Tourism Dept Uplifting Standards Of Thai Tourism Products And Services

[waza]

Regarding the topic of 'uplifting' may I suggest that the "Bubble Baba Challenge-2012" is moved to Bangkok as alternative tourist attraction?

http://en.rian.ru/ru.../175323990.html

This link has photos from last year's race

http://www.<deleted>.nl/ki...-fotoserie.html

Most uplifting... A new buoyancy device for tour boats, perhaps....

A must for those embarrassing cold water moments.

[SpoliaOpima]

Upgrading tourism services in Thailand would require that a completely new police force be set up (as interests in the current Royal Thai Police are way too entrenched and the simple act of firing officials, sack that, firing Thais in general seems nigh impossible in the Kingdom) that is somehow professionally trained, dedicated to law enforcement and impervious to influence peddling. Even when the current police sweep into an area to clean things up (as they did in Silom a couple of years ago), they are met with gun-shots, threats of violence, and complete hostility from members of the public involved illegal transactions of all varieties. Interests and attitudes are so entrenched and Thailand so corrupt (Transparency International ranks Thailand as MORE corrupt than China), that it is utterly impossible to imagine that change of any type is possible. Even if some Ghandi-like figure arrived on the scene to save the Kingdom, it's impossible to envision any positive direction for Thailand. The only conceivable solution to Thailand's woes (and it's important to remember that Thailand doesn't see itself as having any woes, as tourist numbers keep going up, and for Thais, that's proof of the Kingdom's greatness) is to either experience a Biblical flood and then start fresh, or have a benevolent dictator (are there any of these; perhaps there was Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore who was widely criticized for jailing journalists and caning violators of even basic Singaporean laws) force the law on Thais.

Thaksin (of whom I am not an admirer) is probably the closest to a Lee Kuan Yew that Thailand has ever had. I am sure he anticipated uproar when he began his policy of the extra-judicial executions of drug dealers but I'm equally sure he hoped people would accept that this was his only option, as the Royal Thai Police are so vulnerable to bribery that powerful drug dealers are, in many cases, police officers. They didn't and international community (especially groups like Amnesty International) were all over him about his violations of human rights. Ultimately, Thaksin was forcibly removed by power, quite possibly by elites who understood his approach to "fixing" Thailand would undermine the very means by which they had acquired their wealth and power (even if it is clear that he was enriching his family via his power, what Thai politician hasn't done that?). One of the families I know quite well is descended from an immigrant Chinese opium trader. Their wealth feeds directly from a history of dealing opium. Now they own one of Thailand's biggest banks. What lessons should the descendants of that opium trader heed? The only lesson I can see them learning is that to become wealthy in Thailand, one must do whatever is necessary. Thailand needs some hard medicine to fix what are serious social and cultural problems (as opposed to legal problems, as the Kingdom's ability to pass laws that are completely ignored is legendary). Most good Thai lawyers seek employment abroad after they are educated (usually abroad) because the situation Thailand faces is truly impossible to overcome without generations of conscientious attitude readjustment. Meanwhile, though the future is bleak, the tourists keep coming.

Ultimately, most of the expatriates and foreigners that reside in Thailand love the lawlessness of the country. Where else can you drive your car at whatever speed you desire or shop for men, women, even children to your heart's content. Where else can you get off of a minor traffic violation for a mere two-hundred baht. If you've your head about you, then you can live for years, even a lifetime, in Thailand without experiencing the downside of lawlessness and general chaos. The same conditions exist in other countries without the general friendliness and peacefulness of Thai people, so there will always be worse off countries than Thailand. However, even the smartest, most well-meaning people can eventually have a run in with a situation that reminds us all of the beauty and benefits of law and order. For those, it's back to wherever they came from with a mind to appreciate the country from which they came and forget about the one they called home for so many years.

Thaksin himself comes from a family whose wealth was once tied to the opium trade in Chiang Mai. Furthermore the extajudicial killings during his so-called 'drug war' did not sidestep the police, but were in fact carried out by police. Most of the victims of these killings were drug users or petty drug dealers; none of the big fish were inconvenienced in any noticeable way except that the street price of ya ba increased, thereby making the trade even more profitable.

Thaksin did not offer an answer to corruption, he only exacerbated it, leading by example when he railroaded a law abolishing capital gains taxes on stock market transactions through the national assembly, then selling ShinCorp four days afterwards, thus avoiding 80 million in taxes.

Of course the killings were carried out by the police. Who else would be in a position to do that in an even remotely developed country?!

You implied that Thaksin somehow skirted using the police when you wrote "I am sure he anticipated uproar when he began his policy of the extra-judicial executions of drug dealers but I'm equally sure he hoped people would accept that this was his only option, as the Royal Thai Police are so vulnerable to bribery that powerful drug dealers are, in many cases, police officers."

The fact that yes the police are corrupt, and that Thaksin himself was a police officer and that he married the daughter of a police chief, I think it's highy unlikely that Thaksin would be trying something different, as, like Chalerm, he is born of them to begin with.

[scorecard]

I wonder how the above explosion of hot air will manifest itself in quantifiable change.

Easy question - the TAT staff will get new uniforms, that will fix everything.