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Published on September 24, 2007

Many long-time Koh Samui residents believe this island paradise should be reserved for big-spending high-end tourists.

During the past year, many five-star hotel groups, including the W, Conrad and the Four Seasons, have begun building projects on Samui, joining hundreds of wealthy overseas visitors and locals in their multimillion-dollar ocean-front villas.

Seni Puwasetthawon, president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui and the owner and managing director of the mid-market Coral Cove Chalet, said the island's fast-growing tourism industry also needed middle-market tourists.

"We must do more to attract middle-market tourists from throughout Asia and do much more to attract Thai visitors," he said.

Although everyone likes to have high-end tourists coming to Samui, Seni said he believed that many middle-income tourists, particularly those from Thailand and the region, would come to Samui if more was done to promote the island to these segments. "We need more marketing help from the Tourism Authority of Thailand [TAT]," he said.

On a recent TAT-sponsored trip to Japan, Seni said he was surprised that Samui was not promoted as a primary Thai resort destination. "Sometimes we feel that we are a forgotten destination," he said.

As the Samui tourism association's head, Seni said he was grateful that many wealthy big-spenders had chosen his island as their vacation destination. "We are the flavour of the day, but in the long run we should do more to ensure that our infrastructure encourages more middle-income tourists to visit here," he said.

Government authorities, he said, currently allow only 34 flights per day into Samui. "Ostensibly they are limiting the flights for noise pollution and environmental reasons," he said.

As a result of limited flights, Seni said, airlines operate at high capacity and high cost throughout the year. "A flight on Thai Airways from Bangkok to Surat Thani, which is across the water from here, is only Bt3,000 during low season, while the same flight on Bangkok Airways to Samui costs Bt8,000," he said.

The Bt8,000 air fare, Seni said, stops many middle-income Thai tourists from travelling to Samui for short holidays. "They can take Bt10,000 junkets to Hong Kong or Singapore, a price that includes two nights in a top-class hotel," he said.

Seni added that the privately owned Samui airport was capable of taking more flights and an agreement should be made with the authorities. "With more flights, the rates could come down to levels that would allow us to attract more middle-income visitors," he said. At the same time, Seni said, much more could be done to make access from Surat Thani airport more convenient.

Seni showed The Nation some travel statistics to support his premise that a few infrastructure adjustments would increase middle-income visitors to Samui. "During 2005 and 2006 we had about 840,000 visitors," he said.

Of these visitors who stayed in Samui hotels, Seni said, official figures showed only 85,000 Thais. "The UK with 116,600 and Germany with 140,000 provided the most visitors," he said.

Middle-income hotel-operators such as Seni that charge Bt3,000 to Bt4,000 per night for seaside rooms realise that Samui is not a budget-tour destination.

"More middle-income travellers would come if we lowered air fares to Samui," he said.

Ramnate Chaikwang, the Koh Samui member of the Surat Thani provincial legislature, said that everyone on Samui should work together to generate long-term solutions. "We always need money for new roads, schools and sewage collection and disposal," he said.

Samui, he added, is resort destination that must develop a long-term strategy for sustainable development. "Not everyone will be satisfied, but we have to develop a plan that ensures the environment is sustained if Samui wants to remain a dream resort destination.

With limited land, Ramnate envisages that the number of visitors to Samui will only grow by about 50 per cent in the next decade. More importantly, he said, everyone should consider how the island can provide adequate housing for the resort employees servicing the increasing planeloads of guests.

"Adequate, affordable housing for service personnel is a critical long-term requirement," he said.