Patong is dead - but what about the rest of Phuket?

[simon43]

The 'Patong is dead' thread has reached 50 pages, and I'm enjoying reading the sometimes combative posts about how this party town is dead (or not).

I've commented a few times about the situation in my neck of the woods.

So as not to contaminate the existing thread with more reports from outside Patong, I've created this new thread specifically for reports and comments about towns and locations outside Patong, such as Phuket Town, Rawaii, the airport area etc.

Please post your own comments about what you feel is happening to tourism and tourist businesses for the rest of the island.

I'll start

In the airport/NaiYang beach area, there seems to be a dearth of tourists 'on the ground'. I have spoken to many businesses at the beach and on the airport approach road. You can see it with your own eyes - the number of tourists is low, very low.

Yes, there are Chinese tourists. But their numbers doesn't really help local businesses, unless you happen to own the Chinese hotel on the hill. I see some brave souls venture out alone from that hotel in the evening. But they don't buy anything, except to sample a piece of street chicken.

I sat in the lounge bar of a friend's guesthouse last night that is on the airport approach road and together we counted the tourists as they walked past. In 1 hour, we counted 5 Western tourists and perhaps 15 Chinese. My friend told me that the common comment to him from tourists seeking overnight accommodation was 'can you make it cheaper?' (his rooms are 800 baht a night).

So gaining business from footfall traffic is not going well for many.

Is this the same situation in Rawaii, Kata, Karon? Please post your own comments and views.

[phuketrichard]

Kamala;

since all places were kicked off the beach seems many locals have opened; fruit juice, coffees, chicken take away stands, throughout the village

no idea how they will survive when every other house sells something,

beach is empty and i love it

Big c and tesco seem hurting

dont do bars or go out much at night so no idea

[madmitch]

Karon's always dead at this time of year so difficult to comment, but I'd say high season numbers were similar to previous years but the common theme everywhere seems to be that spending is down.

Big hotels, mainly due to tour groups, and regular guesthouses, catering for budget travellers, seem to have done OK but I know people that own "boutique" hotels/guesthouses in the vicinity and they've struggled and have had to reduce prices. Seems price over quality is a major factor.

On the other hand I know EAT restaurant, which isn't cheap, and is situated in a quieter part of Karon, is full every night in high season and ticks over quite nicely during low season. This is due to the Tripadvisor effect; businesses at the top of the list generally do very well.

[Exstendo]

Outside if patong its a a ghost town.

[KarenBravo]

Both Chalong and Rawai are still seeing hordes of Chinese on speed-boat tours.

Lots of food-carts and local entrepreneurs at the transit points, so, the locals are doing well.

As for the bars and restaurants, Chalong is way down from just a couple of months ago. Rawai is also down, but, not by so much.

A good barometer is the twice a week gathering (Mondays & Thursdays) at Asia Bar and Jasmine Bar, when the happy hour coincides with the local market right next door.

Still a fair amount of people, but, not full, as it used to be a few months ago.

Rawai just has too many restaurants for the available patronage, so, expect a few to disappear. Many have for sale signs.

[LivinginKata]

My recent topic --->

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/919400-tesco-mall-south-of-chalong-circle-dying/

[geisha]

A bit off topic , but I'm sure everyone will agree that Thailand,especially Phuket , has lost its sparkle .Phuket was once a beautiful island. Also the locals were always friendly and helpful. I spent years in Kata, and moved to Patong because of the taxi / tuc tuc rip offs that were stopping me moving about as I wish. Then that got bad too, so another move. Tourists are more savvy today, read up on the internet about all the tourist scams. Also, the world economy is bad. Europeans are taking less holidays, and staying closer to home. There's also the terrorist problem that is scaring people away from travelling far. Thailand has become much more expensive, and there are lots of good holiday destinations on everyone's list. Now you have the Chinese mass tourism to replace the " regulars". Then there's the bad publicity and reputation that Thailand is getting , bus/tour bus/ fatal accidents every day, attacks on tourists and scams. I'm quite sure the golden days of Thailand are over.

[ThailandLOS]

"My friend told me that the common comment to him from tourists seeking overnight accommodation was 'can you make it cheaper?' (his rooms are 800 baht a night)."

