⌛ Tourist Arrival Holding Steady

And then there is Thailand. My second favourite stomping ground. Been a regular since '72/'73 when I worked up north near Khon Kaen. The tourism in the country has been a godsend. We go there often...my lovely Filipina wife loves the place almost as much as I do, and we both have been regulars since the early 80's. The changes in rural Thailand have been amazing. The wealth that has flowed in from tourism...which got them on the economic map...to the manufacturing sector and an agriculture industry (now exporting rice to the corners of the world - and the Philippines with much more arable land is...????) that is the envy of ASEAN. Go ask a Thai if they would like to go back to the 'good' old days when they lived in a non-electic village, ate bugs to survive, and died of a hundred common conditions...and then run...

The Thai culture has been strong and resilient for a thousand years. I really sense a new confidence in the Filipino culture to build on their history and traditions. They'll get there....with tourism, competence, adaptability, science, and Christmas carols in Korean...

 

After reading all this , I do believe that the toursime into Dumaguete will NOT BE HOLDING STEADY.. They sh*t their pants after all these post and head for Thailand :D :D
O well Yabs , Finaly you have won this one ,hahaha
The only problem is , many Koreans ( your favorite kind of people ,correct me if I am wrong) can,t read English... hmm. Perhaps Yabs should learn them not only good manners but Englsih aswell....
For that occassion we can rent off Mc Donalds ,treat them on some Mad Cow disease hamburgers ( I will be cooking for this occassion) show them around the Oil driiling platform ( by YABS ), invite them to take the challence to beat the world record FREE DIVE to ,lets say 200 meters.. give them a course in how to distroy a coral reef in five easy lessons , as shown on the instruction Video ( By YABS ??) And finaly those that have survived put on a plane back flown by Iranian pilots ( charter flight booked thru Yabs SingleWay Airlines , also known as " INSHALLAH AIR "

End well , all well.

 

Well they were paradise lost - around the last ice age...I used to go to Pattaya for the odd weekend in the early 70's. There were only three or four hotels there at the time...one of which was an affiliate of the Prince hotel in Bangkok, which my employers had a discount agreement with (and where I stayed when in the capital). Pattaya wasn't no virgin then either...and hardly any tourists...some American GI's from Utapao air base and that was pretty much it. I didn't dive then...no operators from that I can recall...but the snorkeling was ordinary...not a lot to see...

Koh Samui wasn't much better either....the water was clearer but not much swimming around in it. Pretty island back than and it would be a shame to lose that charm. I think the Gulf of Thailand was never too terrific in comparision with the Philippines. Too much drainage from the continent I suspect....and the fishing was pretty intensive then too...

 

Andaman islands....never even been near but I suspect they would be a great spot for diving resorts...hopefully the reefs have settled down...and the Indian gov't will get on board...

Airports are always an issue...we got people here in Oz grumbling for compo over noise.....Wonder how they'll go with the A380's and Dreamliners....

 

Garbonzo,

thanks for your comments! I do want to visit Thialand when I go back to Dgte. I will certainly get your advice on where to go.

 

SOME Andaman Islands Off Limits !!

Dear all , may I remind you to the fact , that on one of the very few places on earth where there are still people living in the dark ages , can be found on some ( so not all) of the Andaman Islands.
Even Jacques Cousteau , was NOT being able to get a Gov permit to go overthere. Not even Military airplanes can cross over or any other airliner , nor Government officials can travel there. The only contact ( if any , is thru those that live on nearby Islands. NON !! whatsoever help , food , luxerious goods , medicines and so on ,are permitted to entry the area , as the Indian Govrnement wishes to have the people live their own life , but the true reason is preservation of the unique existance of human beings with not a SINGLE AWARENESS about the " outerworld ".
It is all kept highly secret , so it might well be this is the first time you come to know !!
The community we are dealing with consist of only a couple of hundred people , likely due to inbreed getting smaller all the time. The estimate is somewhat over 100 heads.
And ofcourse I have NO PHOTO of this community aswell !!
I am here not refering to the small tribes of hostile Jarawas ( 300 people ) or Sentinelese ( 100 people) . Those two tribes are the ones that contact the "Mistery people " As the Sentineles tribe , they are known to wear absolutely NO clothes , whatsoever ....