"Expensive" Phuket dead as a dodo this high season

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, jackdd said:

You seem to come from a very expensive country if this is "damn cheap" for you. If you went to a medium priced italian restaurant in Germany you would pay a similar price, so for Thailand this is clearly expensive

Then we have to differ in our experiences as I consider 420 baht for an entree, main with a side dish for 3 and a coffee to be cheap, although I can't speak to Germany, I can say that I paid 550 baht for a gourmet medium pizza in an Auckland suburb a few years back and a single main course in an average restaurant will cost more than 420 baht........and as I have said, I compare prices with my home country because I have lived both there and here and therefore have a benchmark for comparison.

[Martin UK]

Visiting Phuket, Patong for the first time. The place is like a ghost town, properties run down, scruffy, many for sale as many businesses closed due to the lack of visitors. The reason maybe is attitude, for example. I wanted to book a Grab taxi from Phuket airport to Patong, was quoted 1000tbht, high cost due to high demand, yet, my taxi would arrive in three minutes, clearly not so busy after all. It's a rip off plain and simple. Decided against a taxi at that extortionate price, went for the minibus option at 180tbht. 10 people boarded the minibus, which left one seat vacant. We were held captive at the airport for an hour while the driver waited to fill the one vacant seat. This was uncomfortable to say the least and extremely disrespectful to the ten customers already on the bus. Incidentally the eleventh seat was not taken after an hour, when we departed the airport.

Patong beach; strewn with plastic rubbish, no litter bins in evidence, no sign the beach is cleaned at all, sea water quite dirty too, not at all inviting. 

My hotel which is under 50% occupied is a basic Thai3 star, it's comfortable and friendly, located in a quiet soi, back street, that is until the bars start their open air shows at decibel levels deafeningly, desperately loud, in one supposes a vain attempt to lure non existent tourists in.

Thankfully local laws now demand bars must cease noise pollution at 23.00hours.

To give a reflection of the situation, Bangla Road bars capable of seating 500 people are virtually devoid of customers.

It would appear Patong has priced itself out of the market. 

Prices are now on a par with Europe, while the standards, hygiene, health and safety are most definitely not !

Phuket is not an island I would wish to return to.

 

 

[tifino]

jeeez! 

I dream to wish we could wind Patong's clock back , to 1981!

 - thatched hut restaurants, right on the sandy foreshore of the beach itself

 - just a couple of bars along Teewanong Rd, plus only one side street of others. I recall the Deutcher bar near the main corner, and the Kanga bar across the side road a bit further up.

 - the katoeys had their own separate little ghetto, way ways down the South end of the main road

 - the only foreigners to compete against were our fellow military type up from Butterworth, a few Dutch and Austrians

 - Not yet a full blown US Navy R&R jaunt, to ruin the prices for the rest of us

 - The only 'large' resort, was ways down, further than the Katoeys; on that far hill jutting out to sea, and only accessible by a big white flimsy suspension walk bridge

 - no Multi storey hotels...at all!

 

our 'motel' was the Phuket cabanas. Cabins were thatch topped affairs, under the palm, also right on the foreshore. later overtaken 1984 by Phuket Beach Bungalows; and of course all swept away years later

[Olmate]

3 minutes ago, tifino said:

jeeez! 

I dream to wish we could wind Patong's clock back , to 1981!

 - thatched hut restaurants, right on the sandy foreshore of the beach itself

 - just a couple of bars along Teewanong Rd, plus only one side street of others. I recall the Deutcher bar near the main corner, and the Kanga bar across the side road a bit further up.

 - the katoeys had their own separate little ghetto, way ways down the South end of the main road

 - the only foreigners to compete against were our fellow military type up from Butterworth, a few Dutch and Austrians

 - Not yet a full blown US Navy R&R jaunt, to ruin the prices for the rest of us

 - The only 'large' resort, was ways down, further than the Katoeys; on that far hill jutting out to sea, and only accessible by a big white flimsy suspension walk bridge

 - no Multi storey hotels...at all!

Think your 1981 is wrong, my first visit was 1970 and much more developed than you describe....however agree with your sentiments!

[tifino]

23 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Think your 1981 is wrong, my first visit was 1970 and much more developed than you describe....however agree with your sentiments!

well it was a popular R&R venue during the Vietnam era itself, and a decade later the new jab of life was in full swing again by 1984...