I suppose it's the right question to ask if numbers are down and prices stay the same, not?

[ozyjon]

Went to Patong with the family,,

the kids loved the Hotel pool,

went to the shopping mall for

dinner, cost more than an

expensive restaurant back home,

a tourist rip off, never want to

go there again.

[johnatong]

Went to Patong with the family,,

the kids loved the Hotel pool,

went to the shopping mall for

dinner, cost more than an

expensive restaurant back home,

a tourist rip off, never want to

go there again.

Where do you come from where an "expensive" restaurant offers a cheaper experience than a shopping mall meal ?

You clearly do not know what an expensive restaurant is but suggest you try this one

https://www.thefatduck.co.uk/reservations

[NamKangMan]

When is the last time anyone saw a queue at an ATM or money changer?

Edited May 24, 2016 by NamKangMan

[Michael8511]

The whole Thailand are slowing down when it comes to tourism except from the Chinese and russian market. And to be honest if I read this forum with all negative comments about the Thai people and Thailand and this from people that love Thais and Thailand I should also think twice before I travel to Thailand. And a lot of people read these bad comments over and over again.

[johnatong]

The whole Thailand are slowing down when it comes to tourism except from the Chinese and russian market. And to be honest if I read this forum with all negative comments about the Thai people and Thailand and this from people that love Thais and Thailand I should also think twice before I travel to Thailand. And a lot of people read these bad comments over and over again.

That statement can be checked for accuracy here

http://www2.tat.or.th/stat/web/static_download.php?Rpt=nmt

Agree with you about the usual suspects who bad mouth Phuket/Thailand/Thais with determined persistence. On wonders why they stay.

[mikiea]

The whole Thailand are slowing down when it comes to tourism except from the Chinese and russian market. And to be honest if I read this forum with all negative comments about the Thai people and Thailand and this from people that love Thais and Thailand I should also think twice before I travel to Thailand. And a lot of people read these bad comments over and over again.

That statement can be checked for accuracy here

http://www2.tat.or.th/stat/web/static_download.php?Rpt=nmt

Agree with you about the usual suspects who bad mouth Phuket/Thailand/Thais with determined persistence. On wonders why they stay.

the correct question is ..... why do you care , they were not trying to convince you of anything . .... yikes

Edited May 24, 2016 by mikiea

[Lokie]

Feel sorry for any tourists who have booked a beach holiday at Surin, unless they are happy with the smell and environment of a rubble strewn tip, Ahh now a beach paradise...

[Lashay]

"My friend told me that the common comment to him from tourists seeking overnight accommodation was 'can you make it cheaper?' (his rooms are 800 baht a night)."

I suppose it's the right question to ask if numbers are down and prices stay the same, not?

You would think so....but when you see them complaining and trying to bargain prices of beer down...in 7-11 ...you know you are dragging the very bottom in regards to tourist quality.

And thats something i am seeing across the Island these days, western tourists that would make the 'cheap charlies' of old seem like extravagant big spenders.

[johnatong]

"My friend told me that the common comment to him from tourists seeking overnight accommodation was 'can you make it cheaper?' (his rooms are 800 baht a night)."

I suppose it's the right question to ask if numbers are down and prices stay the same, not?

You would think so....but when you see them complaining and trying to bargain prices of beer down...in 7-11 ...you know you are dragging the very bottom in regards to tourist quality.

And thats something i am seeing across the Island these days, western tourists that would make the 'cheap charlies' of old seem like extravagant big spenders.

"And thats something i am seeing across the Island these days"

How do you achieve this oversight of the Island ?

How many of these sub cheap charlies did you see today in Chalong, Rawai, Patong, Phuket town , Kamala. Surin etc, etc.

Are you a BS'er ?

[mesterm]

"My friend told me that the common comment to him from tourists seeking overnight accommodation was 'can you make it cheaper?' (his rooms are 800 baht a night)."

I suppose it's the right question to ask if numbers are down and prices stay the same, not?

You would think so....but when you see them complaining and trying to bargain prices of beer down...in 7-11 ...you know you are dragging the very bottom in regards to tourist quality.

And thats something i am seeing across the Island these days, western tourists that would make the 'cheap charlies' of old seem like extravagant big spenders.

"And thats something i am seeing across the Island these days"

How do you achieve this oversight of the Island ?

