Thailand, and Phuket in particular, has got a lot more expensive. 2k isn't going to happen, but 6k still seems a lot. Choosing random August dates, which should not be especially expensive, the HGI Bang Tao is 3,155 and the Banthai in Patong is 4,958, vs. 5,874 for the Pullman. I can imagine that these rates would have been halved four years ago.