"Expensive" Phuket dead as a dodo this high season

[sahibji]

you cannot fool ALL the people ALL the time. Sooner or later the victims wise up to it and stay away.

[sahibji]

1 hour ago, Blue Water Sailor said:

Seems like this thread is mainly about Patong, I've never been there just Chalong, I liked it and had a good time there, this was about 4 or 5 years ago. I'm coming back on this R&R for a few days to look at a sailboat that's for sale. Will be staying in Chalong again. I have been told that Bangla is like a mini Walking Street in Pattaya. If that's the case you can have it. I seem to have a good time everywhere I go in Thailand. There is an area in Bangkok I like. It's Soi 22 Sukhumvit. Been going there for about 10 years. I have noticed things have slowed down from when I first started going there but I still like it. There is a Chinese restaurant not far that's one of the best I've ever been to. I've never seen one forang there, not one. Anyway, I don't come home to Thailand because it's cheap, maybe not as cheap as it used to be, I keep coming back because I like it. It's fun for me and I feel good when I'm there. If it stops being fun or gets to where I don't feel good there I'll go somewhere else, Cambodia, Vietnam. I've been to both and like them also. 

well done. with that positive attitude you will be happy with any place.

 

[AllanA]

Very sad to read about Phuket- in Pattaya right now and tourist numbers are well down, in fact it’s pretty quite here for a couple of days before NYE. 

Have had many NYE here before but this year it will be no where near busy as it was previously- it’s seems like tourists have found alternative destinations this year 

[user343434]

On 12/17/2018 at 3:50 AM, darksidedog said:

Phuket is not alone in having very few tourists. Pattaya looks like the depths of low season compared with a few years back. It will be tough for TAT to spin some lies to pretend this is not the case, when the evidence, or lack of it, is clearly visible to all. Thailand has problems with its tourist industry, and it is time for the denial to stop.

But Pattaya can excuse this with the beach refurbishment which takes place during high season, and who*es of walking street who charge 4 times the price than 5 years ago because of the lack of western customers. LOL

[NamKangMan]

On 12/27/2018 at 6:18 PM, Blue Water Sailor said:

Seems like this thread is mainly about Patong, I've never been there just Chalong, I liked it and had a good time there, this was about 4 or 5 years ago. I'm coming back on this R&R for a few days to look at a sailboat that's for sale. Will be staying in Chalong again. I have been told that Bangla is like a mini Walking Street in Pattaya. If that's the case you can have it. I seem to have a good time everywhere I go in Thailand. There is an area in Bangkok I like. It's Soi 22 Sukhumvit. Been going there for about 10 years. I have noticed things have slowed down from when I first started going there but I still like it. There is a Chinese restaurant not far that's one of the best I've ever been to. I've never seen one forang there, not one. Anyway, I don't come home to Thailand because it's cheap, maybe not as cheap as it used to be, I keep coming back because I like it. It's fun for me and I feel good when I'm there. If it stops being fun or gets to where I don't feel good there I'll go somewhere else, Cambodia, Vietnam. I've been to both and like them also. 

 

Please post your observations, opinions, and comparisons, after your next visit. 

[kannot]

On 12/17/2018 at 9:47 AM, jak2002003 said:

Looks lovely.  Nice and quiet.  Might go there next week.  

 

Maybe the tourists were put off, not by the price, but by the dirty, smelly and scruffy streets, rubbish on the beach, and polluted brown sea water?  

 

 

less tourists = price increase............youve  been warned

[NamKangMan]

7 minutes ago, kannot said:

less tourists = price increase............youve  been warned

 

Which creates a rapid downward spiral for the Thai tourism industry. 

[Hoppyone]

On 12/17/2018 at 9:41 AM, Just1Voice said:

Thai's greed for the almighty baht will be their downfall. 

Yes it’s gradually spreading all around Thailand in the last 4 years ,the strong baht for the rich Thais will be the downfall of tourists visiting Thailand they will be staying away in droves & so many are having second thoughts about staying long term.

[mal2018]

It's not unusual to be charged 170 baht for a small can of Chang on a Sunday afternoon. Complete rip off. I'll be away from it ASAP!

[Olmate]

28 minutes ago, mal2018 said:

It's not unusual to be charged 170 baht for a small can of Chang on a Sunday afternoon. Complete rip off. I'll be away from it ASAP!

Utter rubbish, where?Hooters my guess

[bomber]

bit off topic but i spent xmas and NY in the algarve,£100 flight,£12 per night (£6.00 each) in a decent hotel with a good breakfast,€1.30-€2.50 per pint,€1.00-€2.00 for a good wine,great food for €6-€10,£30 for car pick up and drop off (46km each way) 9 days of barely seen a cloud and a sun tan,jumper/jacket req in the evening tho,the flight alone from BKK to samui would been more than my flight/hotel/transfer.

[Psimbo]

3 hours ago, mal2018 said:

It's not unusual to be charged 170 baht for a small can of Chang on a Sunday afternoon. Complete rip off. I'll be away from it ASAP!

Tom Jones Walt! ????

