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

... no gun shots or knives in the head?

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

I was in samui and thought may, it was a little more quieter than what ever normal is , walking many times around chewang during the day it was spot the tourist I thought , most major retailers closed as per coup orders and some bars but most as usual were open , I did notice police more but no soldiers

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).

If you smile at a stranger in the UK you are fined. If you are shown to be having fun you are fined. So, why not taking the kids out of school too?

Spidermike007

I was in samui and thought may, it was a little more quieter than what ever normal is , walking many times around chewang during the day it was spot the tourist I thought , most major retailers closed as per coup orders and some bars but most as usual were open , I did notice police more but no soldiers

It is way, way quieter than usual right now. Not sure what some are carrying on about normal occupancy. No sign of that anywhere except chaweng beach road. Most restaurants are deserted. Of course the bar scene has been in a steady decline on Samui for years now. But way slower than normal low season. I hear the elders are trying to make the place into a family island. They appear to be succeeding.

Spidermike007

is not only so in samui. thanks to this military dictatorship is it the same all over thailand that you hardly see tourists. compared to the last low saison 2013 are pataya, patong and so on now ghost towns. you see much more thais everywhren than tourists. when you see tourists than some chines and russians but also less and less. anyhow the good thing is the prices goes down and all the mafia don´t can melk tourists anymore :-D .a friend told me a few days ago, that many farangs trying to sell they business (bars, restaurants and so on) for a price whatever they get, thinking better go back home with a little bit money than nothing :-D they now the coming high season will be bad as now. and this will keep on so for at least years. thailand is out from mass tourism.

is not only so in samui. thanks to this military dictatorship is it the same all over thailand that you hardly see tourists. compared to the last low saison 2013 are pataya, patong and so on now ghost towns. you see much more thais everywhren than tourists. when you see tourists than some chines and russians but also less and less. anyhow the good thing is the prices goes down and all the mafia don´t can melk tourists anymore :-D .a friend told me a few days ago, that many farangs trying to sell they business (bars, restaurants and so on) for a price whatever they get, thinking better go back home with a little bit money than nothing :-D they now the coming high season will be bad as now. and this will keep on so for at least years. thailand is out from mass tourism.

Forward my details then, I'm after a bargain!

JDGRUEN

" If if wasn't for the base level population of long term expats the pharmacies would be hurting too..."

This is precisely why I think the Thai government should make things as smooth and easy for ex-pats/ long stay tourists.

They may not spend like two week millionaires but they spread out the spending through low season and political turmoil.

There day rate of spending may not be as high but there total expenditures far exceed what is spent by a 2 week tourist

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

1 above was always the main reason for the exodus at this time of year. 2 is a new one - but a valid one and now there is a third reason.

A few younger male Russians that I know of are reservists in the military and have been called back to support what is happining in the Crimean region.

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

and wet and windy if the reports are to be believed.

At least it is dry here in Samui

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

and wet and windy if the reports are to be believed.

At least it is dry here in Samui

Well Chong Mon maybe.... but other areas are getting a nice down pour every day or two.....(usually short) .... but there are some good wind gusts too...

Nice, it keeps most areas fresh and a bit cooler and keeping the island green!...

I was in samui and thought may, it was a little more quieter than what ever normal is , walking many times around chewang during the day it was spot the tourist I thought , most major retailers closed as per coup orders and some bars but most as usual were open , I did notice police more but no soldiers

A bit confusing. Most major retailers closed? daytime? maybe because some open midday, some in the afternoon. Bars? what bars? beerbars? do they open daytime?

btw. the 4 and 5 Star hotels are almost full. Not with FITs (Foreign Individual Travellers = typical high season couples) from Europe, but Asian FITs and Asian groups and also with many Australians. Many groups are here on package holidays and some dinners and parties are organized in their hotels or at certain restaurants.

Another reason why some restaurants seem to be empty on Chaweng is the enormous amount of new restaurants everywhere like never before. Apart from the fact, that many former shops/bars on Chaweng Beach Road were turned now into huge (steak/seafood) restaurants (...and cheap and nice Spas), there is now the Chaweng Walking street with dozens of small restaurants, the night market next to McDonalds on the lake road with another dozen new small food stalls, many new restaurants on that lake road, on the road from lake road to beach road and there is the new Central Festival with another 200 new shops and restaurants and the Foodpark and and and......how many restaurants are there now? It must be ~500. Great choice for everyone like never before....

and wet and windy if the reports are to be believed.

At least it is dry here in Samui

Oh forgot you live on the pointy end.

Great choice for everyone like never before.

Most offering the same thing. Would love to see Caribbean, Persian and West African restaurants on the island.

Net heard of any reservists being called back into service but would certainly be happing given the age group. Could be an effect of tightening up on exempt entries and back to back tourist visas and of cause, the exchange rate.

Right, all the same, more or less. And now, after you were saying that, I comes to my mind, that I would love to see Kiribati deep sea giant seastar restaurants, Transylvanian chestnuts stalls and Antarctic Mountain Hare BBQs.

Perhaps a bit more quiet than last year, but more busy than many years; this time of the year. May be depending of tourist category, as in low season many East Europeans and Russians arrivals, so if they for one-or-other reason holds back a bit, the low season may seem slower in the areas where they use to stay.

Hard to say about Chinese guests, as they don’t seem to mingle much with other nationalities or outing themselves - same with 5-star resort guests, who often stay inside the resort or pre-arranged touring, so you don’t notice hi or lo that much…

Tourism at Samui seems to have gradually changed over the past decade from singles to families with children, so if the season-indicator is beer bars, then it may look like low season all year now, with many more bars “For Sale” or “For Rent” - or just vanished…

Normally May and June are low month, from early to mid July high season again.

Chaweng was overwhelmed crowded during last Full Moon session around June 12th, packed as Xmas/New Year peak, so no low season among the party-set…

BTW curfew at Samui was in 7-elleven (those who could find a key only), Family Mart one single night, a few chain super-stores like Tesco and BigC, and the cinema…

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

Yes for sure bad business, they will raise the praise prices this is Thai style.

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?

This is like after the tsunami some ppl are attracted by any impact and curious.

This was free advertisment in the international press.

Sometimes are "Bad news good news"

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?

This is like after the tsunami some ppl are attracted by any impact and curious.

This was free advertisment in the international press.

Sometimes are "Bad news good news"

A lot of Australians are in Thailand , one they do not go to Bali , (that age group anyway ) as much as before, secondly a massive campaign in the Australian newspapers with dirt cheap flights & accommodation to Thailand.

Right, all the same, more or less. And now, after you were saying that, I comes to my mind, that I would love to see Kiribati deep sea giant seastar restaurants, Transylvanian chestnuts stalls and Antarctic Mountain Hare BBQs.

Sign me up, Birdie, sign me up!