Thailand – paradise or paradise lost?

[MissAndry]

the truth is that Thailand has covered a large part of what made the country so attractive with concrete.

If as you seem to e doing - you concentrate on the accommodation it is likely you will fail to notice the disappearance of the very stuff that attracted people to the country in the first place.

That's just silly.

I'm living 10Km outside of Chiang Mai (San Sai). Totally rural, paddy fields, jungles and mountains.

If I walk or cycle for 5 minutes away from the main roads, I can be completely alone in the countryside.

[cumgranosalum]

the truth is that Thailand has covered a large part of what made the country so attractive with concrete.

If as you seem to e doing - you concentrate on the accommodation it is likely you will fail to notice the disappearance of the very stuff that attracted people to the country in the first place.

That's just silly.

I'm living 10Km outside of Chiang Mai (San Sai). Totally rural, paddy fields, jungles and mountains.

If I walk or cycle for 5 minutes away from the main roads, I can be completely alone in the countryside.

I am well aware of what the north looks like - and most of the rest of Thailand as I have travelled extensively - but I don't base my view on just personal experience,

I'm not that blinkered.

Your personal; perspective is of course not only tiny but erroneous.

If you actually look at the natural resources that attract tourism - e.g. natural forest, pristine beaches etc you will see that nationwide the amount that is destroyed or degraded is enormous. This can be expressed in hectors and stats if you care to look.

just looking out of your window and saying everything looks OK to me is not an appropriate way of getting a good overview of the situation.

[MissAndry]

just looking out of your window and saying everything looks OK to me is not an appropriate way of getting a good overview of the situation.

Yes it is.

[cumgranosalum]

just looking out of your window and saying everything looks OK to me is not an appropriate way of getting a good overview of the situation.

Yes it is.

QED

[cumgranosalum]

Quote: "The past is a foreign country.........they do things differently there".

probably the most over-used, cliched and misunderstood quote of all time....can't you do better than that? bet you can't even explain how you think it fits into this thread.....

Edited July 18, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[xylophone]

just looking out of your window and saying everything looks OK to me is not an appropriate way of getting a good overview of the situation.

Yes it is.

QED

"Probably the most over-used, cliched and misunderstood quote of all time....can't you do better than that? Bet you can't even explain how you think it fits into this thread.....".

[xylophone]

Quote: "The past is a foreign country.........they do things differently there".

probably the most over-used, cliched and misunderstood quote of all time....can't you do better than that? bet you can't even explain how you think it fits into this thread.....

I really don't care what you think..........

[thai3]

It's mostly horrible and a dumping ground for western failures and perverts, they fit in well usually.

[thaibeachlovers]

Heard Samui was great in the '80s. Pai was pretty amazing early on, too. Reckon paradise is as much about time and nostalgia as it is a place, though Thailand will always have stunning scenery.

Samui was ruined in the late 90s when they went for the rich tourist and wiped out the low cost places like Charlie's Hut on Chaweng. The rot started when they opened the airport so the package tourists didn't have to take a ferry.

Phangan took over but when they built the new round island road with 24/7 electricity it doomed beaches like Bottle and Haad khom.

Tao was well trashed before last century ended.

Samet is perhaps the greatest tragedy- a national park that is a rubbish tip end to end.

The biggest irony is that the hordes of full moon partiers came to find the secret island of "the Beach", but Richard actually DESPISED such as they, destroying the ambience of the natural.

People once came to enjoy the natural beaches, but in pursuit of $ greedy developers have destroyed the very thing people came for. Now it's just the lemmings picking the hotel with a pool to slug around.

Paradise lost indeed.

[Razzler1973]

Problem is, johnny 'traveller' comes to Thailand and they don't want to do anything anymore. They want to go somewhere remote, quiet, natual but they also want to be able to get a bus/train, etc directly there and put no effort in.

In the 'old day there were no combo tickets and things like that, you went to the town, went to the pier, went to the islands, got boats. Now people want to book it in Khao San Road and when they arrive moan that 'it's developed' - well, no shit!

[thaibeachlovers]

Problem is, johnny 'traveller' comes to Thailand and they don't want to do anything anymore. They want to go somewhere remote, quiet, natual but they also want to be able to get a bus/train, etc directly there and put no effort in.

In the 'old day there were no combo tickets and things like that, you went to the town, went to the pier, went to the islands, got boats. Now people want to book it in Khao San Road and when they arrive moan that 'it's developed' - well, no shit!

I used to contribute on a well known travel forum, and the number of youthful idiots that wanted to go to a beautiful unspoiled beach that had nightlife and places with free wifi etc was unbelievable. They also wanted to go trekking to places that had never had trekkers.

Truly, truly mind boggling.

Our culture is better informed than ever in the history of mankind, and morons like that graduate from the schools!

PS They also had to have a mobile phone so they could call mummy every day, gah!

Edited July 19, 2016 by thaibeachlovers

[cumgranosalum]

Everyone seems to be concentrating on the accommodation, not on the loss of natural resources the unregulated development of this has brought about