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Originally Posted by Coolhand
ON AN almost empty flight from Bangkok to Phuket this summer I sat next to a UK tour operator who told me that he was ashamed that package holidays to the Thai island had been selling on the internet for only £350 a week, including flights.
“This kind of crazy discounting doesn’t do anyone any good,”
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He is right to a certain degree. Obviously these almost unbelieveably cheap deals do indeed attract folks that normally would not travel to Thailand or anywhere in Asia for that matter. Dont get me wrong this is a good thing that they are making the trip.
It is also something that I have been saying for months, that whilst the arrival figures maybe up for Phuket Airport (and that is all the government seems to be concerned about), these folks on these packages dont really contribute much else to the local economy.
They have all inclusive deals at the hotel/resort, and they eat, drink and sleep there. They can be seen lazing by the hotel pool, walking up and down Bangla to allow their evening meal to go down, and then return to their rooms. You can even see them walking up and down Soi SeaDragon, but heaven forbid if they were to go inside a bar and have a drink!!!!
Call me synical, but I call it as I see it.
