retsdon

The other day I saw a picture of Ao Nang beach. Back one day in November 1989, myself and an American sat on that beach wondering if it would be possible to visit the islands we could see offshore (it wasn't). We were the only two people there. Behind us were coconut groves and a few grass huts. If you dove into the water, which was a beautiful azure blue, shoals of tiny baitfish would leap out and scatter. There must have been millions of them because it happened every time. The place was a picture postcard tropical paradise. Given the increase in cheap flights, commercial pressure, etc, it was always going to be impossible for Ao Nang to remain pristine. But what they've done to it is borderline criminal. Who would go there now, and for what? All across Thailand you can repeat the story of Ao Nang in greater or lesser degrees. The golden goose is dead. They've killed it.

With the increase in car numbers, riding a motorcycle in Thailand has become a very, very dangerous way of getting about.

Safety isn't the issue. The issue is that Thailand really doesn't have much to offer these days. All urban areas have become exactly alike - traffic, ugly concrete and messy wiring and the 'nature' part has been ruined by over-development and pollution. The air quality verges on hazardous half the time too. What's on offer to tourists is an ersatz caricature of what Thailand used to be, but in a polluted lower-midde-income industrialized environment. It's no wonder they've stopped coming.

"My house/ apartment/ car is in my wife's/girlfriend's name" Correction: Your wife's/ girlfriend's house/apartment/car is in her own name.