Markku Grönroos

<[email protected]> kirjoitti viestissä
news:[email protected] oups.com...
    > >> You should see the backpackers Thailand gets - Italy shouldn't
    > >> complain!
    > > What do you mean by that?
    > Have you been to the Khao San Road?
As a matter of fact I have. Have you ever been to Venice, Florence, Rome....
Thailand is peanuts compared to Italy (especially in August). Thailand and
Italy are similar to each others so that they are just wonderful travelling
destinations. However, whereas Italy is attacked by hordes of tourists
(Italian and foreign), Thailand remains a secluded country to visit.
Naturally places like Samui, Phuket, Pattaya and many other beach
destination are rigorously visited by tourists. Chiang Mai and Krung Thep
too. However, in the capital city you see most tourists in a few spots like
in Khao San (and in Banglamphoo in general) as you mentioned, in
Rattanakosin, in Siam Square, in some parts of Dusit, in Patpong and along
Sukhumvit for instance. This is nothing compared to those horrendous masses
in Venice or Florence. In most of Thailand you meet few westerners.

Only two months to go and I will be in Thailand to keep a rented car busy
for a month. Let's see at the Gulliver's in Khao San.

Deep Foiled Malls

On Sat, 9 Apr 2005 22:13:10 +0300, "Markku Grönroos"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    ><[email protected]> kirjoitti viestissä
    >news:[email protected] roups.com...
    >> >> You should see the backpackers Thailand gets - Italy shouldn't
    >> >> complain!
    >> > What do you mean by that?
    >> Have you been to the Khao San Road?
    >As a matter of fact I have. Have you ever been to Venice, Florence, Rome....
    >Thailand is peanuts compared to Italy (especially in August). Thailand and
    >Italy are similar to each others so that they are just wonderful travelling
    >destinations. However, whereas Italy is attacked by hordes of tourists
    >(Italian and foreign), Thailand remains a secluded country to visit.

What utter rubbish! Thailand as a country is one of the most touristy
places on earth! Just as much as Italy in that regard, although a
different type of tourist. You cannot move there without running into
a Brit, Aussie or Israelie. Even worse is that half of them are trying
to get off the beaten path to a place with any other tourists, place
suchlike barely exist there anymore.
--
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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Alan S

On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 23:06:46 GMT, Deep Foiled Malls
<deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:

    >What utter rubbish! Thailand as a country is one of the most touristy
    >places on earth! Just as much as Italy in that regard, although a
    >different type of tourist. You cannot move there without running into
    >a Brit, Aussie or Israelie. Even worse is that half of them are trying
    >to get off the beaten path to a place with any other tourists, place
    >suchlike barely exist there anymore.
    >--
    >---
    >DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
    >---

They're desperate for you to come at the moment after the
Tsunami. The ads are making the point that what they want
now is tourists, not just aid, to resurrect that important
part of their economy. The western beaches and resorts are
deserted compared to the past, even though they have quickly
got many of them back into shape.

Cheers, Alan, Australia

Chancellor Of The Duchy Of Besses O' Th' Barn

Deep Foiled Malls <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:

[]
    > What utter rubbish! Thailand as a country is one of the most touristy
    > places on earth!

There are certainly a lot of tourists in the 'touristy' parts of it.

    > Just as much as Italy in that regard, although a
    > different type of tourist.

Each country has roughly similar populations. Italy gets twice the
number of tourists, so Thailand patently doesn't get as much. I don't
know the number of days spent by tourists though. That might well skew
the figures in another direction.

Scotland gets more tourists than Thailand.

    > You cannot move there without running into
    > a Brit, Aussie or Israelie. Even worse is that half of them are trying
    > to get off the beaten path to a place with any other tourists, place
    > suchlike barely exist there anymore.

The original post referred to backpackers, and at a very unscientific
assessment (i.e. based on my own visits to both countries) I certainly
thought there were more backpackers in Thailand.

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

oneofcold

    >> You cannot move there without running into
    >> a Brit, Aussie or Israelie. Even worse is that half of them are
trying
    >> to get off the beaten path to a place with any other tourists, place
    >> suchlike barely exist there anymore.

    > The original post referred to backpackers, and at a very unscientific
    > assessment (i.e. based on my own visits to both countries) I
certainly
    > thought there were more backpackers in Thailand.