 

best food 1981, was the Number 4 restaurant, as usual one of the places on the sand foreshore;

the live food was crawling about in the wet trays, but outnumbered by the hermit? crabs in the sand around your feet

[Old Croc]

30 minutes ago, Martin UK said:

Visiting Phuket, Patong for the first time. The place is like a ghost town, properties run down, scruffy, many for sale as many businesses closed due to the lack of visitors. The reason maybe is attitude, for example. I wanted to book a Grab taxi from Phuket airport to Patong, was quoted 1000tbht, high cost due to high demand, yet, my taxi would arrive in three minutes, clearly not so busy after all. It's a rip off plain and simple. Decided against a taxi at that extortionate price, went for the minibus option at 180tbht. 10 people boarded the minibus, which left one seat vacant. We were held captive at the airport for an hour while the driver waited to fill the one vacant seat. This was uncomfortable to say the least and extremely disrespectful to the ten customers already on the bus. Incidentally the eleventh seat was not taken after an hour, when we departed the airport.

Patong beach; strewn with plastic rubbish, no litter bins in evidence, no sign the beach is cleaned at all, sea water quite dirty too, not at all inviting. 

My hotel which is under 50% occupied is a basic Thai3 star, it's comfortable and friendly, located in a quiet soi, back street, that is until the bars start their open air shows at decibel levels deafeningly, desperately loud, in one supposes a vain attempt to lure non existent tourists in.

Thankfully local laws now demand bars must cease noise pollution at 23.00hours.

To give a reflection of the situation, Bangla Road bars capable of seating 500 people are virtually devoid of customers.

It would appear Patong has priced itself out of the market. 

Prices are now on a par with Europe, while the standards, hygiene, health and safety are most definitely not !

Phuket is not an island I would wish to return to.

Quite the tome for a first post put together less than 2 hours after joining!

 

Firstly, smart people who do just a bit of checking before hand, would use the smart bus with a maximum fare of 170 baht to all the west coast beaches and would know to avoid the ripoff mini bus.

The criticism of the beach might have some truth, but you certainly ramped up the narrative to justify your attack.

So you stay in an entertainment town, close to the main entertainment street, complain about empty bars, and then bitch about noise coming from these apparently empty clubs and bars.  I see you claim knowledge of local laws regarding  "noise pollution". I would argue the actual closing times for Bangla Road is 0200 not 2330.

Difficult to know what you are looking for in a holiday, If indeed this is a genuine new post, but you obviously failed to visit Phuket the Province despite judging the whole place on your stay in one little specialized town,

Incidentally this, taken just now, is the next major beach south of Patong.

Water and beach clean enough for you? Perhaps it's too expensive for you in this area. 

[Psimbo]

On 1/18/2019 at 7:50 AM, jackdd said:

You seem to come from a very expensive country if this is "damn cheap" for you. If you went to a medium priced italian restaurant in Germany you would pay a similar price, so for Thailand this is clearly expensive ????

 

Phuket is expensive, even objectively. This does of course not mean that everything is expensive, imho hotels are priced reasonable, and the rental price for a motorbike is also reasonable.

Expensive at Phuket:

- Food. You can buy some standard Thai "ahan dam sang" dish for 30-50THB in most places in Thailand, even in Bangkok, but at Phuket it costs 60-100THB, same for any other food

- Transport. The prices to use a taxi / tuk tuk to go a few kms to the next beach are just a ripoff

 

 

Wow- 12 bucks for a decent meal and you don't consider that cheap- what world do you live in? Similar price in germany- you have to be joking.  in canada  even a Mc Donalds is around 7 bucks.

 

Ten baht extra for noodles- I bet 7-11 must love you. 

[jackdd]

2 hours ago, Psimbo said:

Wow- 12 bucks for a decent meal and you don't consider that cheap- what world do you live in? Similar price in germany- you have to be joking.  in canada  even a Mc Donalds is around 7 bucks.

Believe it or not, in Germany in a random city (if you are in for example Munich it will of course cost more) in an average restaurant you get a decent meal for about 10 Euro (12 USD) ????

[Snow Leopard]

I think the current exchange rate is not helping. 

