- Published on September 17, 2025
- LANGKAWI Struggles as Malaysians Choose Phuket and Krabi
- 39% Drop in Tourist Numbers During Malaysia Day Weekend
- worrying sign for once-thriving holiday island
- many Malaysians opted to head to Thailand
- signals fading charm, position weakening
- turns away local travelers
- Long waits for ferry services
- soaring flight prices
- discouraging visitors
- Malaysians flock to Phuket and Krabi
- The Appeal of Thailand
- Thailand increasingly popular alternative
- Thailand offers bustling cities, stunning beaches, more affordable
- budget airlines offer cheap flights to Thailand
- Langkawi's travel costs, flights and ferries, continue to rise
- higher price of return flights
- inefficiency of ferry services
- leave tourists frustrated by long wait times
- Challenges Facing Tourism Industry
- reasons behind problems multifaceted.
- domestic travelers disenchanted with high costs
- smoother travel experience in Thailand
- Will Langkawi Regain Its Popularity?
- To compete with Thailand, must offer affordable, convenient travel experience
My Comments:
A friend who sent me the above news clip also commented the following: The whole island is premised on ripping you off from the moment you get off the ferry. From the taxis to the food outlets. They work on the concept of “bila lagi kalau bukan sekarang”. So, you are fleeced of your money.
I just did a search of my old blog posts and I have written multiple times about the problems in Langkawi. Here is a walk down bad memories lane from 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. SIX YEARS OF BAD NEWS.
1. 2019
2. 2021
3. 2023
4. 2024
5. 2025
OSTB: Well it looks like the situation has become worse over the past few years. Langkawi's march into the Club of Doom appears irreversible.
Now they are saying that tourist arrivals dropped 39% (for the recent FOUR day Merdeka weekend). Compared to last year 2024? But didnt the tourist arrivals also drop last year from the year before that 2023? So it has been dropping for sometime.
As I have been saying in those old blogposts over the past few years the service quality on the island has become more kurang asam, kurang sopan and even kurang ajar. Not the entire island but I have seen enough kurang asam and kurang ajar service in our many trips to the island.
There is more.
One of the main reasons for this early demise of Langkawi is because the island was built using 'other peoples' money'. Using public funds or DANA AWAM. Pendek kata, semua dapat free. Way too many of the people running the businesses and shops benefitted directly or indirectly from free money which Dr Mahathir splurged on the island. Money was not an obstacle. Commercially not viable projects were all created using DANA AWAM.
And of course the cronies got excited. Dr Mahathir's famous 'whoever is the first to come up with an idea will get the funding' spurred the cronies to think up all sorts of projects which have long proven to be commercially not viable. Lets build a cable car, lets build an aquarium, cultural/resort village to showcase Malay culture, luxury hotel development, theme park, Gunung Tak Boleh Kaya resort, snake sanctuary, car ferry terminal, reclaimed-islands scheme/scam (that last one was under the present State gomen). They have all failed.
These projects were destined to fail because:
i. they were not commercially viableii. meaning they could NEVER be built with private capital also known as 'duit bapak saya'.
iii. these projects could only be built using the bottomless pit of taxpayers funds or DANA AWAM or otherwise known as 'free money'.
iv. almost all these projects were also government licensed 'monopolies' - in one way or another. There was only one cable car project, only one underwater sculptures project, only one car ferry.
Competition still is a dirty word in government policy making - which hastens the entry into the Club of Doom. Monopolies kill competition. No competition no future.
Then when some unforeseen disaster hits the monopolies go bust the fastest and quickest. In a one horse town, if the one horse starves to death then the whole town has to walk.
i have some other suggestions. Jangan harap sangat 'Arab tourists' atau Middle East tourists. Middle East sekarang masuk musim Jom Bakar-Membakar Negara Kita pusingan ke-57. Kalau tersilap bom, mereka akan hangus semua sekali. The Arabs have no money.
Pelancung yang paling ramai sekali minat melawat Langkawi adalah orang Malaysia - orang kita sendiri. Sayangilah orang kita dulu - layanlah orang local dengan baik dan betul. Itulah rahsia kekayaan yang sebenarnya. Why cant you understand simple things like this?
Buatlah Kempen Mesra Pelanggan di Langkawi. Serta kempen 'Fair Business Practises'. Maksudnya jangan tipu orang. Jangan bagi peluang orang yang datang melawat merungut mereka kena tipu, bahawa mereka dilayan secara biadap, kurang asam dsbnya. Apa susah sangat nak faham?
Wa akhirul kalam, can Langkawi be saved? No I dont think so. I have been noting the decline and the bad news about Langkawi since BEFORE 2019. That is more than SIX YEARS ago. Now Pas is in charge. Can they turn around Langkawi? Nope I dont think so.