How many of these sub cheap charlies did you see today in Chalong, Rawai, Patong, Phuket town , Kamala. Surin etc, etc.

Are you a BS'er ?

Are you a BS'er ?

Haha!

[Lashay]

When is the last time anyone saw a queue at an ATM or money changer?

Long time, but think that's more due to how damn many of them there are. Even if tourism numbers tripled overnight queues would still be few and far between.

It's an on going problem with virtually every business here, be it bar, restaurant, hotel, exchange, 7-11, dive school....

Normal new business idea/location pattern:

• First one opens, does very well
• 6 month or less later, other one opens within 20 meters, they both still do well but neither run at capacity anymore
• 3 months later 3rd opens (probably between the other two) now all 3 run at 50% or less capacity most of the time
• 2 months later another 2 open within 50 meters, now just half of the businesses are just making a profit, rest sinking. Latter ones start price war
• 12-24 months from first opening the weakest in reserves start going under but more people keep opening thinking they can do better, normally these are worse than ones that already failed but they keep pressure on the ones that are surviving so they cannot get a breather to improve/invest/grow. They do this normally by undercutting existing competition, ie: undercutting businesses that already reduced their prices to bare minimum due to previous price war...

In other-words, if they could do better math than:

buy for X, sell for X+Y = Y take home profit

they would realize they have not properly factored in rent, staff, utilities, licences, taxes, so forth, thus don't realize they are really selling for a loss.

And talking to many people who own businesses here, both thai and farang, you would be surprised how many don't really realize this.

These are people who, if in the west, with higher cost of entry, would be going to a Bank for a loan, a bank that would demand a business plan and when presented with their figures would laugh them out the door.

[motyduke]

I went for first time in phuket Island last month. I enjoyed my stay and feeled relax and had good time on beach. BUT i feeled everything is very expensive there : meals, drinks , taxi (Rip off), hôtels ... It killed my hope to come back again.

[KarenBravo]

"My friend told me that the common comment to him from tourists seeking overnight accommodation was 'can you make it cheaper?' (his rooms are 800 baht a night)."

I suppose it's the right question to ask if numbers are down and prices stay the same, not?

You would think so....but when you see them complaining and trying to bargain prices of beer down...in 7-11 ...you know you are dragging the very bottom in regards to tourist quality.

And thats something i am seeing across the Island these days, western tourists that would make the 'cheap charlies' of old seem like extravagant big spenders.

"And thats something i am seeing across the Island these days"

How do you achieve this oversight of the Island ?

How many of these sub cheap charlies did you see today in Chalong, Rawai, Patong, Phuket town , Kamala. Surin etc, etc.

Are you a BS'er ?

Pot. Kettle. Black.

Add hypocrite.

[PlastikbinLina]

A bit off topic , but I'm sure everyone will agree that Thailand,especially Phuket , has lost its sparkle .Phuket was once a beautiful island. Also the locals were always friendly and helpful. I spent years in Kata, and moved to Patong because of the taxi / tuc tuc rip offs that were stopping me moving about as I wish. Then that got bad too, so another move. Tourists are more savvy today, read up on the internet about all the tourist scams. Also, the world economy is bad. Europeans are taking less holidays, and staying closer to home. There's also the terrorist problem that is scaring people away from travelling far. Thailand has become much more expensive, and there are lots of good holiday destinations on everyone's list. Now you have the Chinese mass tourism to replace the " regulars". Then there's the bad publicity and reputation that Thailand is getting , bus/tour bus/ fatal accidents every day, attacks on tourists and scams. I'm quite sure the golden days of Thailand are over.

Popular places frequented by seasonal tourists always suffer in the off seasons, however there are many districts where entertainment of all types are a constant. These place mostly lack foreign tourists, but have a become a vibrant local tourist destination which greatly encourages local business's to cater for them and so the town is never short of visitors including FIFO foreigners. The key to looking for these towns that cater for all even in the low season is to know where there is a decent expat population, which very much encourages reasonable and relatively inexpensive watering holes for that group. For example in Songkhla Province there are oil companies and supporting service organizations that employ many expats, some who work of shore and others on base and they provide local expats an opportunity to frequent or open entertainment bars and restaurants along with the eye candy. I've lived in many towns in Thailand and came to realize that the major centres, Phuket, Pattaya, Chang mai are too expensive and too seasonal for my small income. I believe there are better places to live than those towns.