[billythehat]

On 1/17/2019 at 11:56 AM, xylophone said:

We are talking about "expensive Phuket" although this very subject of "expensive" is being debated on another thread, however I'll stick with this one for my comments.

 

I think it's been said in one way or another, but Phuket/Patong is as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be.

 

I was out last night with a couple of friends and ate in an Italian restaurant, where the total cost for two entrees, three mains, one side dish and a coffee came to 1260 baht total – – damn cheap in my opinion.

Of course if one wants to eat at food halls and other such places, then they are also very cheap, whereas if one wanted to go to one of the long established seafood restaurants on beach road (and one in particular whose name I shall not mention) you could be quite easily ripped off as regards price and quantity.

 

As it was a friends birthday he wanted to go into one of the go-go joints and although some of the drinks are expensive, especially if you wish to buy one of the ladies a drink, we all had beers at 99 baht each, which when you consider what was on show in an air-conditioned environment, was not bad at all.

 

Another bar had beers at 80 baht whilst the new large Folies bar had a very small rum and coke at around 180 baht, which was expensive in my opinion, but another downside was that we were surrounded by four girls who all wanted a drink, for no other reason than we were there!

 

Another bar had a rum and coke at 190 baht.............and so on. It really depends on what you are looking for and where you want to go, and normally you would expect to pay higher prices for those large bars where you get some form of entertainment, whilst at the everyday beer bar, prices can be quite competitive.

 

I think that is why I would never normally label Phuket/Patong as expensive, because if one is on a budget, then holidaying here is no problem with regards to cost, provided one looks around and uses a modicum of common sense. On the other side of the coin, you can blow as much baht as you want if cost is not an issue.

Personally, I don’t really mind paying a few bob more for a meal if the quality and service justify, within reason, satisfy the package. When last over, I was in the company of a fine young-at-heart gentleman (sic) from the old country and eating at Salute, off Bangla. I regularly eat quality Italian fayre and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the nosh presented, complimented by the attentive service and reasonable cost; and there’s the rub, my requirements for a meal out were met – I wasn’t there to save a few cents, I was on holiday. Possibly a message for Thai owned restaurants here that are complaining about ‘no hab customer’; have a quality well priced product with good service would help – 2 out of 3 won’t work in the current environment.

[madmen]

Visiting Phuket, Patong for the first time. The place is like a ghost town, properties run down, scruffy, many for sale as many businesses closed due to the lack of visitors. The reason maybe is attitude, for example. I wanted to book a Grab taxi from Phuket airport to Patong, was quoted 1000tbht, high cost due to high demand, yet, my taxi would arrive in three minutes, clearly not so busy after all. It's a rip off plain and simple. Decided against a taxi at that extortionate price, went for the minibus option at 180tbht. 10 people boarded the minibus, which left one seat vacant. We were held captive at the airport for an hour while the driver waited to fill the one vacant seat. This was uncomfortable to say the least and extremely disrespectful to the ten customers already on the bus. Incidentally the eleventh seat was not taken after an hour, when we departed the airport.
Patong beach; strewn with plastic rubbish, no litter bins in evidence, no sign the beach is cleaned at all, sea water quite dirty too, not at all inviting. 
My hotel which is under 50% occupied is a basic Thai3 star, it's comfortable and friendly, located in a quiet soi, back street, that is until the bars start their open air shows at decibel levels deafeningly, desperately loud, in one supposes a vain attempt to lure non existent tourists in.
Thankfully local laws now demand bars must cease noise pollution at 23.00hours.
To give a reflection of the situation, Bangla Road bars capable of seating 500 people are virtually devoid of customers.
It would appear Patong has priced itself out of the market. 
Prices are now on a par with Europe, while the standards, hygiene, health and safety are most definitely not !
Phuket is not an island I would wish to return to.
 
 

Both Samui and phuket are waaay past their prime and travelers I know that have been going to both for many years will never go back.
Silly thais will continue to ramp up prices to make up for the tourist short fall TIT

[beechbum]

18 hours ago, Martin UK said:

Visiting Phuket, Patong for the first time.

BS....

