Phuket tourism going down the pan just like Pattaya: Few tourists and much worse than last year

[marcusarelus]

3 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Thailand doesn't record how many food poisonings there are per year, but I reckon it would be right up there IMHO.

America does, 48 million per year.  

[CNXexpat]

1 hour ago, alzack said:

We had the Best 78 Baht= £1  , but now we have left and better off. Crazy when a beer can cost £6-£8 in  Phucket. Thailand has had its day, and they have killed the goose that lays the golden egg.

That´s a special British problem because the GBP is so low thanks Brexit. For other westeners it´s not so much more expensive than before. 

[bander]

With all the skams and extortion going on in Phuket I understand the tourists avoiding that place at all cost.

It starts with the taxi mafia at the airport where you get ripped off when they refuse to use the meter.

Next scam is tuk-tuk drivers who charge twice or triple price and beat you up if you refuse to pay the overcharge.

And jetski mafia who give you a 40K bill on a broken jetski even if you hasn't make any accident. 

And of course BIB's who is controlling all the scams and make sure the tourist get ripped off and leave Phuket broken with no savings left on the bank account.

Did I forget someone?

[marcusarelus]

22 minutes ago, digger70 said:

It won't happen overnight,,,, but it will happen, the THB will come down they just can't keep holding it up, what goes up Must go down.    ????

I been here since 2005 when do you think this will happen?  Is the moon coming down too?  

[on wards and up wards]

Try looking at the strong baht which is obviously being propped up, cut the baht some slack, that may help

[rawaimike]

8 hours ago, Snuller21 said:

And a way to strong Baht. Thailand used to be an affordable country for holidays. Not anymore as the Baht is way too strong. And that is also for the Export. Just look at the price for rice, and the declining of that as export as well. And Toyota making an assembly factory for HiLux in Myanmar, as they lose money on every assembled car in Thailand. Just saying.

Everything now over double in price, on my latest visit never heard a bar bell ring, except on new years eve with just 6/7 people in bar,

[Joe Mcseismic]

1 minute ago, on wards and up wards said:

Try looking at the strong baht which is obviously being propped up, cut the baht some slack, that may help

If it's so obvious, you must have some evidence you can show us that it is being manipulated. Please show.

[4MyEgo]

14 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

America does, 48 million per year.  

From a population of 327,000,000, that's acceptable considering it's a 1st world country ????

 

[Youlike]

8 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Yes to all that, but on balance, I see no difference in terms of ripping off tourists here than say Spain, Cyprus, Malta,  most Caribbean islands. It goes on everywhere. 

Do they also have criminal ladyboys in spain? Or corrupt cops?

[CNXexpat]

15 minutes ago, bander said:

With all the skams and extortion going on in Phuket I understand the tourists avoiding that place at all cost.

It starts with the taxi mafia at the airport where you get ripped off when they refuse to use the meter.

Next scam is tuk-tuk drivers who charge twice or triple price and beat you up if you refuse to pay the overcharge.

And jetski mafia who give you a 40K bill on a broken jetski even if you hasn't make any accident. 

And of course BIB's who is controlling all the scams and make sure the tourist get ripped off and leave Phuket broken with no savings left on the bank account.

Did I forget someone?

Oh please! How many millions tourists come every year and to how many (percent) this happens? Far below 0,01%.

[SlyouThai]

well i guess people who are vaping dont want to end up in jail so they choose an pther holiday destination ????

[roadrunner32]

21 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

For other westeners it´s not so much more expensive than before. 

Really? What do you think about the Euro under 35? 

[marcusarelus]

14 minutes ago, on wards and up wards said:

Try looking at the strong baht which is obviously being propped up, cut the baht some slack, that may help

How are they propping it up?  Which means they are lowering the pound and Dollar too.  By voodoo?  

[CNXexpat]

7 minutes ago, Youlike said:

Do they also have criminal ladyboys in spain? Or corrupt cops?

Which family enjoying their holidays at by example Kamala comes in contact with the police or criminal ladyboys? 38 million tourists came to Thailand last year. What do you think how many percent of them had contact with the police or criminal ladyboys?

[marcusarelus]

9 minutes ago, Youlike said:

Do they also have criminal ladyboys in spain? Or corrupt cops?

If they did Spain would have all the tourists.  

[xylophone]

6 hours ago, SteveK said:

And the idiotic visa regulations forcing ex-pats out - don't the Thai government realise that ex-pats will have friends who will visit for a holiday, bringing all that lovely income with them?

Agree that the visa regulations here are becoming bloody annoying  and plenty of expats I have spoken to feel that the place is going downhill fast and doesn't have a lot to offer expats who want to live here, because many of them/ask do not want to have to jump through hoops every 90 days and 12 months.

 

The infrastructure is overloaded and the drains smell, the sidewalks are in bad repair as are the roads, so where has all of the money gone? No need to take that question any further because it's quite obvious to those of us living here.

 

The corruption impacts everybody, and business owners and bar owners I know are absolutely fed up with having to pay the monthly Tea-money and get nothing back for it. And as for those of us living in Phuket, it really grates to see large mansions in protected areas and unapproved buildings on beaches being allowed to continue when they are clearly illegal.

 

The corruption spreads from top to bottom and just two days ago I was quoted a price of 800 baht in order to fix something on my television network, which was at the behest of the network itself, so I went to another outlet in Phuket town and they told me it was free of charge and have arranged to do it – – so even my local office is trying to rip me off.

 

It just never ends here and word spreads, as it has done, and now the consequences are becoming very obvious. 

 

Greedy people here are slowly strangling the "Golden Goose", and resuscitation may well be too late. 

