Just been to Koh Samui and MY GOD!!!

[Skallywag]

6 hours ago, Issanman said:

We drove down to Samui last year and stayed 4 days. I don't even think about ever going back.

I tell you it is the cars and motorcycles ruining LOS.  

For Buddhas sake, now people are driving their personal vehicles out to islands?  

[Skallywag]

Just been to Koh Samui and MY GOD!!!

I see your personal deity let you down again

[Olmate]

6 minutes ago, Denim said:

Why go to these places when there are many beaches elsewhere that are deserted mid week and they are glad of the custom. If you go to a tourist ghetto you should expect it to be grim.

 

Why not try here. Empty beach at Mae Phim :

 

 

But there,s no lifeguards on patrol!

[churchill]

19 minutes ago, wilcopops said:

Illegal developments in the hills?

No

[RickBradford]

1 hour ago, Denim said:

Why go to these places when there are many beaches elsewhere that are deserted mid week and they are glad of the custom. If you go to a tourist ghetto you should expect it to be grim.

 

Why not try here. Empty beach at Mae Phim :

 

 

If that's the kind of bulldozer they're using to repair Pattaya beach after every rain shower, no wonder the place is such a mess!

[LomSak27]

8 hours ago, RobboR said:

How do you know how long somebody has been here?? Not everybody strives to join thaivisa within seconds of arrival!

 

Point taken, but as we have so many of those "created personas" in recent years, I guess I am just sceptical. Go figure   

[CharlieH]

More off topic posts removed.

[patongphil]

8 hours ago, moontang said:

If the foreigners want to ruin beach areas, the Thais are more than willing to help.  I always hated the aggressive ripoffs in the tourist areas...makes me glad I live in the Big Mango...so many options.

Uhhmm - no couldn't be bothered

[wilcopops]

9 hours ago, churchill said:

No

Any land over 19 ° gradient is property of the crown

[JamJar]

11 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

isn't that the whole point of going to a tourist place as a TOURIST? to see the touristy bits? if they wanted to trek through the jungle to some god foresaken arse-end of the island why bother going at all?

 

 

 

No. You can be a tourist without visiting the most commercially oriented places. 

I went to Phuket recently and felt no need to visit Patong, nor even Kata or Karon. Does that mean that I'm not a tourist?

I had a surprisingly pleasant time. Beachfront accommodation certainly helped.

[Date Masamune]

Plenty of quiet non touristy areas .. and beautiful uncrowded sandy beaches with no beach sellers or mafia .

 

True but then why go anyway you have to deal with all the crap to go hole up in the quiet areas? Samui was so special to me then within a few years a paradise ruined. I have not been back in 15 years.

 

Could be a Doctoral thesis case study in the compete mismanagement of tourism, and GREED!

 

 

 

[grollies]

12 hours ago, Denim said:

Why go to these places when there are many beaches elsewhere that are deserted mid week and they are glad of the custom. If you go to a tourist ghetto you should expect it to be grim.

 

Why not try here. Empty beach at Mae Phim :

 

 

Mae Phim is a great resort, our favorite beach. Clean water, no beach vendors, mix of Western and Thai restaurants, great seafood markets, decent hotels, only a couple of Chinese tourist buses, zero go-go bars (so not everyone's cup of tea), less than an hour from Pattaya. OK, its got one or two banana-boat rides but what's not to like compared to the other resorts mentioned above?

 

 

[amykat]

16 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

True, I have been there, but it´s a bit too quiet. I like to have a bigger town near me - and minimum one good sushi restaurant. ????  So the options are somewhere between Jomtien and Sattahip or Koh Samui. I also have been at Koh Chang before but that´s also a bit boring.

Why stay in Thailand at all?  Go to nearby countries which have better exchange rates, get a break from the same things, same food, etc, if you have to pay to stay somewhere, get out and see something a bit different???  Thailand same same everywhere ...more or less.

[Olmate]

16 minutes ago, vinniekintana said:

Troll OP

Sure it’s not,even if it was,responses are still valid!

[wilcopops]

8 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Sure it’s not,even if it was,responses are still valid!

Yes, the OP is little more than a troll, but the subsequent posts raise and question issues that concern Thailand in general .

 

 

This article covers it quite well........

 

https://thethaiger.com/news/opinion/ten-things-the-thai-government-need-to-do-right-now

[JamJar]

1 hour ago, Date Masamune said:

True but then why go anyway you have to deal with all the crap to go hole up in the quiet areas? Samui was so special to me then within a few years a paradise ruined. I have not been back in 15 years.

