Samui About To Implode?

[womble]

With undoubtably the worst low season for many years for both resort and bar owners, will the high season save samui? Will it be a bumper year........

I doubt it personally, ofcourse it will be busy, but I have my doubts as to whether it will match the last 2-3 years.

Secondly the land and house market is in serious trouble, perhaps this could be the end of samui's property developers, and mayeb the time when the people of samui finally look at the island and realise that greed has ruined the place and unless they change the way the island is run things will not get better.

We are still waiting for our roads to be fixed..............

We are still waiting for an end to taxi mafia..............

We are still waiting for many things............

Will we get them, that is the big question.............

[sbk]

The only reason tourism jumped on Samui and Phangan was because of the tsunami. Now tourists are heading back to the other side and tourism will, in all likelihood, reach the same levels they were at pre-tsunami. Too many people built up with the misplaced assumption that the boom was here to stay.

The land and house market should be in trouble, the future of regulations regarding land ownership are in doubt and a smart foreign investor would wait to see which way the wind blows before spending a small fortune on property in Thailand.

As for the greed, well, one can always hope but I don't really think there is much chance of that changing, human nature being what it is.

[johnnyk]

Seems the enforcement of the land regs was aimed in large measure at Samui where fraud, money-laundering, encroachment on public land and bribery of officials has been uncovered.

[limbos]

Samui is rather busy, however I do see an increase in tourists on Budget tourists/package tours where tourists do not spend much money outside of their resorts.

Finally, mass tourism seems to have arrived.

Roads actualy are being fixed at the moment, around the airport/Ban Rak/Plai Leam area they're actaully doing a good job compared to similar work in Maenam and Lamai.

A young Thai bloke died however a few days ago at midnight between Plai Laem and Big Buddha, while he somehow fell off his bike and was impaled on some of the spikes sticking out of the unmarked open holes of the newly placed sewage system.

Edited December 22, 2006 by limbos

[Mark Wolfe]

Just last night you could notice a bit of an influx of people on the streets of Lamai, but the poor bargirls must be seriously rethinking having come here instead of say, Pattaya, as the bars are mostly empty (comparatively). Seems that more and more, tourists are not coming here for the sex.

[sbk]

My husband read on the Thai news that Khao Lak/Phang Nga have thousands of rooms booked for the Tsunami memorial.

I wonder how many people are attending that instead of relaxing on the beach in Samui?

[Samui Coconut]

With undoubtably the worst low season for many years for both resort and bar owners, will the high season save samui? Will it be a bumper year........

I doubt it personally, ofcourse it will be busy, but I have my doubts as to whether it will match the last 2-3 years.

Secondly the land and house market is in serious trouble, perhaps this could be the end of samui's property developers, and mayeb the time when the people of samui finally look at the island and realise that greed has ruined the place and unless they change the way the island is run things will not get better.

We are still waiting for our roads to be fixed..............

We are still waiting for an end to taxi mafia..............

We are still waiting for many things............

Will we get them, that is the big question.............

Worst low season ? Hmm, might have to disagree, it all depends where you sit, what business you have and the clientele you try to capture. Personally I had a very good year.....but fierce competition is growing, so 2007 might not be a great as 2006.

[mafaso]

I have spoken with quite a few hotel owners and they say they are booked solid for the next four months. It will be a fine high season. Some people on this island have a very myopic and pessimistic view of things. It seems almost as if they wish for the bad things to happen or revel in them when they do.

[Mark Wolfe]

I have spoken with quite a few hotel owners and they say they are booked solid for the next four months. It will be a fine high season.

I find that specious at best. Nevertheless, I will be here to validate that, should it prove to be true, which I doubt it is.

[womble]

I have spoken with quite a few hotel owners and they say they are booked solid for the next four months. It will be a fine high season.

I find that specious at best. Nevertheless, I will be here to validate that, should it prove to be true, which I doubt it is.

I spoke wih the owner of Boathouse resort, they still have 100 rooms that hadn't been booked, this was last week, on a normal year they are booked months in advance.

I was out last night and it was busy, but not nearly as busy as previous years........

I own a business here, In have nothing to gain from spreading these facts......

I seek the truth, unlike many others........

[t.s]

perhaps if busines oners and governments did their work and renos during low season and finishd them before the guests arrived things might be better and more might return.

the push to put up more more more seems almos insane sometimes, especially when folks find out ther internet booking is for a constuction site rathr than a resort

[Rooo]

As you guys mentioned before, the island is reaching saturation point with so many businesses competing for a slice of the pie.

