What has happened to the decision by a previous governor to remove all the jetskis from the beaches? The governor at the time said that he would give operators seven years to finish their operations. The time limit should be up soon?
Editor: Phuketwan wasn't around at the time but I am sure the Phuket Gazette won't mind us quoting the first paragraph of a report on February 27, 2007: Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit has backed down from the province's policy to gradually phase out jet-skis at Phuket beaches and is now allowing owners of registered jet-skis to replace old or inoperable vessels with new ones.

Posted by Anonymous on January 13, 2009 15:36

Agree with anon - we should not even be discussing the price, moreover when will they be banned completely!!!

Posted by paul hillsmith on January 14, 2009 13:05

And while you are at regulating (?) the Jet-Skis, don't forget to take care of the Tuk-Tuks, too...

Posted by Fritz Pinguin on January 15, 2009 00:36

The jet ski's are very noisy and can be heard non-stop. The govenor should ban them, but I know tourists enjoy them, So its a compromise. BUT, the jet skis ( 6 ) at Bang Tao should be dealt with ASAP govenor. They ski between bathers, shoot at charter boats and buzz the catamarans. Come see and ask, " Do we want this type of behaviour here ??? "

Posted by A Nonny on January 15, 2009 07:41

Much bigger problem to you there is the-- Tuk-tuk mafia and their prices--- do something to that and you have made a good thing in the world.

Posted by KajV on January 15, 2009 23:59

Simple solution to tuk tuk rip offs. If the tourists and locals stop supporting their business, then they will suffer. Tourists must also beware, here like in any other country......so have a month or two where no one uses a tuk tuk, then watch the prices drop ???

Posted by A Nonny on January 16, 2009 09:03

It is so good "rates should be set and posted on boards by beaches in several languages". And I agree this should be done for Tuk-Tuk also.
Also It should be done for local blue bus so called "Sonteau". I am here from year 2000. At that time, bus price were higher than other places, but fixed price and they gave me exact change.
However, now some of them rip off !!!
Price list should be at least on Ranong road in Phuket town where most bus start.

Posted by Anonymous on January 18, 2009 07:29

Just returned from Phuket today - Tuk Tuk extortion/seafood extortion/Time share scratch off pests/constant hassle from stallholders............Staying in Australia next year so rob someone else!

Posted by Tourist on January 22, 2009 08:11

We recently returned and whilst the actual place itself is a fantastic holiday location we have to agree with the comments above. The weather was great and the the only thing that spoiled it for us was the constant feeling of being in a goldfish bowl with stallholders and Tuk Tuk drivers constantly badgering. What we cannot understand is, if there are 20 Tuk Tuks bumper to bumper why does EVERY one ask you if you want a Tuk Tuk when they see and hear you decline along the line?
The tailors who all want to shake your hand (and keep hold of it) are another pain. We were well ripped off for seafood on the front of Patong beach and the Tuk Tuk fare varied from 200 Bht to 400Bht for the same very brief trip. These have to be the most expensive Tuk Tuk fares in Thailand.
We'd have liked to have gone on a jetski but had heard so many horror stories about people being threatened and having money forcibly extracted was sufficient to put us off. There seems NO CONTROL over these people who appear free to get away with anything when renting a jetski to tourists. Also the timeshare people got on our nerves, too.

Posted by David Webster on January 22, 2009 13:49

Jetski and Tuk Tuk need controls - we are tired of these cowboys

Posted by gerry (Australia) on January 26, 2009 16:58

Rip offs, as most are in poor repair etc. I suppose that tuk Tuk people that lost their place there moved to jet skis!

Posted by HonoluluJimmy on January 27, 2009 12:42

Tourists are Ripped off the moment they step off the plane.
Everything should have a price on it.
.

Posted by hatephuket on March 5, 2009 16:36

Hi, I am a long term visitor in Phuket, My first trip was in 2004, I usually stay in Kata beach as i love this place but its getting soooo bad now because of the constant rip offs all over the island.

If i want to go out at night in Patong Its actually costs less to ride my motorbike there and find a cheap room for 600 baht a night rather than pay the extortinate prices charged by tuk tuk drivers (it dosent really get cheaper than 400 each way) and even if i had to pay 1000 for a room for a night I would rather do that than hand over money to those Jerks.

Why shouldnt they be forced to use meters the same as taxis in every other country who also have to pay rental for their taxis and or meters etc and have a higher cost of living? Also i know many other people there who would ride their motorbikes back to wherever they stay after a night out to avoid paying these prices so in fact they are having a detrimental effect on tourism and contributing to drink driving.

Also The jet ski prices are a joke and even buying bbq on the roadside you have to ask how much every item is before you order as a foreigner, or you will end up paying double. Why is there not a public bus service between kata and patong, you have to go kata - phuket, phuket - patong. This is surely something to do with the tuk tuk mafia???

I have many more gripes including the price of going to laem singh beach (which should be a free activity) where you are forced to pay to park..is this official? the whole beach is covered by loungers so you will inevitably end up having to take one and then be charged about 50 or 70 bahts for a bottle of water.

Rock city touts, Absolute workers who stop and hassle people to buy timeshares or whatever and almost all of the foriegn real estate agents.

Why cant Thai people do that job? and lastly (for the moment) having Thai and Farang Prices is particularly offensive, can you imagine if a thai person came to the UK and he/she was charged double for their shopping because they were foriegn? The shopkeeper would end up in jail! Im sure there is so much more but i cant moan on any longer, Im looking forward to reading your responses.

Posted by Disgrunteled in paradise on August 22, 2009 19:21

the taxi fare to the airport is sometimes more expensive than the ticket to bkk, dont worry people, phuket is losing tourists, more and more, soon there will be more people visiting somalia!

the average joe on a charter holiday has been to bkk and maybe another town in the north and feels really ripped off all these times he/she went to phuket.

people talk to co-workers, friends etc, and have been to phuket, these days I dont hear any positive comments bout peoples holidays in hkt, but how fantastic bkk was, lets face it people working with tourists in hkt isn`t very nice....

phuket needs to clean up its act; tuk-tuks, jetskis, corrupt police, security, the dirty beaches, infrastructure, crime and some more things.

Posted by jojo on August 23, 2009 14:31

I am swiss and come here 12 years regularly. I absolutely agree with above comments. It's just a shame what happen here to tourists especially in Patong. In my country we treat tourists fair and well to let them come again and feel happy when they travel back home, with good memories. here in Thailand, if I would be a local, I would be ashamed, couldn't look in Tourists eyes anymore. You may ask me why I come back regularly? I am honest, it's the girls and the beaches only. One word to the local Police and government, shame on you. I don't have any respect of them.
Sorry, that's the way it is. By the way what I cannot understand why our travel agencys back home st ill promote such a country with no hints what happen here to Tourists. Land of smiles, maybe 20 years ago...

Posted by Richi on September 12, 2009 17:57