"I found paradise, drew a map, and within 15 years it was ruined"

**Joe 90** · 25-05-2023, 10:45 PM

I blame Leonardo DeCaprio!

**Edmond** · 25-05-2023, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by Joe 90

DeCaprio

A Ford or fruit drink?

**cyrille** · 25-05-2023, 11:06 PM

C'mon, by his standards it was a good effort.

**malmomike77** · 25-05-2023, 11:13 PM

[QUOTE=Joe 90;4506176]I blame Leonardo DeCaprio![/QUOTE

Eh fukos, hows your piles hanging. Tezza ruined it . fact.

**Backspin** · 25-05-2023, 11:30 PM

I was there in 2006. Before smartphones , streaming retards and all that bullshit. Now it is ruined. Har har.

You can probably still find pristine beaches down in the south. I found pristine beaches in the Philippines in 2014. I should Java taken more pics of it so I could wank about it 20 years later

**Troy** · 25-05-2023, 11:56 PM

Not ruined, just changed to meet the expectations of a different set of people. Places change as they go into and out of fashion. There's still some hidden treasures in Thailand.

**Edmond** · 25-05-2023, 11:58 PM

Originally Posted by Troy

There's still some hidden treasures in Thailand.

And lots and lots that aren't hidden, which is why we live here.

**helge** · 26-05-2023, 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by Troy

Not ruined, just changed to meet the expectations of a different set of people.

So this "different set of people" do not expect to see signs at every little eatery saying:

"Yes, we do serve Omelette with Magic Mushrooms and btw we are having video night showing 'Friday the 13th".

I didn't expect it either, but that was great fun.

I do like surprises at times

**Edmond** · 26-05-2023, 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by helge

I didn't expect it either, but that was great fun.

I do like surprises at times

Quoth SoCal, post-Emma.

**helge** · 26-05-2023, 01:30 AM

Originally Posted by helge

at times

There is also surprises, that I could do without.

Actually a bit of a conservative on an Emma related ....VOILA !

**Backspin** · 26-05-2023, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by Edmond

Quoth SoCal, post-Emma.

**panama hat** · 26-05-2023, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Take care, most of them are ex-SAS!

Speaking of which

Originally Posted by malmomike77

balcony diving

**Bettyboo** · 26-05-2023, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by helge

Must have been in 97.

USD to Thai Baht exchange rate - 1997 Asian financial crisis - Wikipedia

Couldn't find the Pound-Baht one

Agreed, here is the chart - Jan 98 was at 91.4

"I found paradise, drew a map, and within 15 years it was ruined"-screenshot-2023-05-26-13-50-a

**Bettyboo** · 26-05-2023, 12:07 PM

[QUOTE=malmomike77;4506184]

Originally Posted by Joe 90

I blame Leonardo DeCaprio![/QUOTE

Eh fukos, hows your piles hanging. Tezza ruined it . fact.

There's no doubting that once Terry has a go up the blurter, there's no recovery.

Secondly, this is the age old argument, we've had it loads on here, and I think that there's elements of truth on both sides:

1) Yes, our expectations are linked to our memories and are rather romantic. So, we always think that stuff gets worse.

2) There is no doubt in my mind that Chawaeng (spelling???) beach was decimated between the late 80s and late 90s. It went from a few beach huts, under developed, little if any concrete buildings, only one atm on the entire road, a pretty unpolluted area where you picked up your pancakes, roadside, wrapped in a banana leaf. There was mafia there, but you didn't get affected much, and prices were Thai prices plus maybe 20%. Jump forward to the late 90s, and the entire beach road was concrete hotels catering for ten times more people, and spewing raw sewage into the sea. Prices doubled or tripled to a massive foreigner tax. Any takeaway food you bought was in plastic containers and bags which then polluted the roadside, beach and sea. Hawkers were everywhere (I never saw a single one while staying on that beach for three months in 1997 (

). Cars everywhere (previously you walked, hoped on a bike or tried a motorbike taxi/rental. It massively deteriorated - end of.

You might say that the world has gone that way everywhere and it's "progress". I don't agree (in fact it's a cliched comment which is true for some places (over-development) and not others which have been carefully developed at sustainable levels.

Chawaeng beach has been rapped by over-development and is now horrible - I agree with the original article (which I didn't read, but we all know what is said because it has been said many times).

Other places on Samui are still lovely.

Basically, I am correct. If you don't agree then you're either mentally feeble (like Mr Sausage - though to be fair to him the Gulliver's experience was a traumatic life changing experience for him), or just an argumentative troll...

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