of late anyway - huge influx of Russian-speaking people, many with young children, and all of them seem to be in the 30 - 45 age group. (This alone must have lowered the average age of residents/semi-residents considerably!) Also they are going for long stay (more than 3 months) and taking small houses or apartments, rather than staying at resorts. Now that Samui has become accessible for this part of the market, the trend seems to be that, as well as families coming here as a unit, there are significant numbers of solo women with children with their partners working abroad. (With only a 6/7-hour flight, it seems to be cheaper to come to Samui rather than stay at home.)

It'll be (mini) high season again in a few weeks and resort managers I've spoken to all tell me they have satisfactory bookings through until around September.

R

Edited June 22, 2014 by robsamui

[pokerspiv]

Last month was the quietest I can ever remember but it seems to be getting back to normal now.

The issue wasn't the curfew, but rather the coup itself. Many governments upgraded their travel warnings to "do not fly". If that alone wasn't enough to put a lot of tourists off, the fact that it voids their travel insurance would have caused a lot of cancellations too.

I'm sure the advice varied from one provider to another, but mine decided that the only 'void' claims would be those which were as a direct result of the coup - I took that to mean that being hospitalised in Thailand would not be considered any differently from a claims perspective than it would have prior to the coup unless I was injured as part of some form of civil unrest or other conflict.

http://service.travelinsurancedirect.com.au/customer/portal/articles/1564314-military-coup-in-thailand-faqs

Military coups are a general exclusion – which means anything that happens to you because of the coup IS NOT COVERED, but everything else IS.

So, fall over and break a leg – you’re covered. Miss a flight because the public transport system is closed – sorry, not covered.

Your bag gets stolen from your hotel – covered. Your hotel is locked down by the military and you have to pay to move to a new one – again, not covered.

Most policies have a general clause that if your government has issued a red (do not travel) travel warning for the area you are visiting (in this case, all of Thailand), then your policy is void for that entire region, regardless of what happens.

[Birdman]

Lots of Australians are here in groups, friends and family and also marriage groups up to 30 people per group. Lots of Asians are here too. Most noticeable on the streets on rented motorbikes, many for the first time. Indians, tourists from the middle East. But numbers of Western and Central Europeans, the dominating group of tourists in the high seasons, are very low. Why? Maybe it's a mixture of potential uncertainty and the World Cup?

[Tropicalevo]

Most schools in Europe do not break up for the summer until mid to late July and in the UK the parents are fined if they take the kids out of school early (for the cheaper flights).

[robsamui]

Trends have changed of late anyway - huge influx of Russian-speaking people, many with young children, and all of them seem to be in the 30 - 45 age group. (This alone must have lowered the average age of residents/semi-residents considerably!) Also they are going for long stay (more than 3 months) and taking small houses or apartments, rather than staying at resorts. Now that Samui has become accessible for this part of the market, the trend seems to be that, as well as families coming here as a unit, there are significant numbers of solo women with children with their partners working abroad. (With only a 6/7-hour flight, it seems to be cheaper to come to Samui rather than stay at home.)

As a ps to what I wrote above - my little soi has had three houses of Russians (all unconnected . . .) for the last 6 months or so. Over the last 3 weeks they have all moved out. Friends report a similar exodus. Must be 1) summer in Russia and/or 2) the end of their double-entry visas!

R

[mihalis]

Samui is always quiet May, and slowly picks up June, July.. Best time to visit, in my opinion..

[Phoenix1312]

I'm inPhuket at the moment and it is very quiet here too.

[Maroon Watcher]

Yep - make the most of it - see the natural beauty - have the place to yourselves.

I went at Christmas and was surprised that it was so quiet.

Had it been packed it would have probably put me off.

BUT the Monoply airline Bangkok rarely has Offers,

it would help the island to have better competition.

Even a private boat that was quicker and more comfortable would help...

Quality tourists?