[Olmate]

6 hours ago, madmen said:

Both Samui and phuket are waaay past their prime and travelers I know that have been going to both for many years will never go back.
Silly thais will continue to ramp up prices to make up for the tourist short fall TIT

Well “travellers you know”. That’s real confirmation then! ????

[madmen]

Well “travellers you know”. That’s real confirmation then! [emoji2961]

You want names, addresses, blood type.? Or you just can't pathom I have non expat friends that used to spend annual vacations in phuket.

[Old Croc]

7 hours ago, madmen said:

Both Samui and phuket are waaay past their prime and travelers I know that have been going to both for many years will never go back.
Silly thais will continue to ramp up prices to make up for the tourist short fall TIT

Silly posters still feel the need to state the obvious.

There are many places I've loved and visited frequently in the past, but won't go back to.  Popular places evolve with increased custom and never regress to what they were in the past. It's a fact of life.

Some characters on these threads like to reminisce about how pristine places like Patong were decades ago, which can be interesting, but has little relevance now. (I have some great memories of Bali from my first visit in the 70's and dislike what it has become, but understand why). 

 

If you, or your known travelers, like to visit new, unspoiled paradises instead of just criticizing or lamenting those that are lost, might I suggest the Kai Islands?

[LeungKen]

Several off topic posts and bickering posts have been removed.

 

Please keep your comments confined to the topic.

[LomSak27]

23 hours ago, madmen said:

On 1/21/2019 at 8:49 AM, Olmate said:

Well “travellers you know”. That’s real confirmation then!

You want names, addresses, blood type.? Or you just can't pathom I have non expat friends that used to spend annual vacations in phuket.

'Whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent'- Ludwig Wittgenstein     

[spidermike007]

On 1/21/2019 at 8:56 AM, madmen said:

On 1/21/2019 at 8:49 AM, Olmate said:

Well “travellers you know”. That’s real confirmation then!

You want names, addresses, blood type.? Or you just can't pathom I have non expat friends that used to spend annual vacations in phuket.

Me too. Some would spend $75,000 on a ten day vacation. I have some super wealthy friends and they took two vacations a year at $50-80k per trip for two weeks with the family. They don't come anymore. 

 

Just ignore the trolls. 

[spidermike007]

On 1/17/2019 at 3:15 PM, NamKangMan said:

 

Ahhh, the old comparing prices on Phuket to the west argument again.  You do know the the minimum wage here is 300 baht.  Right?

 

I think you have answered your own question.

 

"Do you consider an hour plus journey in a cab to or from the airport not worth 700 baht?" - I think the journey from the airport is reasonable. 

 

So, accepting the "reasonable" cost of 700 baht for "an hour plus journey in a cab" as a bench mark, do you then think just to get in the back of a tuk-tuk being minimum 200 baht to be "reasonable?"  

 

Using your 700 baht bench mark, do you think 400 baht from Kata to Patong in a tuk-tuk to be "reasonable?" 

 

What about after midnight when the same journey back to Kata doubles to 800 baht?  Do you think that is a "reasonable" price, when compared to your "hour plus journey in a cab?"

 

It must be noted, tuk-tuks do not have air conditioning and seat belts, "cabs" do.

 

Most tourists have no problem with the airport journey cost, because they only use this transport twice on their holiday. 

 

Many tourists will require more frequent, but shorter distance land transport. on their holiday.  Many regularly go from their hotel to the beach, also to the market, also to shopping, also to activities, also to shows, also to tourists attractions, also to the nightlife etc.  Their tuk-tuk travel can run into thousands of baht a day, given you pay, or you walk, or you hire a vehicle. 

 

I remember a thread a long time ago where a member posted a photo of his air ticket from Phuket to Bangkok, and it was cheaper than land transport to the airport.  Just saying.  This has been common knowledge for some time.

 

Yes, it is fair to say I have "extreme bias against the sector."  I freely admit I am the most vocal on this forum about land transport on the island, but particularly the tuk-tuk mafia. 

 

See all those coach buses, with the majority of tourists to Phuket inside them, on the roads here now?  Why do you think that is?

 

See the terrible traffic here now? 

 

Have you read the headlines that Phuket is the worst Province in Thailand for road death, thus making Phuket one of the most dangerous places in the world to be on the road? 

 

Have you seen the parking issues here now?