 

Liar, liar, pants on fire by the way.

[Fex Bluse]

On 12/17/2018 at 9:46 AM, NCC1701A said:

I live in Hua Hin which is about 10-30% more expensive than say near by Pranburi or Phetchaburi and when I went to Phuket it was so expensive for everything I was like let me out of here.  

And, what the Thais fail to realize is that is not always that people don't have enough money for a 150 or 200 Baht plate of fried rice and ground pork... It is that the value of such is only attractive at a very low price.

 

Thais need to acknowledge that Thailand is a rather crap place in many ways but only valuable if it is cheap. You cannot charge developed country prices without any of the developed country benefits. You can't even walk as there are no pavements!

 

Ridiculous

[Fex Bluse]

On 12/26/2018 at 9:53 PM, robsamui said:

Well, for a start, Thailand could spend as much effort with the army on Thai people who on't declare taxes are they do hunting down visa overstayers.

I can remember The Good General in his early days *pleading* to his nation to do the right thing and pay their income taxes. The govt are totally lost here and the Thai personal income tax situation is out of hand and out of control.

Getting Thai people to pay their taxes (and their traffic fines) might go a long way to 'getting their money to run the country'.

Sadly, it's not workable. As much as many of us long stayers don't trust Thais, in general, Thais seem to distrust each other more fiercely.

 

It's a chicken/egg scenario when the system lacks any trust across the board.

 

Thais don't pay taxes, in some significant part, because they know whoever receives them will rather benefit directly than using the funds for intended purpose.

 

No agency or person, on average, can be trusted to do the right thing in a situation where they can choose to benefit themselves or their families.

 

What is needed is a cultural change, and they don't seem keen.

[billythehat]

7 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

And, what the Thais fail to realize is that is not always that people don't have enough money for a 150 or 200 Baht plate of fried rice and ground pork... It is that the value of such is only attractive at a very low price.

 

Thais need to acknowledge that Thailand is a rather crap place in many ways but only valuable if it is cheap. You cannot charge developed country prices without any of the developed country benefits. You can't even walk as there are no pavements!

 

Ridiculous

Agreed and my recent visit concurs that ‘ridiculous’ is putting it mildly.  

[Retiredandhappyhere]

On 12/17/2018 at 8:22 PM, prettyawsm said:

Visa forum as usual. Bunch if old farts sitting, crying and hoping it will all go down the hill, yet phuket is still alright. I live and work here and I don't have a high salary but then again I still eat for 50thb/meal. Dont refuse myself and gf much. Bangla the other night was packed as hell, beaches at totally fine, streets as normal as you would expect from an SEA region? Water yeah but that's well expected too, how many bloody boats with chinese are there still way too many for the islands to handle.

Once again, we have someone here who believes that anyone with a different viewpoint to his own (and there were many!) belongs to a "bunch of old farts".  None of the posters on here have anything to gain by criticising Phuket and are in fact merely expressing their opinion of the place, either following a visit or two, or after having lived there for several years.

 

Treating these posters with contempt smells of desperation by someone trying to save Phuket's fading image.  Tourists and expats do have a choice of places to visit and it appears that many are choosing with their feet just now. 

 

[losworld]

On 12/25/2018 at 1:12 AM, madmen said:

" are aggressively priced and lower than say for instance Pattaya"

What are you smoking?

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk
 

not smoking anything you are the one who  doesn't  understand that low season in phuket offers better hotel deals than pattaya.  i go every year the numbers don't lie just look at agoda... 500 baht rooms that are 1500-2000 high season.. wake up....

[NamKangMan]

10 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

And, what the Thais fail to realize is that is not always that people don't have enough money for a 150 or 200 Baht plate of fried rice and ground pork... It is that the value of such is only attractive at a very low price.

 

Thais need to acknowledge that Thailand is a rather crap place in many ways but only valuable if it is cheap. You cannot charge developed country prices without any of the developed country benefits. You can't even walk as there are no pavements!

 

Ridiculous

 

"Thailand is a rather crap place in many ways but only valuable if it is cheap" - and when Phuket was "cheap" tourists could overlook Phuket's short comings.

 

Now, Phuket is not so cheap, and in my opinion, western tourists are not seeing the value for money in a holiday here, thus, detouring Phuket.

[Fex Bluse]

29 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

"Thailand is a rather crap place in many ways but only valuable if it is cheap" - and when Phuket was "cheap" tourists could overlook Phuket's short comings.

 

Now, Phuket is not so cheap, and in my opinion, western tourists are not seeing the value for money in a holiday here, thus, detouring Phuket.

Exactly.

 

And, if Thailand tries to replace Westerners with Chinese, they will quickly learn that Chinese wouldn't even spend half of what Westerners spend in places like Phuket. While Chinese are increasing their spending, generally, as they are East Asians, they spend for FACE or on products they can't get back in Red China. So, they will buy luxury clothing and other stuff, lugging around their luggage all over the country, but they would rather stay in a cheap, run down hotel as they don't really seem to care about accommodation.