 

Could be a Doctoral thesis case study in the compete mismanagement of tourism, and GREED!

 

 

 

 

To be fair, everyone I know who went to or lived on Samui has been saying it's being going downhill, every year for the past twenty years

Of course with more and more commercial development and the ease of which anyone could fly direct to Samui, it was bound to change.

In '98 one British lad ran over to where I was on Chaweng Beach road, to proudly announce that the birds only cost a tenner. At that point it was time to find somewhere else. ass tourism was to follow.

 

 

 

 

[LivinLOS]

19 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

Hmmmm, I am living in Chiang Mai and want to leave northern Thailand for 3 months during the burning season next year. My idea was to go to Koh Samui for this time. Following this thread to find out if it´s really so bad there. 

At Phuket I have been 3 times and was not so impressed.

My 2c is I far prefer Samui to Phuket.. Phukets over built and I find more pressure and worse attitudes.. Samui, Lamai and south is still a decent island vibe, my wife lived there a decade back and so a few local lamai families are still there and we get a nice local welcome and meals.. Lamai beach is decent for a chill and a swim, pop round the coast to chaweng for a bit more action a couple of times, etc etc.. 

 

Everyone has thier own take on it.. Samui suits me for a bit of a beachy break while still having things I want available. 

[cornishcarlos]

1 hour ago, JamJar said:

 

To be fair, everyone I know who went to or lived on Samui has been saying it's being going downhill, every year for the past twenty years

 

As with most things, it's subjective.. For some, who wanted the place to themselves with a 100 baht bungalow on the beach and no hot showers then of course it went downhill. For others, it was going uphill with continued development and business opportunities. I reckon most would now agree that it's hit saturation point and will only get worse until it implodes...

Someone earlier made a comment about people driving there own cars to the islands, which is for sure a big contributing factor in the state of the roads there now. If only the taxis would play fair, maybe less folk would feel the need to self drive ????????

[mike787]

4 hours ago, amykat said:

Why stay in Thailand at all?  Go to nearby countries which have better exchange rates, get a break from the same things, same food, etc, if you have to pay to stay somewhere, get out and see something a bit different???  Thailand same same everywhere ...more or less.

YES!!!  Words from the wise.  Thailand has depreciated itself significantly especially when comparing other options just in Asia.  It really is the same all over Thailand.  The islands along with the rest of the Thailands beach areas are a sewage dumping ground.  

[Tropicalevo]

On 7/14/2019 at 10:06 AM, whiteman said:

full of needels and condoms

Hmm. Methinks that you were not on Samui.

 

I have lived here for 19 years, walked most of the beaches and I have never seen a needle or a condom.

 

Pray enlighten us as to where you found these items.(removed)

[Tropicalevo]

On 7/14/2019 at 10:51 AM, ThomasThBKK said:

Samui is really only good to rent a big villa with friends/family, but well they closed them all down, great.

And maybe staying in a fancy 5 star resort that you don't have to leave, where security guys are give asskicks off everyone who's not a guest.

 

 

Sorry Thomas but you are talking rubbish.

 

"well they closed them all down" - er, I think they closed down one (land dispute was the cause). The others are still trading.

 

I look after 50 villas. I had a visit from the army last week and they checked my papers (both personal and company) and left. One of them even asked me for a job!

[Tropicalevo]

On 7/14/2019 at 11:30 AM, Issanman said:

We drove down to Samui last year and stayed 4 days. I don't even think about ever going back.

 

I've been to Phuket 3 times in the last 9 months and I can't wait to go back.

 

Yes, the girls in the bars in Phuket are prettier and younger.

[Tropicalevo]

On 7/14/2019 at 12:11 PM, CNXexpat said:

Hmmmm, I am living in Chiang Mai and want to leave northern Thailand for 3 months during the burning season next year. My idea was to go to Koh Samui for this time. Following this thread to find out if it´s really so bad there. 

At Phuket I have been 3 times and was not so impressed.

Do not believe all that you read on TV. Most people have an agenda (including me - I love Samui).

 

Chaweng, Patong, Walking Street - they are all the same. Most local foreigners avoid them.

 

You should visit all three towns/islands, avoid the above and make up your own mind.

[ThomasThBKK]

5 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Sorry Thomas but you are talking rubbish.

 

"well they closed them all down" - er, I think they closed down one (land dispute was the cause). The others are still trading.

 

I look after 50 villas. I had a visit from the army last week and they checked my papers (both personal and company) and left. One of them even asked me for a job!

