News Forum - PM pledges to polish Phuket into a top-tier tourist hotspot

[Thaiger]

Phuket is turning up the glamour stakes as Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra unveils ambitious plans to transform the island into a premier tourist magnet. On her whirlwind visit to the sun-drenched southern province, the Thai premier set out a bold vision to tackle key issues facing the beloved getaway, from sorting out traffic snarls to … …

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[Pinetree]

Humans don't live that long.  Phuket is a scam ridden, criminal driven, expensive shit hole.  I don't see that changing any time soon, even if they did deport all the extensive Russian criminal element, although that would be a good start. 

[AussieBob]

3 hours ago, Pinetree said:

Humans don't live that long.  Phuket is a scam ridden, criminal driven, expensive shit hole.  I don't see that changing any time soon, even if they did deport all the extensive Russian criminal element, although that would be a good start. 

Agree - but it does have some lovely beaches and the islands are great. But the people and their 'methods' are atrocious - as is the total lack of maintenance and repairs. Phuket gets far too many tourists - the island cannot support that many people visiting. If the PM wants to do anything down that way to make things better for tourists, instead of another photo op and PR stunt, she should remove the monopoly that Bangkok Airways has over Samui airport - building a road out there aint the solution. Likewise, she should take away all running of the airports in Thailand by the 6 or more organisations that currently do it, and place them all under the control of one Government run organisation that is answerable only to the Federal Parliament, and with no Provincial involvement or controls.

As with all things in Thailand, tourism is in decline.  Not only has nothing improved and many things have declined - other destinations in SEAsia have been ramping up their offerings and infrastructure.  Phuket is the best that Thailand has to offer, and those that know understand that it aint what it once was - and just like the untouchable taxi mafia, it aint getting any better anytime soon. 

[Pinetree]

4 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

As with all things in Thailand, tourism is in decline.  Not only has nothing improved and many things have declined - other destinations in SEAsia have been ramping up their offerings and infrastructure.  Phuket is the best that Thailand has to offer, and those that know understand that it aint what it once was - and just like the untouchable taxi mafia, it aint getting any better anytime soon. 

True, and the next big tourist  location is Vietnam.  The US are pouring Billions into the country, no doubt partly to assuage their guilt over a pointless War. 

[AussieBob]

18 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

True, and the next big tourist  location is Vietnam.  The US are pouring Billions into the country, no doubt partly to assuage their guilt over a pointless War. 

I think you are right. Prior to Covid Greg Norman's company had contracts to build over 100 golf courses in Vietnam. Obviously it all stopped back then, and I think with LIV Golf he is focused elsewhere now, but that is an indicator of how serious Vietnam is in taking a large chunk of tourism business from Thailand. We play golf a lot, and since the 1990s I dont think many new golf courses have been built in Thailand. 

Thailand has in general been sitting on their laurels - but things have been changing around them. Following on from 10 years of a military dictatorship - and post Covid - Thailand is not changing enough to stay ahead.  Every single country in SEAsia is or has been developing more attractive long-term Visa options for retired Expats from the West. Thailand has stayed with their draconian methods, and I looking to impose income taxes on Expats.  It seems to me that they still think it is 1990s and they are the only option aside from Singapore or China.