DEBATE often surrounds the number of overseas residents who live on Phuket. The official figures, obtained by Phuketwan from Phuket Immigration, provide the most accurate guide.

They show that a total of 18,475 visas were extended in 2008, 9159 short-term (tourist, 60 days, 30 days, 15 days, seven days) and 9316 long-term (non-Immigrant B or O or student-teacher, plus others).

The figures include all those who sought to extend visas at Phuket Immigration.

The top 10 nations: 1. Britain, 2722 (1125 short, 1597 long); 2. Sweden 1404 (988 short, 416 long); 3. France 1321 (716 short, 608 long); 4. Italy 1278 (892 short, 386 long): 5. Germany 1261 (456 short, 805 long); 6. US 1143 (503 short, 640 long); 7. Philippines 875 (367 short, 508 long); 8. Australia 870 (396 short, 474 long); 9. Switzerland 762 (328 short, 434 long); 10. Canada 585 (340 short, 245 long).



At the other end of the scale with one visa each are Armenia, Bahrain, Belize, Botswana, Costa Rica, United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liechtensein, Nigeria, Paraguay, Panama, Peru, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, El Salvador, Gambia and Macau.

So you just never know who is on that lounger alongside you at the beach.

If national characteristics can be extrapolated from the figures, then Swedes and Italians seem to prefer short-term visas while Germans prefer the long-term ones.

An important point is perhaps that people from colder climates seem to come to stay in substantial numbers. The Top 10 visa countries are at odds with the Top 10 nations as tourists.

We are still waiting for a comprehensive report on Q4 arrivals by nation.

The best comparison we have is with 2007, where the Top 10 tourism countries were: 1. Australia, 2. Britain, 3. Sweden, 4. Korea, 5. Germany, 6. China, 7. Russia, 8. Japan, 9. US, 10. Malaysia.

Of interest because of the numbers of guides who operate from those countries are Korea (2 short term, 276 long term) and Russia (289 short-term, 113 long-term.)

From looking at both lists, we can state the obvious: that most people who come to stay for longer than tourists are from countries where English is relatively widely spoken, and that most come from cold-climate countries.

They are also predominantly Western and therefore probably better placed economically to make the shift.

Tourist numbers are in retreat across Phuket's traditional Asian sources: China, Korea and Japan.

But these countries are also not yet at the stage as travelling nations where the concept of spending a long time in another country has become accepted.

Japan and to a lesser extent Korea are now exporting plenty of independent travellers, but in China, it's still mostly all packaged tours.

Perhaps as English becomes more widely spoken and prosperity swings towards Asia, that all might change over the next 20 years.

We'll let you know.


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