Only an absolute fool would book and pay a villa there in advance knowing that they raid them regularly like they did with samujana, risking his holiday.

And that's absolutely my point, if samui authorities are so anal about everything, tourists will stay away.

 

https://www.booking.com/hotel/th/samujana.html?aid=356980;label=gog235jc-1DCAso3QFCCHNhbXVqYW5hSDNYA2jdAYgBAZgBMbgBF8gBDNgBA-gBAfgBAogCAagCA7gCnpyw6QXAAgE;sid=9f26babc5d530699d14ea7588c462497;all_sr_blocks=251348914_103633352_6_41_0;bhgwe_bhr=0;checkin=2019-07-18;checkout=2019-08-14;dest_id=-3406758;dest_type=city;dist=0;group_adults=2;group_children=0;hapos=1;highlighted_blocks=251348914_103633352_6_41_0;hp_group_set=0;hpos=1;no_rooms=1;room1=A%2CA;sb_price_type=total;show_room=251348914;sr_order=popularity;srepoch=1563168304;srpvid=ced4261828370025;type=total;ucfs=1&#RD251348914

 

800k Baht for a month and and just been raided last month: https://bangkokjack.com/2019/06/13/luxury-island-villas-raided-koh-samui/

No one knows what will happen there. Same shit happening on Phuket, they even kicked out the guests there.

 

And no there was no land dispute, they operated without licenses according to samui authorities. And as  a customer you have absolutely no way to check if everything is in order.

 

I stayed there before and will never book it again, i don't like risking my money, no one does.

And that's exactly thailands problem, they <deleted> it up for themselves as always.

 

 

[gearbox]

13 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

I have lived here for 19 years, walked most of the beaches and I have never seen a needle or a condom.

 

 

Ditto that. I regularly walk large sections of Chaweng beach and have never seen needles or condoms. There is a bit of garbage from time to time in the water, but nothing major.

 

I've been living here on and off for more than a year and I find it as an OK place to live. Not great, but not bad either. For the tourists it may be a different story. It does attract more affluent tourists, but even they are now complaining how expensive the things have become. However the Chinese tourists I've talked to consider it "cheap"...I haven't seen any Chinese groups, most of them seem to be independent tourists.

[No1Farang]

On 7/14/2019 at 4:06 AM, whiteman said:

full of needels and condoms

You obviously didn't visit these beaches

[GalaxyMan]

Admittedly I only habituate the northern coast, living in Maenam, but I've never seen any condoms or needles on any of the beaches in Maenam or Bang Po. And I can't ever recall anyone trying to sell me drugs of any sort, which is odd, because I usually bring them out of the woodwork for some reason. That being said, I think that Thailand has killed the goose that laid the golden eggs when it comes to tourism, be it escalating prices or the constant attempt to rip a farang off every chance they get or the undisguised hatred and contempt that the government seems to have for us. They really do seem to see us as nothing more than walking ATM machines. As a non-tourist with a Thai wife, I don't feel it as much as I imagine the short-term tourist does. Still sad. The local people bust their asses to barely get by and now it's only going to get harder with their major source of income gone; tourists.

[khunPer]

20 hours ago, Denim said:

Why go to these places when there are many beaches elsewhere that are deserted mid week and they are glad of the custom. If you go to a tourist ghetto you should expect it to be grim.

 

Why not try here. Empty beach at Mae Phim :

 

 

Or one of the many beaches on Koh Samui...????

[huberthammer]

On 7/14/2019 at 10:23 AM, kellersphuket said:

Greediest people i ever saw there bro. Took greed to a whole new level, one guy followed me for about 500m saying smoking and coke whilst making a sniffing sound. Weirdos

mate you really must look the part. In all the years coming to samui / living here I never had anybody trying to sell me drugs. The guys must have identified you as somebody who clearly needs a bit of substances to be less miserable.

[thasoss]

On 7/15/2019 at 11:39 AM, mike787 said:

YES!!!  Words from the wise.  Thailand has depreciated itself significantly especially when comparing other options just in Asia.  It really is the same all over Thailand.  The islands along with the rest of the Thailands beach areas are a sewage dumping ground.  

where there's a lot of people you'll find rubbish,banrak down by the market is a good example.Samui's main problems are the lack of rubbish collections and disposal,on/off electricity and water,too many cars,and really just too many people living on a small island.Add to that aggressive locals,inept police force,stinking drains in chaweng beach road,poor sewerage disposal usually into the sea...otherwise Samui is an ok place.