In Reply to: Bali-Thailand future posted by sitas_pacar on Thursday, 13. January 2005 at 19:46 Bali Time:
There are still thousands of resorts on the Gulf side of Thailand that were unaffected by the Tsunami. Not to mention that Bangkok is much the same as ever, and all of Northern Thailand is still there.
I guess the people who decide to switch from Thailand to Bali will be the sort of people who want to be able to say they visited a foreign country without the hassel of it being any different from home (except maybe the weather). For these people it probably doesn't matter where they go, so long as there's a pool and a restaurant that serves steak and chips.
In any event, Indonesia's Tourism Minister predicted last year that the number of tourists visiting Indonesia was going to triple by 2008 (I think). I still don't know where they plan to put them all, coz even when everyone in Bali is saying "Oh, it's so quiet now", I still can't walk on the footpath for more than 20 meters without dodging fifty tourists.
I think the ultimate plan for Bali is to turn it into a coast to coast resort/mall, with an indoor artificial wave surfing facility to mimic what the beaches were like before the island was surrounded by a corona of sewerage. The temples will become incorporated into the huge markets that surround them , and will be shops in their own right. With all the beaches covered in poo, tourists will get an artificial tan at Tan-a-Lot salon, and pop in for a drink at Beer-Saki Temple Pub.
And the resort/mall will fill up with people, and more layers will be added, until it is so high that eventually someone will stand on the roof and shout, "Hey, guys! I think I see another island just over there!" And then the swarm of locusts will descend on Lombok.