[Pinot]

A bit off topic , but I'm sure everyone will agree that Thailand,especially Phuket , has lost its sparkle .Phuket was once a beautiful island. Also the locals were always friendly and helpful. I spent years in Kata, and moved to Patong because of the taxi / tuc tuc rip offs that were stopping me moving about as I wish. Then that got bad too, so another move. Tourists are more savvy today, read up on the internet about all the tourist scams. Also, the world economy is bad. Europeans are taking less holidays, and staying closer to home. There's also the terrorist problem that is scaring people away from travelling far. Thailand has become much more expensive, and there are lots of good holiday destinations on everyone's list. Now you have the Chinese mass tourism to replace the " regulars". Then there's the bad publicity and reputation that Thailand is getting , bus/tour bus/ fatal accidents every day, attacks on tourists and scams. I'm quite sure the golden days of Thailand are over.

I've been to all the SE Asia countries in the last 18 months. Thailand is heads above the rest. Blame the world economy for the slow down. The tourists will be back. The terrorist problem is not an issue. I know Thailand is the best place. Spend some time in the alternatives and you'll agree.

A bit off topic , but I'm sure everyone will agree that Thailand,especially Phuket , has lost its sparkle .Phuket was once a beautiful island. Also the locals were always friendly and helpful. I spent years in Kata, and moved to Patong because of the taxi / tuc tuc rip offs that were stopping me moving about as I wish. Then that got bad too, so another move. Tourists are more savvy today, read up on the internet about all the tourist scams. Also, the world economy is bad. Europeans are taking less holidays, and staying closer to home. There's also the terrorist problem that is scaring people away from travelling far. Thailand has become much more expensive, and there are lots of good holiday destinations on everyone's list. Now you have the Chinese mass tourism to replace the " regulars". Then there's the bad publicity and reputation that Thailand is getting , bus/tour bus/ fatal accidents every day, attacks on tourists and scams. I'm quite sure the golden days of Thailand are over.

Popular places frequented by seasonal tourists always suffer in the off seasons, however there are many districts where entertainment of all types are a constant. These place mostly lack foreign tourists, but have a become a vibrant local tourist destination which greatly encourages local business's to cater for them and so the town is never short of visitors including FIFO foreigners. The key to looking for these towns that cater for all even in the low season is to know where there is a decent expat population, which very much encourages reasonable and relatively inexpensive watering holes for that group. For example in Songkhla Province there are oil companies and supporting service organizations that employ many expats, some who work of shore and others on base and they provide local expats an opportunity to frequent or open entertainment bars and restaurants along with the eye candy. I've lived in many towns in Thailand and came to realize that the major centres, Phuket, Pattaya, Chang mai are too expensive and too seasonal for my small income. I believe there are better places to live than those towns.

I'll take Phuket over everyplace else in the world. Everytime I see criticism of Phuket I imagine a keeneo old fart living in the middle of nowhere with a pathetic life. Phuket is more expensive because it's a better place to live and they can charge 12000b a month for a house instead of 6000. I've got a few bucks and can afford a far better lifestyle for those few bucks. I want to live 5 minutes from a world class beach, with great food, an active social life and Thai girls.

As far as the topic goes...it's May.

[NamKangMan]

When is the last time anyone saw a queue at an ATM or money changer?

Long time, but think that's more due to how damn many of them there are. Even if tourism numbers tripled overnight queues would still be few and far between.

It's an on going problem with virtually every business here, be it bar, restaurant, hotel, exchange, 7-11, dive school....

Normal new business idea/location pattern:

• First one opens, does very well
• 6 month or less later, other one opens within 20 meters, they both still do well but neither run at capacity anymore
• 3 months later 3rd opens (probably between the other two) now all 3 run at 50% or less capacity most of the time
• 2 months later another 2 open within 50 meters, now just half of the businesses are just making a profit, rest sinking. Latter ones start price war
• 12-24 months from first opening the weakest in reserves start going under but more people keep opening thinking they can do better, normally these are worse than ones that already failed but they keep pressure on the ones that are surviving so they cannot get a breather to improve/invest/grow. They do this normally by undercutting existing competition, ie: undercutting businesses that already reduced their prices to bare minimum due to previous price war...