Italy may get more tourists overall, but Thailand certainly gets more
of the Lonely Planet crowd - the backpacker image of Westerners with
sunburns, dreadlocks, and fake ethnic clothing and jewelry, who demand
marijuana, banana pancakes and Bob Marley everywhere they go.

Markku Grönroos

<[email protected]> kirjoitti viestissä
news:[email protected] ups.com...
    > >> You cannot move there without running into
    > >> a Brit, Aussie or Israelie. Even worse is that half of them are
    > trying
    > >> to get off the beaten path to a place with any other tourists, place
    > >> suchlike barely exist there anymore.
    > > The original post referred to backpackers, and at a very unscientific
    > > assessment (i.e. based on my own visits to both countries) I
    > certainly
    > > thought there were more backpackers in Thailand.
    > Italy may get more tourists overall, but Thailand certainly gets more
    > of the Lonely Planet crowd - the backpacker image of Westerners with
    > sunburns, dreadlocks, and fake ethnic clothing and jewelry, who demand
    > marijuana, banana pancakes and Bob Marley everywhere they go.
This is simply untrue. Visits of tourism has been in steady increase in the
kingdom and yet it's figures are lagging behind to those of Italy. Last
year some 12 million foreign tourists visited Thailand (backbackers and
others alike). The figure for Italy is about 40 million (probably higher but
during the EU era it may be a bit tricky to give any precise numbers). A
rough estimate is that Italy receives at least three times - more probably
about four times - foreign visitors per annum than Thailand. Due to very low
prices in services of tourism in Thailand, the quotient of backbackers/all
the tourists is perhaps a bit larger in the kingdom than in Italy. And yet
Italy draws them a lot more. Even if Thailand is heavily touristed in some
spots, it remains little visited by farangs elsewhere. This is especially
true when compared to Italy which is topped only by three countries or so in
the world in terms of foreign visits.

In Thailand tourists seem to congregate into a few spots (on a small number
of islands and beaches). They are plentiful (in winter) in some of the
islands (I find few reasons to travel onto Phangan but plenty of reasons to
stay a good deal away from it). An effort to avoid these spots shouldn't be
problem at all in Thailand. In Italy it is trickier.

B Vaughan

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:11:57 +0300, "Markku Grönroos"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >In Thailand tourists seem to congregate into a few spots (on a small number
    >of islands and beaches). They are plentiful (in winter) in some of the
    >islands (I find few reasons to travel onto Phangan but plenty of reasons to
    >stay a good deal away from it). An effort to avoid these spots shouldn't be
    >problem at all in Thailand. In Italy it is trickier.

I've never been to Thailand, but in Italy the tourists also congregate
in a few spots: mainly Rome, Venice, Florence (and most of Tuscany).
And, of course, the Alps and the Dolomites get lots of foreign skiiers
in the winter, and the Adriatic beaches get a good many northern
European sunbathers in the summer, although lately they seem to be
diminishing. You don't run into hordes of tourists in the rest of
Italy. There are regions that are just as beautiful as Tuscany that
have hardly any foreign tourism. Abruzzo and Le Marche come to mind.
Even Umbria, with the possible exception of Assisi, has relatively few
tourists compared to Tuscany.

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

Deep Foiled Malls

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 11:03:39 +0200, B Vaughan<[email protected]> wrote:

    >On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:11:57 +0300, "Markku Grönroos"
    ><[email protected]> wrote:
    >>In Thailand tourists seem to congregate into a few spots (on a small number
    >>of islands and beaches). They are plentiful (in winter) in some of the
    >>islands (I find few reasons to travel onto Phangan but plenty of reasons to
    >>stay a good deal away from it). An effort to avoid these spots shouldn't be
    >>problem at all in Thailand. In Italy it is trickier.
    >I've never been to Thailand, but in Italy the tourists also congregate
    >in a few spots: mainly Rome, Venice, Florence (and most of Tuscany).
    >And, of course, the Alps and the Dolomites get lots of foreign skiiers
    >in the winter, and the Adriatic beaches get a good many northern
    >European sunbathers in the summer, although lately they seem to be
    >diminishing. You don't run into hordes of tourists in the rest of
    >Italy. There are regions that are just as beautiful as Tuscany that
    >have hardly any foreign tourism. Abruzzo and Le Marche come to mind.
    >Even Umbria, with the possible exception of Assisi, has relatively few
    >tourists compared to Tuscany.

And Puglia, and Liguria, and...
--
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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