 

Remember the regular headlines of tuk-tuk drivers assaulting passengers? 

 

Have you been to Bangkok?  Why do you think Phuket doesn't have proper metered taxis like Bangkok?

 

Have you been to Pattaya?  Why do you think Phuket doesn't have baht buses? 

 

Land transport, an essential service, is controlled by criminals on Phuket, and I do not apologize for having "extreme bias" against criminals, who, in my opinion, are indirectly responsible for many deaths and serious injuries here, and who have forced the change of tourist demographic on Phuket.

 

Agreed. No justification whatsoever for Phuket or Samui taxi prices. None. Apologists will disagree. So will the taxi mafia. It comes down to sloth. More and more sloth on the part of Prayuth and the incompetent army. Also massive corruption. 

 

Bottom line is the Samui and Phuket taxi mafia is far more powerful than the army. Seems to be a fact. Funny, but true. And very sad. The elections could not come soon enough!

[cracker1]

Expensive" Phuket Samui dead as a dodo this high season

[DrDave]

On 1/22/2019 at 1:46 PM, spidermike007 said:

<snip>

 

Bottom line is the Samui and Phuket taxi mafia is far more powerful than the army. Seems to be a fact. Funny, but true. And very sad. The elections could not come soon enough!

If the army, with all of their might, couldn't (or wouldn't) tackle the corruption problem while in power, then I hold very little hope that any elected government will solve this problem.

[xylophone]

5 minutes ago, DrDave said:

If the army, with all of their might, couldn't (or wouldn't) tackle the corruption problem while in power, then I hold very little hope that any elected government will solve this problem.

Let's just say that they "wouldn't"....... in fact when they found out how much the BIB were being paid in terms of brown envelopes etc, they wanted a piece of the action and there was a fair amount of bad feeling between the two for some time, before it was resolved.

 

And just to show you how it was resolved...........a friend who with others owns a very high profile disco/nightclub here, which often stays open till 5 AM or 6 AM, and pays a large sum every month to the BIB in order to do so, was fearing that when the army took control, he would lose the ability to stay open that late and they would close him down, to all intents and purposes.

 

Imagine his surprise and delight when the army "came knocking" and just wanted a share of the action, so he ended up putting them on the payroll, so to speak.

 

Quite obvious that the army is just as corrupt as other institutions here, after all it is just about genetic in this country.

[spidermike007]

15 hours ago, xylophone said:

Let's just say that they "wouldn't"....... in fact when they found out how much the BIB were being paid in terms of brown envelopes etc, they wanted a piece of the action and there was a fair amount of bad feeling between the two for some time, before it was resolved.

 

And just to show you how it was resolved...........a friend who with others owns a very high profile disco/nightclub here, which often stays open till 5 AM or 6 AM, and pays a large sum every month to the BIB in order to do so, was fearing that when the army took control, he would lose the ability to stay open that late and they would close him down, to all intents and purposes.

 

Imagine his surprise and delight when the army "came knocking" and just wanted a share of the action, so he ended up putting them on the payroll, so to speak.

 

Quite obvious that the army is just as corrupt as other institutions here, after all it is just about genetic in this country.

 

And hence the utter and complete desperation to cling to power as long as they have. Fortunes have been made. 

[talahtnut]

On 1/20/2019 at 11:59 AM, tifino said:

jeeez! 

I dream to wish we could wind Patong's clock back , to 1981!

 - thatched hut restaurants, right on the sandy foreshore of the beach itself

Turn the clock back on the whole world.

[tifino]

1 minute ago, talahtnut said:

Turn the clock back on the whole world.

but, Patong was one of the many that for them, history was wiped off the map by the Tsunmami

[David Walden]

On 12/17/2018 at 6:12 PM, Pedrogaz said:

 

Immigration don't make the laws.....that's the government's job....but your point is well taken. A lot of people do abuse the income requirements and I know that the US embassy did little or rather no checking/verifying when I first came here in 2008. 

I get the feeling that the government don't want Thailand to be a home for the less-well funded farang. This is why they seem to be making laws that make extending one's visa more difficult and/or more expensive. They don't really care if it inconveniences ex-pats, or if the ex-pats go home. They don't really like us here anyway.

Like Thaksin years back with his 'elite visa' the government is after people with pots of money.