In other-words, if they could do better math than:

buy for X, sell for X+Y = Y take home profit

they would realize they have not properly factored in rent, staff, utilities, licences, taxes, so forth, thus don't realize they are really selling for a loss.

And talking to many people who own businesses here, both thai and farang, you would be surprised how many don't really realize this.

These are people who, if in the west, with higher cost of entry, would be going to a Bank for a loan, a bank that would demand a business plan and when presented with their figures would laugh them out the door.

There are certain ATM's and money changers located in and / or near the nightlife, shopping and accommodation in Patong.

Certain ATM's were heavily used, particularly at night.

From my observations, they are not being used as much in recent times.

[NamKangMan]

A bit off topic , but I'm sure everyone will agree that Thailand,especially Phuket , has lost its sparkle .Phuket was once a beautiful island. Also the locals were always friendly and helpful. I spent years in Kata, and moved to Patong because of the taxi / tuc tuc rip offs that were stopping me moving about as I wish. Then that got bad too, so another move. Tourists are more savvy today, read up on the internet about all the tourist scams. Also, the world economy is bad. Europeans are taking less holidays, and staying closer to home. There's also the terrorist problem that is scaring people away from travelling far. Thailand has become much more expensive, and there are lots of good holiday destinations on everyone's list. Now you have the Chinese mass tourism to replace the " regulars". Then there's the bad publicity and reputation that Thailand is getting , bus/tour bus/ fatal accidents every day, attacks on tourists and scams. I'm quite sure the golden days of Thailand are over.

Popular places frequented by seasonal tourists always suffer in the off seasons, however there are many districts where entertainment of all types are a constant. These place mostly lack foreign tourists, but have a become a vibrant local tourist destination which greatly encourages local business's to cater for them and so the town is never short of visitors including FIFO foreigners. The key to looking for these towns that cater for all even in the low season is to know where there is a decent expat population, which very much encourages reasonable and relatively inexpensive watering holes for that group. For example in Songkhla Province there are oil companies and supporting service organizations that employ many expats, some who work of shore and others on base and they provide local expats an opportunity to frequent or open entertainment bars and restaurants along with the eye candy. I've lived in many towns in Thailand and came to realize that the major centres, Phuket, Pattaya, Chang mai are too expensive and too seasonal for my small income. I believe there are better places to live than those towns.

"so the town is never short of visitors including FIFO foreigners" - recent visa laws enforcement turned away quite a few FIFO workers, not to mention to China's lower demand for commodities, and the very low price of oil.

Not as many FIFO workers here now as previously.

[NamKangMan]

A bit off topic , but I'm sure everyone will agree that Thailand,especially Phuket , has lost its sparkle .Phuket was once a beautiful island. Also the locals were always friendly and helpful. I spent years in Kata, and moved to Patong because of the taxi / tuc tuc rip offs that were stopping me moving about as I wish. Then that got bad too, so another move. Tourists are more savvy today, read up on the internet about all the tourist scams. Also, the world economy is bad. Europeans are taking less holidays, and staying closer to home. There's also the terrorist problem that is scaring people away from travelling far. Thailand has become much more expensive, and there are lots of good holiday destinations on everyone's list. Now you have the Chinese mass tourism to replace the " regulars". Then there's the bad publicity and reputation that Thailand is getting , bus/tour bus/ fatal accidents every day, attacks on tourists and scams. I'm quite sure the golden days of Thailand are over.

I've been to all the SE Asia countries in the last 18 months. Thailand is heads above the rest. Blame the world economy for the slow down. The tourists will be back. The terrorist problem is not an issue. I know Thailand is the best place. Spend some time in the alternatives and you'll agree.

