DAMac

Clueless. Have any of these people actually stepped out of their chauffeur driven Govt cars and had a close look at what Thailand presents to a high-end visitor? Or to any visitor for that matter? These Govt officials are totally deluded if they think that there's anything world-class on display after one has left the cossetted luxury of 5-star resorts and hotels. Phuket - supposedly Thailand's paradise island - and probably the epicentre of leisure tourism in the country, doesn't even have a viable public transport infrastructure - for the benefit of it's own people, far less for visitors. Outside of the Laguna complex and all of the other up-market resorts and hotel grounds, the island is filthy and not many seem to care. Tons of tossed trash litters the grass verges of all roads. Beaches are strewn with washed-up plastic. Roads are full of dangerous potholes. There are tons of spaghetti-like internet and power cables that festoon the built-up areas (lots of it hanging limply and dangerously on sidewalks). While there are many upsides of spending time on the island, or indeed living there, one doesn't have to scratch much beyond the surface to understand that the place is a million miles away from being an upmarket tourist destination. From the billions of tourist dollars that have passed through the hands of those in charge of 'running' the island over the past 40 years, a fraction of that would seem to have been reinvested in the infrastructure, the facilities, and in its general up-keep and moderrnisation. Sad to say that first-world ambition and third-world attitudes and competency don't align to create the intoxicating, heady mix of high-end visitor experiences.