The businesses had originally complained to the Director of the Phuket Office of Tourism and Sports, Mr Santi Pawai, on May 19.
But a lack of action taken has led to several Chinese tour operators refusing to take their customers to stay in Karon.
The order to set fixed prices came at a meeting held yesterday (June 4) among Gov Nisit; Mr Santi; Thai Hotel Association Vice President, Krisada Tansakul; head of the Phuket Chinese Tour Operators Club, Mr Somchart Jaibanjert; and government officials and representatives from the private sector.
Businesses in Karon, who sell latex products at discounted prices, have been telling tourists that they will be charged higher prices for products at the shops they are taken to by their tour guides.
As a result, a number of tour guides have been verbally and physically attacked by Chinese tourists who have learnt they have been taken to shops that sell over-priced products, and that the guides are paid commissions from the sales.
A number of tourists have also demanded to be taken back to the outlets where they bought goods to demand refunds.
Tour companies decided to solve the problem themselves by no longer bringing Chinese tourists to Karon, which as a result had damaged the income of local businesses.
Speaking at the meeting, Gov Nisit said, “The reason we are holding this meeting is to stop this ongoing problem which is hurting local businesses.
“As we can see, hotels have no tourists, tour companies have been bombarded by angry tourists wanting to return goods they have been overcharged for, and the local latex stores have no customers.
“However, what is worse is that this issue has damaged the island’s tourism image. Therefore, we must come up with a solution to solve this problem.
“If we let this issue linger, it will spread to other areas because as we know the rubber stores have other branches around the island.”
Gov Nisit went on to state that Phuket expects to see an increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the island and that they should pay fair prices for items they buy.
“No tourists should pay higher prices for any goods in Phuket,” he said.
It was decided at the meeting that all latex products will have set prices and this will be the same in every store.
It will be down to the Phuket Chamber of Commerce to visit all of the island’s latex stores and to check that the prices are correct.
Mr Somchart added that most Chinese tour companies wanted to take their customers to stay in Karon because of the beautiful beaches and luxury hotels. However, since this issue came to a head, they have not brought any tourists to the area.
Instead, they have taken them to stay in Rawai and Nai Yang.
“I agree that we should come up with a pricing agreement where every shops sells their products at the same retail price. However, I am not sure if it is going to work out,” he said.