Being an Australian I know that in Aus as it is much the same in other western countries the governments often spend millions of dollars telling people how much they will enjoy having a holiday in Australia or in their country.  Millions of people remember Paul Hogan or "Crocodile Dundee".  He was paid millions to stand up and tell people all over the world how good the place is.  Even today as I potter around Cha-am with my "Crocodile Dundee' look-a-like hat people still remember those adds.  I'm yet to see Thailand provide any advertising to help their tourist industry expand or to survive.  Certainly not to Phuket or any of the other locations mentioned in these discussions.  Yes, you have to spend a penny to make a few more pennies. But TIT. 

[David Walden]

On 1/23/2019 at 5:02 PM, DrDave said:

If the army, with all of their might, couldn't (or wouldn't) tackle the corruption problem while in power, then I hold very little hope that any elected government will solve this problem.

Corruption is usually what keeps totalitarian governments in power? 

[xylophone]

Not sure whether to post on this thread all the other one, "Patong – the wake" as they seem to be dealing with fairly similar subjects on most posts, so here goes.........

 

I think it would be fairly obvious from those folk who live here that the generally expected high season time before Christmas (say December 1 or even earlier in the past) didn't really materialise to any great extent and there were days when this was very noticeable, however now that situation has changed and Patong is a busier place than I have seen it for some time.

 

Plenty of Chinese, although more than a fair share of rude, noisy, bothersome ones and I suppose I should add ignorant to that, because just two days ago I (again) reminded a Chinese guy sitting outside Starbucks that taking his shoes off and putting his feet on the table was not the done thing. Similarly I reprimanded an errant mother inside Starbucks as she was letting her two young kids run around the place like it was a playground, and they were screaming and shouting at the top of their voices, so I did likewise at her face, but used a well-known expletive that rhymes with truck to put across my point (I may add that the Starbucks staff were most appreciative of my moves as they seem very reluctant to act on such things).

 

More prevalent than ever before in my 12 years here were the Russians, which again included many of the surly unsmiling ones and many carrying plastic bags of Chang beers bought from the 7-Eleven when they were wandering around at night,

 

Add to that a smattering of Indians (no not Apaches) and some heavily tattooed overweight Aussies and the scene was/is almost complete.

 

Indeed a few of the property booths were reporting increased interest from mainly Chinese and Russians, with an odd exception, but having said that they were very happy with the upturn, because that market had been pretty grim for the past two months or so........ and possibly beyond.

 

The mix of nationalities was never more evident than the crowd at Red Hot last night, this because the excellent band fits some crowd interaction in their repertoire and asks the folks what country they are from. Lately the majority have been Russians and many of whom don't mind getting up dancing in front of the stage, but last night they were not the majority, in fact there was not a majority, but more of a mix with quite a few Germans, along with the Russians coming next in line, then some Brits and Aussies, some from the USA and Italy, a couple from Israel and China, along with yours truly from NZ, and before I forget a couple of tables of "more mature" Thai girls. 

 

An interesting point would be that the average age bracket of the entire "audience" would have been about 35-40 and I believe this is because this superb band plays a lot of good everyday rock 'n' roll, including a fabulous montage of Queen songs and stays away from the non mainstream stuff, thereby drawing this age bracket.

 

They would have to be several cuts above the band which plays in Monsoon and Lion and they always
seem to have a good following and indeed I have spotted a few of the same expats there over the past month or so.

 

So Patong is not as dead as a dodo at the moment, although as has often been mentioned, the general feedback from smaller businesses is that the spend is not there and as if to contradict that statement, my favourite Italian restaurant last night was full, yes full, with a couple of customers waiting for a table to become vacant!

 

So the situation seems about as stable as a box of frogs and there's no telling what the next month or two will hold, apart from the certainty that there will be lots of firecrackers in early February!

[NamKangMan]

On 1/22/2019 at 5:46 PM, spidermike007 said:

Agreed. No justification whatsoever for Phuket or Samui taxi prices. None. Apologists will disagree. So will the taxi mafia. It comes down to sloth. More and more sloth on the part of Prayuth and the incompetent army. Also massive corruption. 

 

Bottom line is the Samui and Phuket taxi mafia is far more powerful than the army. Seems to be a fact. Funny, but true. And very sad. The elections could not come soon enough!