A bit off topic , but I'm sure everyone will agree that Thailand,especially Phuket , has lost its sparkle .Phuket was once a beautiful island. Also the locals were always friendly and helpful. I spent years in Kata, and moved to Patong because of the taxi / tuc tuc rip offs that were stopping me moving about as I wish. Then that got bad too, so another move. Tourists are more savvy today, read up on the internet about all the tourist scams. Also, the world economy is bad. Europeans are taking less holidays, and staying closer to home. There's also the terrorist problem that is scaring people away from travelling far. Thailand has become much more expensive, and there are lots of good holiday destinations on everyone's list. Now you have the Chinese mass tourism to replace the " regulars". Then there's the bad publicity and reputation that Thailand is getting , bus/tour bus/ fatal accidents every day, attacks on tourists and scams. I'm quite sure the golden days of Thailand are over.

Popular places frequented by seasonal tourists always suffer in the off seasons, however there are many districts where entertainment of all types are a constant. These place mostly lack foreign tourists, but have a become a vibrant local tourist destination which greatly encourages local business's to cater for them and so the town is never short of visitors including FIFO foreigners. The key to looking for these towns that cater for all even in the low season is to know where there is a decent expat population, which very much encourages reasonable and relatively inexpensive watering holes for that group. For example in Songkhla Province there are oil companies and supporting service organizations that employ many expats, some who work of shore and others on base and they provide local expats an opportunity to frequent or open entertainment bars and restaurants along with the eye candy. I've lived in many towns in Thailand and came to realize that the major centres, Phuket, Pattaya, Chang mai are too expensive and too seasonal for my small income. I believe there are better places to live than those towns.

I'll take Phuket over everyplace else in the world. Everytime I see criticism of Phuket I imagine a keeneo old fart living in the middle of nowhere with a pathetic life. Phuket is more expensive because it's a better place to live and they can charge 12000b a month for a house instead of 6000. I've got a few bucks and can afford a far better lifestyle for those few bucks. I want to live 5 minutes from a world class beach, with great food, an active social life and Thai girls.

As far as the topic goes...it's May.

"I've been to all the SE Asia countries in the last 18 months." - what cities in which countries, and how long did you spend in each?

"Thailand is heads above the rest." - ok. Why? What does Thailand have that the other countries do not have? (Laos aside, as it is landlocked)

"Blame the world economy for the slow down." - I have several friends that used to holiday regularly on Phuket. They now go to Pattaya. I also know a few expats that moved to Pattaya, two of which had businesses here. The world economy had nothing to do with their change of destination.

"The tourists will be back." - what is Phuket doing differently now to lure back the western tourist market they have lost, except for some beach clean up? Why do you think they will be back?

"The terrorist problem is not an issue." - I agree.

"I know Thailand is the best place." - this is your opinion, but I'm happy to hear why you think it's the best place.

"Spend some time in the alternatives and you'll agree." - once again, where did you go and how long did you stay there?

"Everytime I see criticism of Phuket I imagine a keeneo old fart living in the middle of nowhere with a pathetic life." - I'm critical of Phuket's tourism management. I'm under 50 years of age, self funded and retired, and living in Patong. I hardly match your stereotype.

"Phuket is more expensive because it's a better place to live" - better than where? Where are you comparing it to, and on what criteria?

"I want to live 5 minutes from a world class beach, with great food, an active social life and Thai girls." - so do I, and like yourself, I do, although I am a little more than 5 mins away from a decent beach. That said, Phuket is not the only place that offers such a lifestyle.

Edited May 25, 2016 by NamKangMan

[geriatrickid]

I have had a a bit of a chuckle over some of the responses. Seems some are in denial that an adjustment is underway. Part of it is due to the local tourist economy not adapting to the needs of its clients. My last visit was at Christmas. What an unpleasant place to be. Gridlock and heavy traffic in Surin and Bangtao. A 900 baht+ ripoff ride from the airport. A bloated accommodation rate equivalent to a 4* hotel in the west that provided 3* quality with a mattress that was hard as rock, and too many cockroaches in a supposedly high end place.were what I remembered. Dining wasn't any better. I had many meals that were more expensive than in a decent western restaurant, that were bland and greasy and that did not feature fresh or high quality ingredients. These were not at low end places, but supposedly high end Thai and western style restaurants. Even attempts to eat local at a fish specialty place were a ripoff. There is something terribly wrong when I sit on a crappy plastic chair in a noisy place, at a dirty table, am served by a clueless waiter and pay 1200 for a fish meal for 2.

