It’s a false economy to have most yacht work done in Phuket. Labor costs initially appear cheap but when you consider the time and quality of the end result, it is no bargain. Costs for marine gear and equipment are excessive, compared to prices in most other countries.

Engine work is especially hit-and-miss. Once the contractor has removed parts from your engine, some will provide you a quotation for a ridiculous amount and hold your parts as ransom until you agree. If you refuse to accept the quotation & they do return your parts, parts may be missing or damaged. I experienced this with a local mechanic who poses as a Perkins dealer.

You must personally supervise the workers for most work as the business owner will seldom be around. If you do not speak Thai, you will have an extremely difficult time.

There is little recourse for foreigners who receive substandard work and/or receive outrageous billings from contractors. It appears that the local contractor can charge whatever he pleases and hold your parts as ransom.

If work is completed and the contractor is not paid whatever he demands, your boat will not be allowed to leave Thai waters. The local police, incl tourist police, have little interest in helping foreigners in these matters.

They state it’s a “civil case” and suggest you seek the assistance of a lawyer. If the police do get involved, they typically tend to assist the local contractor in his shenanigans.

Phuket contractors charge, at times, rates approaching western world levels while paying their workers a pittance. It is not uncommon to see charges of 1,000 Baht/hr hour (approx $30) for a Thai worker who’s receiving only $10-$15/day.

The official rate for yacht parts mailed into Thailand is 10% duty plus 7% VAT but once your parts arrive, customs will, many times, demand duty far in excess of this amount.

After having read the above article and the posted comments, I agree that it accurately reflects the reality of outfitting, repairing, or importing spares into Thailand. I have just completed a new engine install which required modifying the engine beds from 20° > 15°.

This would be a difficult installation regardless of where it was done. We chose Boat Lagoon because it is hub central for contractors and chandleries. Although it is more expensive than either Al Po or Yacht Haven, the convince of having everything nearby offsets the marina’s extra cost.

I was able to contract the labor and supervise it. As things would be unacceptable, it was simple to send them back to the general contractor without delays. Many times I would send the Thai workers and their failures back to the shop to repair and start over again. The mechanical expertise of most Thai workers is very limited.

It requires constant supervision from the owner at all times that they are working. If the owner leaves them for the shortest time, mistakes will be made. If you are going to have any kind of mechanical work done, you must be in attendance and verify that each and every part is being repaired and replaced.

If you are not willing to do this – don’t have it done in Thailand. That’s the sad mechanical situation in Phuket. Most Thai contractors send their workers out with a hammer, screwdriver, chisel and angle grinder and call them qualified. The only qualifications are on-the-job training and learning from previous mistakes.

If you contract services through Precision Marine Services, you are on the highest rung of the ladder at Boat Lagoon and will pay the highest prices. Supervision will still be required on the mechanical side. The electrical side of things gets a little brighter.

There are several electrical shops, in Boat Lagoon, that can do acceptable work: OCTOPUS ELECTRICAL is one of them; AME is another. Once again, it will be the owners of the enterprises that will be knowledgable: Their laborers less so but some are good. You will have to check and verify every aspect of the work being done.

Woodworking and Painting are skills in which certain Thai Contractors excel. Nai and Toe, owners of Phuket Interior Woodworking, proved world class carpentry and teak decks. Additionally, they can fiberglass, paint and recommend competent contractors.

Khun Nai is an honest, meticulous business woman that will supervise her workers to the standard of excellence she demands. Her husband, Toe, is the Master Carpenter that supervises and contracts the work. This shop works on excellence and schedule.

You provide ideas, drawings and coordinate this with their artistic input. The outcome will astound the most discerning and demanding. Once the work and price are agreed upon, one can confidently walk away and know that it will be done is standards of excellence not found in most developed countries.

San Boat Works is another family-owned enterprise that does excellent work. Khun San is a Master Painter that employs his extended family to achieve mirror glass finishes. We had our boat Awlgripped by San.

He applied four coats of different colored primer and faired each between coats: six men working three weeks on fairing; three coats of Awlgrip and the hull reflected its surroundings. Also, Nai & Toe provide a most excellent paint job.

I contracted AME for the engine removal, engine bed modification, and new Beta 50 installation. I have never regretted this decision. Wiwat is the owner of AME and has extensive mechanical, engineering and electrical knowledge.

