Phuket Going Down The Toilet For Family Tourists?

[Pescator]

I agree.

In my backpacking days I used to stay there a night upon arrival and departure from BKK. Not exactly on KSR but in the vicinity, simply because they have the lowest room rates in BKK.

And the concentration of travelling agencies, tailors, shops etc.etc. makes it very convenient for the traveller with not too much cash and time his hands.

"Khao San Road Scum"?

I fail to see how they deserve to be labelled that way.

And besides these days all kinds of people not just the dreadlocked variety stay in this general area so it is kind of ridiculous to make such a sweeping generalization.

 

Hua Nguu

 

 

[Fatbastard]

[color:"red"] PHUKET: Phuket has proven to be the country’s leading tourism destination with the announcement of two national Tourism Awards and six Tourist Guide Awards going to the province [/color]

Greed and corruption will kill this place off before long. I used to be a Phuket fan but after the last trip 6 months ago swore I will NEVER go back, after my 75 year old Mum had a can of brake fluid thrown at her by one of the Tuk Tuk mafia when she refused to pay his outrageous asking price for a trip back from Karon to Patong. We reported it to the police but ofcouse they couldn't give a fuck. No money in this sort of thing for them. I think Patong in particular has turned into one shit hole full of scum bag cops, drivers and tour guides. Every where we went we were harrased by touts, rip off merchants and idiot motorcycle riders. Couldn't wait to leave the place. For me it was sad to see a place that was a great holiday destination deteriorate into this over the last 15 years.

[Guest]

I was there a week or two back for a quick visit to a friend. KSR is probably more upmarket than most places I go now. I really couldn't believe the change. French restaurants, Italian restaurants, coffee shops, malls. It definitely is going upmarket. I've never had anything bad to say about the average person in KSR, maybe cos I was once there. As said earlier though if it wasn't for the likes of them hardly any of you would be here now.

[Oldtimer]

I was rather interested to hear that some chaps indeed beleive that ""Phuket is going down the toilet for family tourists"as we are just in the process of buying a villa on Phuket's West Coast. And we certainly plan to bring our youngsters down to stay.

 

We actually first visited Phuket well over 35 years ago, before there were any West Coast beach resorts, other than some hippy occupied shacks. The island has certainly changed, but all in all for us it remains a rather charming place with loads of things for kids to do: riding, diving, fishing, golf etc.

 

Of course, Patong Beach is also a great amenity. It may not be quiet enough for everyone's taste, but where else can one find such a supurb collection of night time venues on a tropical isle? Our younger grandchildren enjoy chatting up the ladies at the beer bars while the teen agers have a great work out in the discos. Often we start a Patong evening off around 9.00 p.m. with dinner at Restaurant Four (set up in the parking lot just north of Bangla Road) or at the Belgium owned Coconut Cafe right on the beach sand.

 

With its excellent direct air connections to Europe and Asia, I firmly beleive that real estate values in Phuket will not only hold their own, but continue to climb. Of course, we wouldn't be investing there if we beleived otherwise.

 

Also, we have generally found Phuket people to be very helpful and accommodating. Sure there is the odd tuk-tuk driver who trys to take advantage, but as soon as one addresses them with a smile in Thai, they quickly become more reasonable. Don't forget that the drivers also to make a living, what with the high daily rents the truck owners charge.

 

And by the way, as more than one of our members has pointed out, there are much cheaper places to stay and eat on Phuket than in the West Coast beach resorts. For example, we find the prices at the big Lotus store not much dearer than in Bangkok.

 

The main point that I want to make is that its probably a bit early to write off Phuket. Despite all the development, IMHO the place will continue to attract tourists and farang residents for a good many years to come.

[racha]

Fatbastard;

I agree with the tuk tuk driver problem they are arseholes and something no one can fix,The government and the TAT have been trying to get rid of them for years, At the moment they are trying metered taxi's but with lots of trouble from the tuk tuk drivers.

Also can agree with what you say about Patong beach but Phuket has many other good places, Its like comparing Bangkok with Patpong, Phuket has quiet beaches and great hotels in other areas and it is the number one destination in Thailand for many reasons, Phuket has a high number of returning visitors that like it how it is now with all the facilities and things to do there and not how it was 15 years ago, A lot of tourists going to Phuket are people that hate Bangkok and say the same things you are saying about Bangkok, harassed by touts, rip off merchants and the idiot car and motorcycle riders. In Thailand there are places to go for everyone depending on what you want from a holiday and Phuket is the first choice for many people,

[bibblies]

Says Rictic:

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KSR... As said earlier though if it wasn't for the likes of them hardly any of you would be here now.