What I think is going on , is for example with so many new resorts being built , is the number of tourists is being spread more & more , taking into consideration that we are reverting back to PRE Tsunami figures.

At the end of the day it will be survival of the fittest. The well run business will survive & the others will just fade away.

Also as mentioned previously , tourists demographics are changing.

More family units / with children.

Packaged Tours from China all inclusive.( Guess who's resort they stay at ?)

Samui went through infancy , now the terrible teen years & with a bit of luck maturity .So if business owners don't capitalise on it & are able to adapt to changes , they will just be left behind.

[taxexile]

Samui went through infancy , now the terrible teen years & with a bit of luck maturity

judging by my last visit there in august , samui seems to be an untreatable case of the arrested development of a bastard child , the offspring of an unholy union between greed and dishonesty.

but thats only my opinion ......... and i could be wrong.

if the tourists do in fact fail to materialise , then i would imagine a prolonged period of "the grumpy old man" phase.

[womble]

Samui went through infancy , now the terrible teen years & with a bit of luck maturity

judging by my last visit there in august , samui seems to be an untreatable case of the arrested development of a bastard child , the offspring of an unholy union between greed and dishonesty.

but thats only my opinion ......... and i could be wrong.

if the tourists do in fact fail to materialise , then i would imagine a prolonged period of "the grumpy old man" phase.

And then death......

Ever the optimist tax....

[Rooo]

Samui went through infancy , now the terrible teen years & with a bit of luck maturity

judging by my last visit there in august , samui seems to be an untreatable case of the arrested development of a bastard child , the offspring of an unholy union between greed and dishonesty.

but thats only my opinion ......... and i could be wrong.

if the tourists do in fact fail to materialise , then i would imagine a prolonged period of "the grumpy old man" phase.

Tax we have been trough that scenario many times. Tourists will still come regardless .Greed ? Not so long ago you were talking about selling your land here for a very healthy profit. I don't regaed that as greed , but as a sound business decision. Do you think if people were staying away you would have been able to sell it?

Back to the topic , people will still come & business people have to realise they have to work harder & smarter to grab a piece of the action.

Merry Xmas & happy new year.

[Rooo]

As for grumpy old men...............are you describing us?

[Rooo]

Oh by the way if Samui is imploding why is it then that 5 major hotel chains have got hotels planned or under construction on Samui.

Doesn't that tell you something. See goes hand in hand with what I've said before PACKAGING.

Do not be surprised that in a couple of years you will see SILK AIR & the like land here.

Edited December 24, 2006 by Rooo

[womble]

Oh by the way if Samui is imploding why is it then that 5 major hotel chains have got hotels planned or under construction on Samui.

Doesn't that tell you something. See goes hand in hand with what I've said before PACKAGING.

Do not be surprised that in a couple of years you will see SILK AIR & the like land here.

You are ofcourse right, Samui is not about to implode, the title was sensationalist and meant to be......

My feelings are Samui is going through a bad phase and to be quite honest I think it's the best thing, hopefully it will show those with power that things need to be sorted.

How much longer must an island that generates millions of $ each year have a road leading to the main tourist town that is only marginally better than a dirt track, that lake road is a complete joke.

I think samui is going through the rebellious teenage years, things will be sorted, slowly but surely and then the place will reach maturity and really take off. Once this happens land prices will sky rocket and way beyond those of Phuket. Remember samui is much smaller, that means less supply and we all know what that means.

All these people who think the government will take the land away from foreigners are wrong, very wrong and the government proved that this week.

When they did the U-Turn on capital controls they said that property and land (not just condos) were not affected by the 30% rule.

How much clearer can a message get that they still want foreigners involved in realestate.

If it had been included in the 30% rule that would have been it for the property market. As it is the property market will hurt because of the governments actions but really it has shown us that they certainly want $ coming in for realestate investment.

I think many people have missed this and can only see the negative side of Tuesdays actions.

[Geppis72]

In Italy people I know prefer to go to Samui rather then Phuket,

Samui is more trendy and less busy, more adults and couples feel

more relax and this island still conserve a sort of natural attractions.

Yes, the developments here are much better then other islands

where you find a horrible high cement building sit on the beach....

Many many other tourist islands like Santo Domingo, Seychelles,

Isle Margarita in Venezuela etc etc were attacked from development

but after a while they find a good stability and their own target for tourist,

bottom line I see a positive future for Samui.

Above will going to happen on long term only if Thai Govt. will understand that

they need to give something time to time, I really hope in some good news

about Land or Visa in Jan.

