Phucket - What a disgusting island full of scammers and conmen. AVOID AVOID AVOID

[stevenl]

While I agree with much of what you are saying, I am a bit surprised you're wondering about the Gulf location. This is about Thailand, which 'Gulf' could he mean?

 

[Quero]

It simply didn't occur to me that he meant the Gulf of Thailand given that he was talking about specific local places and he didn't ever ask about any Gulf of Thailand dive locations in his earlier thread in this forum. Plus, the cost of diving in some Gulf of Thailand areas is about the same as from Phuket. But now that you mention it, he probably means Koh Tao, and yeah, that makes some sense.

 

[Skydiver1]

Skydiver, I'm saddened that you're having such an awful time. No place can be all things to all people, and a lot of enjoyment comes from having the correct expectations, so I'm guessing that you had unrealistic expectations to start with. As far as I can tell, the only questions you asked here about your planned visit had to do with weather and conditions at dive sites. You didn't ask about where on the island to stay, how much diving costs, how to organise transfers, what pitfalls to watch out for. Nevertheless, maybe your thread here can help people coming to Phuket ask the right questions and set realistic expectations so that they don't meet with the disappointment you're experiencing.

My background research involved hours scrolling through old scubaboard threads, trip advisor, internet research and three travel books. My price point since you speculate was around 100 euro per night for accommodation. Belated thanks for responding to my post about the weather by the way.

There's only so much research you can do, and as I said other peoples opinions you can take, before at some stage jumping in and seeing what it's like for yourself. And also at the end of the day, I work 12 hour shifts so when I go on holiday I dont want to have to do a thesis before hand in research. One would expect basic law and order to exist without cheap cons and scams being so prevalent and targeted toward tourists on the streets. One would expect basic transport options such as a metered taxi service to be available at a fair rate as is the case in the rest of the country.

The Gulf I referred to was the Gulf of Thailand.

Also, Ive been to Thailand before, the last time having spent 3 and half weeks travelling around including 9 days in Krabi province visiting various islands, one week in Ko phangan and Ko Tao and several days in Bangkok. I never did visit Phucket and I (wrongly) presumed the trustworthiness of the people would be homogeneous and roughly similar to that of the rest of the country. It now seems obvious to me that the regulatory, governing and law enforcement authorities here don't really give a damn about the bigger picture.

I understand that some people may love Phucket, but maybe this thread will give people another persons perspective that the west coast of the island is a hugely tacky and trashy tourist trap with zero transport options at a fair price, food prices are vastly inflated compared to other parts of the country, one is exposed to constant scams in the toilet that is Patong, and in my opinion there is an overriding sense that the vast majority of people in these tourist locations have employed this see-through artificial robotic hospitality, and are really just interested in what you are going to spend.

I have fairly fond memories of Thailand from 6 years ago. I would think that Phucket is the exception, and that the country as a whole has not actually degraded in that time frame.

 

[stevenl]

It all depends on your perspective and your attitude. Many, many families with children vacation in Phuket and quite a few of them return every year.
So either they all get scammed all the time and don't realise it or they see things completely different than you do.

First thing would be to learn how to write the name of the place correctly.

 

[Quero]

Again, it does make me sad that you've experienced such disappointment. And I agree with your observations about transportation services--that's in fact one of our biggest issues here on the island, and it's one that most of us would like to see resolved in a way that it didn't compromise people's enjoyment of their time here, which is what it currently does and which is why I try to help out my divers when they need transfers.

I also think there's truth to your law enforcement complaints. Police and infrastructure budgets are stupidly based on the population of citizens living in a province rather than more realistically on how many people are actually present on average, including resident expats, tourists, and citizens. I have read that the island's top cop estimates that the province needs 5000 police officers and yet is allocated only 1,200. So bad people know they can get away with cheating. There are criminals everywhere, in all countries and in all parts of Thailand, but of course they'll gravitate to areas where they know they're more likely to be 'successful' and not get caught.

Still, I think you've had a rather unfortunate and unusual spate of misfortunes while you've been here, and when one thing goes wrong, like a fraudulent credit card charge, it makes other minor irritations, like traffic backups, seem that much more galling. I also think you're equating what happens in Patong as what the entire island is like, and in fact that's not the case--Patong is just one sleazy town on a fairly large island, the rest of which is quite pleasant.

I hope the rest of your stay goes better.

 

[Skydiver1]

It all depends on your perspective and your attitude. Many, many families with children vacation in Phuket and quite a few of them return every year.
So either they all get scammed all the time and don't realise it or they see things completely different than you do.

First thing would be to learn how to write the name of the place correctly.

Sorry chief, I put an extra c in there.

Agreed, my opinion as a whole is but one persons perspective. At the same time, you must recognise others on here and various other forums have similar experience and as a result use the island merely as a transit point.

 

[Hintermann]

Frankly, I am a bit surprised. I have been to Phuket 3 times in the last 10 years, twice to dive. I have used my credit cards in all sorts of locations, including small shops that accept them. I cannot say that I have ever had a problem. I do cross-check my credit card statements every month and (touch wood) so far I have been OK.

I know that credit card scammers and cheats exist everywhere but I would have thought that Phuket is one of the better places.

One comment. I do not know much about credit card cheating but just because the $600 loss happed at the time you were in Phuket, does it automatically mean someone local was responsible? Can it be that the scammer, whoever it was, had got hold of your card details earlier and happened to do whatever it is they do while you were on holiday? I'd me interested to know.

 

[Skydiver1]

Frankly, I am a bit surprised. I have been to Phuket 3 times in the last 10 years, twice to dive. I have used my credit cards in all sorts of locations, including small shops that accept them. I cannot say that I have ever had a problem. I do cross-check my credit card statements every month and (touch wood) so far I have been OK.

I know that credit card scammers and cheats exist everywhere but I would have thought that Phuket is one of the better places.

Never had a problem with a card before myself, including having numbers carbon copied in places such as Mexico, etc where no chip and pin is available.

 

[supergaijin]

One would expect basic law and order to exist without cheap cons and scams being so prevalent and targeted toward tourists on the streets. One would expect basic transport options such as a metered taxi service to be available at a fair rate as is the case in the rest of the country.

I have lived and worked in a few developing countries now and 'basic law' and metered taxis are definitely not to be expected. Even when meters exist they usually refuse to use them. The 'law of the land' is king in these kind of countries.

Don't get me wrong, I think Patong is a hole- really unfortunate as it could have been beautiful. Phuket however is a big island, and not to be tarnished with the same brush IME.

 

[legrandwhite]

Putting aside these annoyances how is the diving these days in Phuket? Haven't been there in 15 yrs...