[CNXexpat]

2 minutes ago, roadrunner32 said:

Really? What do you think about the Euro under 35?

I meant not so much compared to the Britons with their low GBP. The travel companies in Germany increased their prices for trips to Thailand 10 - 20%. 

[digger70]

20 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

I been here since 2005 when do you think this will happen?  Is the moon coming down too?  

I said It Won't happen overnight ,,,,,, just be Patient, I know what you gonna say about that,,, I am No doctor So I don't need Patients,,,   ????

[Stevemercer]

46 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

Do you think the UK is happy with it's low value pound right now?  

 

It's no good for expats living in Thailand who cop a double whammy. No complaints if you are earning Thai Baht and want to holiday or buy property/goods in the UK.

[ThomasThBKK]

16 minutes ago, rawaimike said:

Everything now over double in price, on my latest visit never heard a bar bell ring, except on new years eve with just 6/7 people in bar,

Not surprising, the gin i like: https://th.liq9.asia/gin-mare-mediterranean-gin-700-ml.html 2730 THB 

in Spain: https://www.decantalo.com/en/ginebra-gin-mare.html 28 EUR 

 

28 EUR vs 78 EUR aka 178% difference.

 

You can be lucky to pay only twice the amount you would pay in Europe here. 

44 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

The meaningful number is debt as a percent of GDP.

No it's not, gdp per capita might say something but GDP does absolute nothing, most profits stay in Corporations and aren't paid out to Somchai, he makes way more Debt than his salary rises. No Thai has a 10% salary increase per year.

 

Just now, marcusarelus said:

If they did Spain would have all the tourists.  

Well, They have 82 MIO TOURISTS PER YEAR, twice that of Thailand. 

[holy cow cm]

Well, it is really not the time to go swimming with all the rip tides. The baht is killing the exchange rates, and the government is not warm to the foreigners making us feel welcome or at home. what the heck do they really want? Crap on our heads and we say thank you?

[farang2002]

9 hours ago, Snuller21 said:

And a way to strong Baht. Thailand used to be an affordable country for holidays. Not anymore as the Baht is way too strong. And that is also for the Export. Just look at the price for rice, and the declining of that as export as well. And Toyota making an assembly factory for HiLux in Myanmar, as they lose money on every assembled car in Thailand. Just saying.

I just got back from Bali.  Restaurants, hotels and tour operators all complaining about things being slow.

So Phuket isn't alone.  But for sure prices have risen.  The strong baht makes Thailand more like Singapore:  expensive shopping mall!

[munmick]

Thailand was very good for holidays with the bhat being 73 to 1 pound in 2005. Now the bhat is around 36 to 1 pound. That is the main reason it costs a lot of money to come to Thailand now.Also people there on retirement are finding it difficult to survive. 

 

 

[laocowboy2]

8 hours ago, BestB said:

I am a long term expat and I take frequent holidays to Jakarta to have fun instead of locally . 

 

Why?

 

Because I am tired of having to pay top money for crap service, put up with crap English and bad attitude.

 

In Jakarta , I pay less, female company speaks good enough English, no sisters or brothers calling for her to go fast, no mobile phone that she must play with , I do not hear sad stories about sick mother or father and I get exactly what we agreed.

 

Taxi, grab, dirt cheap. Food just as cheap, and no one annoying you to buy some crap while you out , no hassles with police and friendly immigration 

Thanks for that - have not been to Jakarta for a long time so perhaps I should remedy that.

[Lashay]

37 minutes ago, rawaimike said:

Everything now over double in price, on my latest visit never heard a bar bell ring, except on new years eve with just 6/7 people in bar,

At its best 1000baht ring the bell was £16 now its just short of £26.

 

[Baerboxer]

9 hours ago, Thechook said:

Way to expensive now and the military can't see that their over inflated baht is killing them.

 

Agree. The main reason is the strong baht. The rip offs also have an increasing effect as those rip offs become more expensive because of the e/r too.

 

Thailand took it's tourism industry for granted and thought it could treat it how it wanted and that there was a never ending supply of tourists eager to pay whatever was demanded. 

 

 

[marcusarelus]

19 minutes ago, digger70 said:

I said It Won't happen overnight ,,,,,, just be Patient, I know what you gonna say about that,,, I am No doctor So I don't need Patients,,,   ????

No I was going to say I felt the economic indicators gave a buy signal in 2005 so I invested in Thai currency and they are still showing a buy signal.  If you own pounds now is a good time to convert to baht.  

[CNXexpat]

5 minutes ago, munmick said:

Thailand was very good for holidays with the bhat being 73 to 1 pound in 2005. Now the bhat is around 36 to 1 pound. That is the main reason it costs a lot of money to come to Thailand now.Also people there on retirement are finding it difficult to survive. 

 

 

2005 is 14 years ago. Since this time Thailand is more developed and became richer. GB has the Brexit. Also for me as a German the currency is worse - but not so worse as for you. Say thank you to the Brexit and don´t blame Thailand. 

[marcusarelus]

20 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

You can be lucky to pay only twice the amount you would pay in Europe here. No it's not, gdp per capita might say something but GDP does absolute nothing, most profits stay in Corporations and aren't paid out to Somchai, he makes way more Debt than his salary rises. No Thai has a 10% salary increase per year.

There are good reasons every financial site lists personal debt per gdp.  You can look it up.  

[marcusarelus]

3 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Agree. The main reason is the strong baht. The rip offs also have an increasing effect as those rip offs become more expensive because of the e/r too.

 

Thailand took it's tourism industry for granted and thought it could treat it how it wanted and that there was a never ending supply of tourists eager to pay whatever was demanded. 

So, what percent is tourism going to go down in 2019?  How many total tourists are going to come in 2019?