Marry Christmas

[mafaso]

I bet if this website were around 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago you would have people moaning and complaining and prophesying about all the same things. Too many tourists, not enough tourist, too much construction here, need more construction there, too many businesses, where can I find this business?, the island is at the saturation point, "I seek the truth even if others do not", the island is about to explode..duck and cover!!!,..blah..blah.

It's all very old and tired. There will always be growth and renewal. I'm sure these million dollar hotels have given it at least a little thought about what they are doing.

A lot of people fret over things they don't really know about or should even bother to care about. And it seems like everyone is an expert on island development, how much money there is going around and sociology.

I'm not saying these things shouldn't be talked about, in an intelligent manner, but all the outlandish statements and ridiculous requests make this forum look like a bunch of "Grumpy Old Men" for sure. Or maybe a bunch of people who are jealous that either they aren't part of the boom or they are part but don't want competition.

Can I take someone's crystal ball with me to Vegas please?

[LaoPo]

Marry Christmas

Who's the lucky one you're going to marry at Christmas ?

ps: Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2007

...not exactly a Samui image...

LP

Edited December 24, 2006 by LaoPo

[Samuian]

business as usual! But Competetion is fiercer, much more choices for the clientel.

And of course the 'x-tra' takings from the tsunami are going to fade, tourist flock again to puket, krabi, lanta and koa lak... for the people there, great!

Think about them, being out of business for many. many months!

Yesterday was very busy....

[SamuiJens]

The only reason tourism jumped on Samui and Phangan was because of the tsunami. Now tourists are heading back to the other side and tourism will, in all likelihood, reach the same levels they were at pre-tsunami. Too many people built up with the misplaced assumption that the boom was here to stay.

The land and house market should be in trouble, the future of regulations regarding land ownership are in doubt and a smart foreign investor would wait to see which way the wind blows before spending a small fortune on property in Thailand.

As for the greed, well, one can always hope but I don't really think there is much chance of that changing, human nature being what it is.

Just last night you could notice a bit of an influx of people on the streets of Lamai, but the poor bargirls must be seriously rethinking having come here instead of say, Pattaya, as the bars are mostly empty (comparatively). Seems that more and more, tourists are not coming here for the sex.

How right you both are!

[SamuiJens]

The only reason tourism jumped on Samui and Phangan was because of the tsunami. Now tourists are heading back to the other side and tourism will, in all likelihood, reach the same levels they were at pre-tsunami. Too many people built up with the misplaced assumption that the boom was here to stay.

The land and house market should be in trouble, the future of regulations regarding land ownership are in doubt and a smart foreign investor would wait to see which way the wind blows before spending a small fortune on property in Thailand.

As for the greed, well, one can always hope but I don't really think there is much chance of that changing, human nature being what it is.

Maybe some liked Samui and will come back!

Just last night you could notice a bit of an influx of people on the streets of Lamai, but the poor bargirls must be seriously rethinking having come here instead of say, Pattaya, as the bars are mostly empty (comparatively). Seems that more and more, tourists are not coming here for the sex.

How right you both are!

Edited December 29, 2006 by SamuiJens

[limbos]

Tourism in PTY this year is apparently more than 50% down compared to last year.

[excite]

Samui, certainly Chaweng seem quieter this year compared to last.

Phuket is in a rebound (pleased for them.

Pattaya seems to be slammed.

Check out the flight costs BKK samui compared to BKK phuket.

That looks like a part of the problem.

Check out the hotel price hikes last year and again this year in Samui.

Weather has been pretty naff during the run up to the season.

Guess there could be lots of contributing factors.

Still think Samui has a great future.

Excite

[Samui Coconut]

Samui, certainly Chaweng seem quieter this year compared to last.

Phuket is in a rebound (pleased for them.

Pattaya seems to be slammed.

Check out the flight costs BKK samui compared to BKK phuket.

That looks like a part of the problem.

Check out the hotel price hikes last year and again this year in Samui.

Weather has been pretty naff during the run up to the season.

Guess there could be lots of contributing factors.

Still think Samui has a great future.

Excite

Agree, Chaweng seems very slow at present. However, I remember last year wasn't much better, only got hammered again after 2.Jan. Flight costs are not a problem for most tourists here and many hotels are 90-100 % booked. Hotel prices are high compared to Phuket, however, weather is much better than last year.

With Phuket on the rebound, the future might still be bright for Samui, yet may be not as orange....

[womble]

Samui is busy at the moment, very busy.