Despite the number of Korean visitors decreasing by over 50% since 2007, there are still at least 40 Korean Tour Guide companies on the island, numerous Korean restaurants and even a Korea Town.

The official figure of Korean expat residents are around the 1,500 mark, but you would be forgiven for thinking it is much lower.

Is this because they have embraced, became integrated and now fit seamlessly into Thai culture?

Or is it because they keep themselves to themselves and are rarely seen outside of their groups?

The owner of the Korean supermarket, situated in Korea Town, who wished to remain anonymous, certainly isn?t here for the Som Tam.

?They {Thai people} only like us because we have money, I hate them. I have never met a good Thai person,? she said.

The main reason she came, over 2.5 years ago, was so that her children could receive an international education for a fraction of what it would cost in her homeland.

But the moment her kids finally get their diploma can?t come soon enough, ?I can?t wait to return to Korea, I don?t like Phuket, and I cannot like Thai people.?

Although the storeowner said she was thankful she was Korean and not Thai, she admitted that she doesn?t necessarily feel part of the larger Korean community and owing to time-constraints rarely goes out socially with her compatriots.

It?s good then, at least for the prosperity of her store, that a good number of predominantly Korean customers come to peruse her wares on a daily basis.

The same cannot be said for the Korea Town food court, and where there used to be a bustling array of restaurants serving Kimchi-hungry Koreans, there now stands the odd stall, serving mainly Thai diners.

The town?s illustrious past was enough for Korean native Sanhi (Sunny) Jang to travel over nine hours to get there over five years ago.

?I used to work for a Dive shop in Koh Lanta, and one weekend I really wanted to eat Korea food and there was nothing there so I drove there with my boyfriend.

Back when Sunny made the trip, it was one of the only places in Phuket to purchase authentic Korean food, however as Phuket became more and more popular as a holiday destination, there came with it a greater expectation on the Korean visitor?s side for a better and more grand dining experience. Now more often than not, it?s frequented by Thai people looking for a bite and has turned more into a type of Korean food court.

Gwiyoung Choi is one of the few remaining Korean restaurant owners in Korea town and said that although she has enjoyed her fifteen years in Phuket, she wished it was sometimes more equal.

?A few weeks ago, my Thai neighbour?s dogs were barking so loud, so I went round to ask him to quieten them, but he reacted by grabbing a gun and telling me to $%^$ off back to my own country

?He also hit my husband. When the police eventually came, the officer said that we did the right thing by not hitting our neighbour back, because as he is Thai we would have been in the wrong.?

Sunny also said that it took her quite a while to become accustomed to the differences between the cultures.

?Koreans are hard workers, emotional and sensitive whereas Thai people are very much mai pben rai??

For Sunny, the uneasy relationship is not just one-sided and is rather more complicated, ?Thai people enjoy Korean culture, movies, TV shows music and make up but they just don?t like Koreans.?

Sunny admitted though that she could understand this opinion to a certain extent.
?In Korea there are many types of Koreans; shy, kind or confident. But in Phuket, it tends to attract a certain type of Korean; many are selfish and rude and point-blank refuse to learn Thai or even English.?

As is echoed among many expat nations on the island, many Koreans find life much easier here and are automatically comparatively rich even if they are not educated or industrious.

Many find work as Korean Tour Guides, a position that should technically not exist for any non-Thai person, a position that is therefore technically illegal but one that both sides wish to participate in the charade.

Sunny recalls one day she went for an interview at a popular Korean Tour Guide company, ?Everything was going well until I asked about the work permit. She said to me, what exactly are the benefits of having a work permit??

Very few Thai people speak proficient enough Korean to be able to realistically work as guides, therefore the job needs to go to Koreans and even though many are working illegally, the much-needed Won needs to come in somehow.

Many Korean tour guides do not receive a base salary and instead are paid via commission on optional extras and extracurricular activities. A guide therefore would make his money from arranging a day trip to Phi Phi for example.

As many flights back to Korea are later in the evening, with some as late as midnight, on the final day of their package trip, it?s typically pay day for the guides.

The travellers therefore are typically at the mercy of the tour guides the whole day. A regular spot they are taken to are Latex stores: apparently a hugely popular product for Koreans.

With such a difference in each nation?s character, and an almost paranoid and irrational aversion to one another, it's curious that 1,500 Korean nationals choose to remain in Phuket.

It's also interesting that Korean culture is so popular on the island and that 56 schools in Phuket now teach the Korean language. Is it then merely as the Korean store owner rather crudely puts it, a matter of money that brings these two seemingly very different groups of people together on the island?

Could it ever be any more than just business?

Sunny certainly seems to think so and has been with her Thai boyfriend for over five years. Her mother?s reaction upon hearing this was extreme, to say the least.

?She said that if I married a non-Korean, then she would probably commit suicide. However lots of my family are married to Americans etc, so it?s probably a problem with him being Thai.?

However where there is a will there?s a way and Sunny?s parents plan to visit her for the first time later in the year. This will also be the first time they will have met her boyfriend Pratya Kumuda.

Despite not being able to speak Korean and Sunny?s mother being unable to speak English or Thai, he, at least appeared, calm about the meeting: "Korean people and Thai people are very different; we have to change that?s all.?

The Post wishes him luck in the meeting and especially when he asks Sunny?s mother for her daughter?s hand in marriage?