There will always be people oblivious to the raw sewage in the water. The Chinese and Indian package tourists won't care since they come from countries that are even worse. The sex tourists seem oblivious to the fact that HIV and hepatitis along with antibiotic resistant strains of other STIs make Phuket a very dangerous place to bed down with a local for sexual relations .Phuket is now considered to be one of the HIV infection reservoirs in Thailand and the public health department doesn't respond. I have the impression that the local tourism officials have blocked any efforts to warn the public.

The quality of the fish and shellfish products are questionable as well. There was a time, when Phuket was renowned for its seafood. I don't touch Thai shellfish now. When the Thai government starts responsible testing of; seafood, beach water quality and sex trade workers and publishing results , I will have some confidence. Until then, I see Phuket as a public health and safety liability.

This is just my opinion. However, I believe it is shared by many people who used to spend alot of money in Phuket and who have left. Some people like Pattaya too. They think Jomtien beach is fantastic. Others love Rawai. If they are happy, good for them. Why should I spend 40,000 baht on a weekend in Phuket when I can get better quality and less stress in Hua Hin for 25,000? Phuket is a poor value proposition compared to many other places in the region. The locals don't care that I'm gone, and that's ok. They can rot in their own filth now.

Edited May 29, 2016 by geriatrickid

[NamKangMan]

I have had a a bit of a chuckle over some of the responses. Seems some are in denial that an adjustment is underway. Part of it is due to the local tourist economy not adapting to the needs of its clients. My last visit was at Christmas. What an unpleasant place to be. Gridlock and heavy traffic in Surin and Bangtao. A 900 baht+ ripoff ride from the airport. A bloated accommodation rate equivalent to a 4* hotel in the west that provided 3* quality with a mattress that was hard as rock, and too many cockroaches in a supposedly high end place.were what I remembered. Dining wasn't any better. I had many meals that were more expensive than in a decent western restaurant, that were bland and greasy and that did not feature fresh or high quality ingredients. These were not at low end places, but supposedly high end Thai and western style restaurants. Even attempts to eat local at a fish specialty place were a ripoff. There is something terribly wrong when I sit on a crappy plastic chair in a noisy place, at a dirty table, am served by a clueless waiter and pay 1200 for a fish meal for 2.

There will always be people oblivious to the raw sewage in the water. The Chinese and Indian package tourists won't care since they come from countries that are even worse. The sex tourists seem oblivious to the fact that HIV and hepatitis along with antibiotic resistant strains of other STIs make Phuket a very dangerous place to bed down with a local for sexual relations .Phuket is now considered to be one of the HIV infection reservoirs in Thailand and the public health department doesn't respond. I have the impression that the local tourism officials have blocked any efforts to warn the public.

The quality of the fish and shellfish products are questionable as well. There was a time, when Phuket was renowned for its seafood. I don't touch Thai shellfish now. When the Thai government starts responsible testing of; seafood, beach water quality and sex trade workers and publishing results , I will have some confidence. Until then, I see Phuket as a public health and safety liability.

This is just my opinion. However, I believe it is shared by many people who used to spend alot of money in Phuket and who have left. Some people like Pattaya too. They think Jomtien beach is fantastic. Others love Rawai. If they are happy, good for them. Why should I spend 40,000 baht on a weekend in Phuket when I can get better quality and less stress in Hua Hin for 25,000? Phuket is a poor value proposition compared to many other places in the region. The locals don't care that I'm gone, and that's ok. They can rot in their own filth now.

Other than leaving, is there any positive thing you can say about your visit?

[chrisandsu]

I went for first time in phuket Island last month. I enjoyed my stay and feeled relax and had good time on beach. BUT i feeled everything is very expensive there : meals, drinks , taxi (Rip off), hôtels ... It killed my hope to come back again.

There is the problem . Phuket is on a par price-wise with staying on a beech resort in Europe ! But with extra crime and garbage strewn all over the place to deal with .

[The Big Mango]

I went for first time in phuket Island last month. I enjoyed my stay and feeled relax and had good time on beach. BUT i feeled everything is very expensive there : meals, drinks , taxi (Rip off), hôtels ... It killed my hope to come back again.

There is the problem . Phuket is on a par price-wise with staying on a beech resort in Europe ! But with extra crime and garbage strewn all over the place to deal with .

More crime than say just one example , Tenerife ???

Beg to differ