When I was in CM in early April the tourist dependant people I talked to were scraping by and were hoping for a big Thai turn out for Songram and beyond. As they all said I need 5 Thais to make as much as one American or European will pay.

The internet shop I have visited on several trips the owner is saleing stuff on line and trading stocks to get by. The lady who runs the foot nassage and travel office across the street from internet shop was hurting as well hope they are both still in business when I return in Nov.

A couple of things. My wife used to work at the Lotus Hotel, which is next to Kad Suan Kaew Mall in C.M., and has some friends who still do. She was talking to one of them the other day who is in a management position and was told the hotel has closed off one wing, which is half the total rooms available, and the other half is only about 40% occupied. Some of the employees have not been paid in two months, and the hotel is having trouble paying their electric bill.

The second thing is that she (wife) and others she knows who are involved in tourism, absolutely hate tourists from India and most Arab countries, claiming that they are "cheap" and the worst tippers in the world.

What if, just what if, 1 bomb a day in Bangkok on average; will foreign still visit Thailand?

In fact, the blast increase tourist arrivals numbers.

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The number of foreign tourists travelling to Thailand from 1 to 29 July 2010 rises by 12.7% compared to the same period of last year, according to Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor, Suraphon Svetasreni. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Looks like Piengrudee is right.