ABSTRACT
Most tourists want to visit the various attractions of Thailand in comfort and they do not therefore experience the living conditions, discomforts and deprivations experienced by many of the inhabitants of the country. They see elephants, model schools, orchid cultivation, hand weaving, and tropical vegetation. Very occasionally a tourist gets killed or taken hostage, while many suffer stomach and other afflictions, regardless of how careful they are. A more general appraisal of the implications of the tourist industry for the major regions of the world is provided in Box 17.2 (p. 415).