 

I saw the military coup as Phuket's last chance to address the transport issue.  Nothing changed, except for a token airport and coast road bus, and these were not immediate. 

 

"The elections could not come soon enough!" - why do you say that?  I see them both as bad as each other. 

 

For decades, a democratically elected Government presided over the transport issue here, with nothing being done, then, it was the Thai military's turn to turn a blind eye to the issue.  Either way, the issue did not get addressed, causing the western tourist market to decline, thus forcing the void to be filled by cheap Chinese package holiday makers, in coach buses.  Without the coach buses, they basically couldn't afford a holiday on Phuket. 

 

Sadly, as far as transport is concerned, what Phuket has now, is all that Phuket will ever have, or not have.  Thus, I can only see a further decline in independent western tourists coming to Phuket. 

 

The various transport "clubs" and "associations" here certain let those in authority here know who holds the real power here.  

 

 

[NamKangMan]

18 hours ago, xylophone said:

Not sure whether to post on this thread all the other one, "Patong – the wake" as they seem to be dealing with fairly similar subjects on most posts, so here goes.........

 

I think it would be fairly obvious from those folk who live here that the generally expected high season time before Christmas (say December 1 or even earlier in the past) didn't really materialise to any great extent and there were days when this was very noticeable, however now that situation has changed and Patong is a busier place than I have seen it for some time.

 

Plenty of Chinese, although more than a fair share of rude, noisy, bothersome ones and I suppose I should add ignorant to that, because just two days ago I (again) reminded a Chinese guy sitting outside Starbucks that taking his shoes off and putting his feet on the table was not the done thing. Similarly I reprimanded an errant mother inside Starbucks as she was letting her two young kids run around the place like it was a playground, and they were screaming and shouting at the top of their voices, so I did likewise at her face, but used a well-known expletive that rhymes with truck to put across my point (I may add that the Starbucks staff were most appreciative of my moves as they seem very reluctant to act on such things).

 

More prevalent than ever before in my 12 years here were the Russians, which again included many of the surly unsmiling ones and many carrying plastic bags of Chang beers bought from the 7-Eleven when they were wandering around at night,

 

Add to that a smattering of Indians (no not Apaches) and some heavily tattooed overweight Aussies and the scene was/is almost complete.

 

Indeed a few of the property booths were reporting increased interest from mainly Chinese and Russians, with an odd exception, but having said that they were very happy with the upturn, because that market had been pretty grim for the past two months or so........ and possibly beyond.

 

The mix of nationalities was never more evident than the crowd at Red Hot last night, this because the excellent band fits some crowd interaction in their repertoire and asks the folks what country they are from. Lately the majority have been Russians and many of whom don't mind getting up dancing in front of the stage, but last night they were not the majority, in fact there was not a majority, but more of a mix with quite a few Germans, along with the Russians coming next in line, then some Brits and Aussies, some from the USA and Italy, a couple from Israel and China, along with yours truly from NZ, and before I forget a couple of tables of "more mature" Thai girls. 

 

An interesting point would be that the average age bracket of the entire "audience" would have been about 35-40 and I believe this is because this superb band plays a lot of good everyday rock 'n' roll, including a fabulous montage of Queen songs and stays away from the non mainstream stuff, thereby drawing this age bracket.

 

They would have to be several cuts above the band which plays in Monsoon and Lion and they always
seem to have a good following and indeed I have spotted a few of the same expats there over the past month or so.

 

So Patong is not as dead as a dodo at the moment, although as has often been mentioned, the general feedback from smaller businesses is that the spend is not there and as if to contradict that statement, my favourite Italian restaurant last night was full, yes full, with a couple of customers waiting for a table to become vacant!

 

So the situation seems about as stable as a box of frogs and there's no telling what the next month or two will hold, apart from the certainty that there will be lots of firecrackers in early February!

 

"More prevalent than ever before in my 12 years here were the Russians" - yes, which is interesting, and I'm not sure why this is the case. 

 

The western sanctions are still in place, and oil is still down, thus, the Russian economy is not in good shape.  

 

It would be understandable if there were high net worth Russians coming here, but these are the cheap package holiday Russians.  Not sure where their money is coming from.