What Happened to Samui??

[Jackson]

The first time I went to Samui was November of 1997. It was beautiful. Truly a topical paradise. I went there again in 2001 and I was still in love with the place. My most recent visit was December of 2008. The place looks like Pattaya south. So many bars and Issan bar girls... The people in the town didn't seem nearly as friendly or happy to see a tourist, there were only happy when they were selling a t-shirt or a wooden frog. When will the people of Thailand learn that their greatest asset is the beauty of their country and beaches, their hospitality and culture and not bars and bar girls?

[Deadhead]

Jackson,

It went downhill and it seems not to be able to stop either. My wife, 2-year old son, and I were down there in 1993 and it was nice but unfortunately we did not have pictures (I have to check my files).

We honeymooned in Patong in Phuket in 1987 and went to Phi Phi Island. Looking back there were real paradises--no big hotels, just nice fancy huts (with air?).

1997, we went to Koh Ngai and it was nice, too. 2003, we went to Koh Phi Phi, Koh Lanta Yai, and Krabi and they were still good. 2005, we went back to Phi Phi and Phuket after the tsunami, wife and son did not like it. 2007, we went back to Phi Phi again and Khao Lak (to help spend on the locals), but kind of disappointed. We were planning to go back to Samui but kind of felt that it was over developed, more crowds, and more expensive than Phuket. So we did not go.

Point is Samui is way over developed. Now there are having problems with garbage, sewerage, drugs, drought, etc. like Pattaya and Phuket. Foods are extremely expensive for locals in Phuket and Samui.

Overdeveloping for tourists is the real problem. Everyone rushes in to gain quick bucks. Tourism is being #2 income for Thailand, but government (both national, provincial, and locals) is not doing anything to balance it out with nature and long-term planning. Tourism industry should be sustainable for the long-term. Tourists are now going to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. As soon as Myanmar is open (with lots of islands), tourists will flock there and leave Thailand behind.

Try Kho Chang in Trat? I heard it is not bad yet. I have been asking wife and kid if they would like to go there.

Happy Holidays and New Year!

[saipanusa]

that is sad indeed...samui was always such a great palce...but you can get out to the remote side and still be isloated or should I say insulated fomr all the negative nightlife and those damn wooden frogs... but to tell you...you simply must go to Krabi...take the ferry over....I was just there for my big 50 and its like samui was 20yrs ago...not a care in the world...bar if you want...but mostly beach and good food...

[shakeyd]

Sad to say but until Samui can run its own affairs then it with allways come second best to the main land in terms of monies given by the council.You also have to allow it to go and revert to type and allow the idiots who set up bars in the same fashion as Pattaya to fail as they surely will because this is not the way Samui will survive.Samui is an amazing island and has loads to offer everyone but at the moment it has no direction in terms of who it is trying to attract so you have the wrong people staying there.
It will come back to its former self it just needs direction and the right type of investment and get rid of the slag bars that attract the numpty single blokes and let them go back to Pattaya and Bangkok and leave paradise intact.

[thunda]

Samui, was indeed a nice place to visit a decade or so ago. My first visit was late 1990, then again in 93/94, 96, 98,2000 and have have not returned since my last visit in 2003. The problem with Samui is that basically the people are to GREEDY! and have become very arrogant and rude. (Farang and Thai's) The decline in the coral reefs around the island are a disgrace,
it is very quickly becoming one of the most over exhausted islands in SE Asia.

To think just 30 odd years ago Samui didn't have a road running around the island, to get from village to village was done by boat. ( I think it was completed in 1978/79) I can remember some stories from a friend who married a lady from Bophut, and her father telling us that it used to be a week long trip to go via land from Bophut to Nathon and back.
Most people I chat to now who go to Samui when they arrive in Thailand tell me that they will never return there.

Shame Samui people Shame on you for being to greedy and destroying what was once a very nice island.
Andrew Trang.

[tingtong]

Thaiand is for sex tourists, that not my word for it by the way. Yes Thailand is bars bikes booze, not necessarily in that order but.
Anyone that thinks that tourist swill come to sit on a beach to read a book should take a look at Langkawi A muslim Island and looks like Samui but isnt . If talking to boys or sitting entirely on your own is your thing then please go there.

Thailand is what it is and always will be. Demolish the bars at your peril.

[**ADAM**]

Well I can tell you easily what happened to Samui...

Disgusting, un-educated, hypocritic foreigners have ruined the place, just like they did it at Pattaya, Phuket and other destinations. We should not blame Thais for setting up girly bars. All they do is just respond to market demand.
The core problem are those people (I refer to them as "people" although they are worse than animals) who keep these bars and "tourist" places alive. Who go to see monkey shows, elephant shows, and Patpong-style institutions.
I have been to Thailand 5 times so far and have spent quite a lot of time there, but never, not even once, have I entered such places or paid for sex.
As long as your "best friends" and neighbors in your country keep going to Thailand for sex and are willing to pay for unstylish but expensive looking new hotels, and as long as YOU do not tell them to be ashamed of themselves for what they are doing, the process will go forward.
I am sorry to see Samui and other such beautiful places go down.
And I truly hate all tourists who are unable to visit a place without leaving their footprints behind.

[wongcilik]

1st time I went to Samui was in 1983 and last time in 1985.
It was not easy to get there,slow train/bus to Surat Thani,slow boat to Samui or ferry--have to sit on roof and got sun burned.
Then there was only one small proper hotel--cant remember the name.
Stayed in Big Buddha THB40/nite hut by beach -beautiful,also at Chaweng huts.Banana/coconut pancake was THB10.
There was no pubs,no bars,no proper restaurents,no traffic,not much people around so one really get to "see" the island.
There are rental bikes then though.

Thailand should segregate&develop the beaches/areas by the type of destination.Not all like now need to replicate Pattaya-the grand mama developed by USA army R&R during the Vietnam war.Two or maximun three places for sun,sex and booze would be enough.Ban sex and booze trade from others for those who enjoy nature or family travelling.For these Malaysian islands-East or west coast are the best.Booze is still available at limited places,commercial sex almost non existence,and beaches especially those of east coast islands and Langkawi are still spectacular.

Been to koh Samed also in 1986,wonder what has become of it.
Returned to Phuket last year after more than 15 years.Pattaya replica.

[Luuk-kreung]

I think **ADAM** is one of the few posters here who has any real grasp on why Samui and a dozen other Thai "ex-paradises" have gone down... Yes, tourism is an inherently destructive industry, because it's founded on CONSUMERISM.

What the Thais have done to Samui and are doing to every other 'paradise' of theirs is exactly what foreigners wanted in the first place: convenience, paved roads, electricity & plumbing, international menus, corner stores selling TIME magazine and your favourite Western candy bar, oh and bar girls. I've been to Thailand many times. I've lived there 2 years to study Thai classical dance and language. I met scores of tourists and got to know quite a few expats. And I can tell you that the average (male) tourist's idea of Thailand is this: beaches, women & booze.

How sad that the vast majority of tourists (and people posting on this forum) lament a state of affairs that they actually helped bring about with their Western ideas of how a country should be run. Yes, I'm guilty of this too, having been a dumb tourist during my first trip to Thailand. The next time you visit Thailand, try exploring Isaan (the Northeast) and other culturally rich areas that don't get enough foreign visitors. Try learning some Thai and try immersing yourself in the culture, rather than immersing yourself in girls, treating Thailand as your personal beach and Thais as a nation of waiters and cleaing maids.

[farang2x]

Samui used to be the land of green-friendly and coconut huts with banana fritters.


Then became like Miami Beach.

This could have been a great artists community. Now it's a dump.