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Urm, don't you mean 'the likes of them' from about 30/40 years ago? That's a completely different 'them' then, isn't it?

 

I think what the detractors mean is that some of this lot make a big deal out of pretending that they're doing something new, ethnic and adventurously different whereas in fact they'll probably spend most of their time in packs, talking only to each other, doing the same, safe, things. And to top it all, there's a fair number of them keen to make judgments on others.

[Guest]

Says bibblies:

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Says Rictic:

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KSR... As said earlier though if it wasn't for the likes of them hardly any of you would be here now.

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Urm, don't you mean 'the likes of them' from about 30/40 years ago? That's a completely different 'them' then, isn't it?

 

I think what the detractors mean is that some of this lot make a big deal out of pretending that they're doing something new, ethnic and adventurously different whereas in fact they'll probably spend most of their time in packs, talking only to each other, doing the same, safe, things. And to top it all, there's a fair number of them keen to make judgments on others.

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You have used the correct word SOME and believe it or not SOME of them are still hitting places that will become the IN places to go within 5 years. Yes some of them are full of their own self impotance but they are still kids.

As for "And to top it all, there's a fair number of them keen to make judgments on others." I think we see a fair bit of that on this board as well.

 

Most of this lot are kids away on the "big adventure", to them it is "new, ethnic and adventurously different ", they follow a road well travelled, what they see and learn during this time will shape their lives, so it's mainly bullshit, so what. Yes they go places thinking they are real adventurers, so do my daughters. My eldest is now coming on 5. Two years ago I took them back to the UK, I gave the eldest her own little pack, she was getting off the aircraft in front of me in Singapore and the UK, trying to lead the way in places she'd never seen or been to before. I was nearly falling over laughing at her pathfinder routine, but I had to admire it.

 

Some of the backpackers are real adventurers looking for new ways, new routes, new places, the places that the holiday brochures will have soon but not now. Who finds the new in places? it's not the companies that make a fortune shipping tourists to these places. The kids travelling set up the initial neeed for infrastructure to cater for visitors.

 

I was 10 when I first wound up overseas, my family moved to Cyprus, I went places and saw things that many people now would think exotic and that was 35 years ago as far as I'm aware there were very few tourist going to cyprus in the 60's. The beaches I went to were almost deserted but are probably now packed out. The ruins I saw had no-one but us there. The military and the families sent there paved the way. It shaped my life of going from place to place to see things and learn things. I learnt to speak a foreign language, (greek and some Turkish) Now add Thai some Khmer and some Vietnamese.

 

They're not smelly scum as some say, they're you and me as we were 20-30 years ago. So give them a break.

I'll ask you now, who will go to North Korea first? the package tourists or the backpackers? We all know the sextourist will be there before any of them but that doesn't count. The backpackers will be there long before the mass tourists. They will be the catalyst that sets up the necessary infrastucture for tourism. and for the majority on this board.

[Guest]

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[bibblies]

Hey! I've just noticed that my star rating's gone down. Have you just been so emotionally involved as to bother to mark me down for that? (So that's what these stars are for?)

 

All the points that I made remain perfectly valid and reasonably worded. I maintain that the "likes of them" are not David Fucking Livingston. The real pioneers aren't going to stay around KSR any more, are they? They'll be in Burundi, Burkina El Faso and fuck knows where. (North Korea if they're really adventurous.)

 

But this lot are mostly just in it to hang around with their like-minded mates, eat what they imagine to be Thai food (banana fucking pancakes and maybe a bit of pad thai), spend a bit of time peering at what they imagine to be local customs and then scarper off down to Ko Phangnan to take drugs (with each other), dance (with each other) and fuck (each other). They're not paving the way for me at all.

 

I have siblings that are backpackers and my personal guess is that at least as many 'sex tourists', no doubt helped by the Thai company they keep, see and learn more of Thais and their culture as 'backpackers' who, on the average, tend to spend most of their time with each other.

 

Oh well, you gave me a laugh here: "Yes some of them are full of their own self impotance". It works on so many levels..

 

But I found I needed more so I re-read this: http://philipwilliams.freeservers.com/krnews.html. Tell me it isn't true..

 

[bibblies]

Ah, that's better! Marked you down too.. Take that, you bugger! Ooooh - feels so good. My first time too.. ::

 

You've gotta get rid of these stars K. Sanuk..