He was a former Chief Engineer in the Merchant Marine Service. He has an amazing amount of knowledge and expertise in marine matters. In addition to owning one of the most comprehensive chandleries at Boat Lagoon, he has his own workshop and tentacles that reach out to every available workshop in Phuket.

All this being said, it doesn’t always equate to satisfaction but that which isn’t acceptable will be rectified until the customer is satisfied. It may take time and patience but the customer will get the results he demands.

Wiwat is an honest, fair businessman that will go out of his way to see that the job is done correctly. Unfortunately, in dealing with AME, the Thai labors and sub-contractors need constant supervision. They don’t speak English and, left alone, will produce shoddy results.

It’s up to the customer to supervise and reject this type of workmanship. Wiwat is always available for consultation and translation. If the boat is at Boat Lagoon, he’ll be there within a short time. I acknowledge that I am a demanding meticulous individual.

This was difficult on my Thai workers and caused me so much stress that, at times, I was beside myself. However, I never compromised on the idea of excellence. As a result, from April 2015 to September, I supervised the job from the first arrival in the morning to quitting time in the evening.

It’s not enjoyable to be there supervising and directing the labor force and, at times, sending everyone away to correct errors in workmanship. The important thing is to never let your emotions cause the Thais to “lose face”.

There are many Canvas Shops in Phuket. Perhaps, one of the best is CANVASS CREATIONS just within Boat Lagoon. It’s owned by a Kiwi that does excellent work. I’ve seen many different shops put up their work on yachts and nothing compares to his workmanship: Prices reflect the quality of craftsmanship.

Chandleries: AME is the first choice for prices but East Marine will carry brand name parts. The fact that they are outrageously priced means little when you need it “now”.

Final thoughts: if you aren’t willing to be constantly in charge of your repairs, do not have it done in Thailand. The contractors will promise “excellent results” but only deliver what you demand. Never pay a Thai contractor more than their initial materials cost and then adjust amounts accordingly.

It’s the only way you can have “quality control” over the repairs. In dealing with AME, I was never presented with a novice until everything was finished. We are still on-the-hard at Boat Lagoon. Sea Trials will take place in mid-January 2016: AME has guaranteed the work done.

We have just completed an 11-month refit on our 58’sailboat at Boat lagoon Phuket and agree with many of the comments posted about Phuket prices and quality of work but there have been some bright spots.

An outstanding bouquet goes to Nai and Toe of Phuket Inter Woodwork for the excellent service and assistance. Another goes to Tu Ton Stainless Steel – the man is a magician with his excellent workmanship. AME gets one for their technical repair knowledge.

The owner Wiwat is an ex-chief engineer and I [also and ex-chief engineer] highly recommend him for being able to solve challenging problems. The last goes to Narin Kanboh canvas whose premises are just outside of Boat Lagoon entrance.

Buckets… There are so many.

We used quite a number of contractors. Rigging seems to be a challenge and I wouldn’t recommend getting anything AT ALL done at Phuket. The service we had was possibly the worst I have ever come across [and I make that statement after owning a company that has built more than 200 ships].

Incompetence is too light a word and dangerous is more suited. The eye splice in our Dyneema mainsail halyard worked free “whilst moored at a berth”. We had been up and down the mast using the headsail and spinnaker halyards on numerous occasions and thankfully had not used the mainsail halyard.

Our new boom and vang was a catalogue of errors that was solved by error and trial, the stackpack was the wrong length, the new rigging wire was slack. I could go on about rigging. We ended up completing it ourselves as we had no confidence with the rigger’s capability.

For engine work – be very careful. YSE is good and professional but other work we had done by other engines/mechanical contractors and from feedback from the other yachties the general quality is very very poor.

We had an electrical rewire done by an electrical contractor [Octopus] at Boat lagoon and were pleased with the service. The owner is an Australian and is very knowledgeable and helpful.

It’s easy to confuse cheap with quality when it comes to food. I reckon we ate out more than 200 times and I rate only 3 places as offering value for money, the rest were pricey and of poor quality.

Chicken rice at 80Baht is possible and it’s OK, but it’s not quality, it is cheap and you can’t live on that. The Irish Bars were mostly good and so was Sam’s steakhouse, but you pay and it’s not cheap.

In conclusion: I think if you choose your contractors carefully and stand over them 8 hours a day then it’s possible to get a reasonable standard of work done, but there is a lost opportunity cost with this method. How much is your time worth? Also you can’t see everything and often shoddy work gets hidden in the melee.

Ken