It’s interesting that it’s taken almost a year before news-bloggers have noticed World of Good exists, given that it is an eBay-related program, and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth that eBay are insidiously pushing their charitable programs to the fore during this period of extreme unrest amongst their selling members.

Published in Chiangmai City Life Magazine – November 2002

Re-uniting Lan Na – Part 4
CHIANG MAI, Thailand – 3 Oct 2002

When modern tourism policies and ancient cultures meet, who wins and who loses?

Government-issued tourism statistics, of concern to business owners in Thailand, only tell part of the story. In considering whether the North is truly getting its fair share of arrivals and their spending power, a number of factors have to be addressed, especially the expectations of visitors.

The early months of 2002 were notable for two major announcements from Khun Juthamas Siriwan, Deputy Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The first was the gleeful declaration that arrivals in 2001 had topped the ten million mark despite September 11th. The inexplicable second was a later bemoaning that the crucial Japanese arrivals had dropped significantly during “the first quarter” (sic) due to the World Cup, which didn’t start until June.

In fact, the graph below disputes this, as it shows the annual monthly incrementing of arrivals proceeded as usual. Let’s consider that constant growth of tourism arrivals, with a close examination of several aspects rarely discussed in the mainstream, Thai, daily press…