 

These people after all see nothing wrong with a life where you have a Mercedes Benz parked in front of a rundown apartment or home infested with insects and rodents and eating cheap noodles for 80% of their meals. What they value is entirely different.

 

For places like Phuket, Chinese would value taking a few photos in front of interesting sights and then avoiding spending money on nearly everything else.

 

So, you end up with places like Phuket that, when severely overpriced, offers value to almost no one - not Westerners, not Chinese

[Olmate]

4 hours ago, billythehat said:

Agreed and my recent visit concurs that ‘ridiculous’ is putting it mildly.  

Visit! You,d be the man to ask then!

[NamKangMan]

28 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Visit! You,d be the man to ask then!

 

Why wouldn't he be????

 

If the member has been "visiting" Phuket for several years, he would see the big change here.

 

I often think that living here could make us expats "boiling frogs."  We don't see the change as much because a day becomes a week, and a week becomes a month, and a month becomes a year. 

 

The holiday makers who can compare Phuket annually, or bi-annually, tell it as it is.  

 

Most have no financial or emotional interests here.  Thus, they comment on their observations and experiences only, with no conflict of interests. 

 

Even a tourist visiting Phuket for the first time has something to offer the tourism industry here, by way of their feedback. 

[hydraides]

LOL Dead, no not dead, Phuket is extremely busy

 

I've been here for the last month, I went to Karon Beach and Kata a few weeks ago, They were JAMMED packed and its hard to find a space to sit down on the sand. 

 

When you Look down the beach, You're just thinking to yourself "Thats alot of tourists"

 

 

[NamKangMan]

2 minutes ago, hydraides said:

LOL Dead, no not dead, Phuket is extremely busy

 

I've been here for the last month, I went to Karon Beach and Kata a few weeks ago, They were JAMMED packed and its hard to find a space to sit down on the sand. 

 

When you Look down the beach, You're just thinking to yourself "Thats alot of tourists"

 

 

 

The numbers may be up, but the money from them is down.

 

No point having a lot of tourists, if they do not spend money. 

 

In general, the beach is free.  Go and have a look in bars, nightclubs etc. 

[billythehat]

35 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

Why wouldn't he be????

 

If the member has been "visiting" Phuket for several years, he would see the big change here.

 

I often think that living here could make us expats "boiling frogs."  We don't see the change as much because a day becomes a week, and a week becomes a month, and a month becomes a year. 

 

The holiday makers who can compare Phuket annually, or bi-annually, tell it as it is.  

 

Most have no financial or emotional interests here.  Thus, they comment on their observations and experiences only, with no conflict of interests. 

 

Even a tourist visiting Phuket for the first time has something to offer the tourism industry here, by way of their feedback. 

"The holiday makers who can compare Phuket annually, or bi-annually, tell it as it is."

 

Yep!

[Olmate]

17 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

Why wouldn't he be????

 

If the member has been "visiting" Phuket for several years, he would see the big change here.

 

I often think that living here could make us expats "boiling frogs."  We don't see the change as much because a day becomes a week, and a week becomes a month, and a month becomes a year. 

 

The holiday makers who can compare Phuket annually, or bi-annually, tell it as it is.  

 

Most have no financial or emotional interests here.  Thus, they comment on their observations and experiences only, with no conflict of interests. 

 

Even a tourist visiting Phuket for the first time has something to offer the tourism industry here, by way of their feedback. 

Your point is valid but based on a brief visit, any observations and impressions that a person may form are just that, telling like it is for them!A good or not good week or two. Long term visitors or permanent residents have a much better perception of the good and bad. Also not much point of visiting the place if you want to change it to how you think it should be. It is Phuket, not where ever! Not sure how anyone can pay too much for food here either, I think  former poster is eating 5 star. 

[Olmate]

48 minutes ago, billythehat said:

"The holiday makers who can compare Phuket annually, or bi-annually, tell it as it is."

 

Yep!

What was it like after you went home? Let’s know on your next visit !

[Rhys]

The Chinese have spoken....

[stevenl]

8 hours ago, Olmate said:

What was it like after you went home? Let’s know on your next visit !

He is just a frustrated former resident. Couldn't make it here, so now everything is bad here.

[quadperfect]

15 hours ago, hydraides said:

LOL Dead, no not dead, Phuket is extremely busy

 

I've been here for the last month, I went to Karon Beach and Kata a few weeks ago, They were JAMMED packed and its hard to find a space to sit down on the sand. 

 

When you Look down the beach, You're just thinking to yourself "Thats alot of tourists"

 

 

It was dead when this thread started. There were no people and had not been any other than chinese before christmas. Then one day it was like the whole place was packed out.

Used to be packed in late october.

So many places have gone belly up that were western tourist orinated.

Phuket is not a nice place to visit and who would want to live here. Not me ,but i unfortunately still do part of the year. My bad.

[soalbundy]

On 12/17/2018 at 9:46 AM, ezzra said:

The folklore story of the goose who laid golden eggs comes to minds right now...

I'm giving my son English reading lessons, this morning the choice was a Burmese folklore story, "how to turn dirt into gold", I thought how appropriate after reading this article because in the the story it said, "it can't be done".