Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

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Anchor Moy
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Re: Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

Post by Anchor Moy »

Article from Associated Press on how Luang Prabang "lost its soul" : Jan 28, 2016
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ ... TE=DEFAULT
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phuketrichard
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Re: Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

Post by phuketrichard »

good write up;

I was first there in 2002,
Last there in 2013
wont go back

The monks out in the morning collecting food/alms has become totally fucked,
few years ago the monks said they would stop their morning walk but the local government said they would hire actors to do it as it brings in the tourist.
Its disgusting seeing the people photographing (and i am a photographer) the monks and buying old food from the locals to give to the monks who then turn around an give it to the kids or give it back to the locals to sell back to the tourists

The night market is crazy
there are some great places to sat and eat thou

I have only been recently ( 2012, 2013 ) in the summer and hate to think what its like in the winter
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hanno
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Re: Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

Post by hanno »

I go to Luang Prabang 2-3 a year and love it.

Yes, the circus with the Monks is disgusting but there are still plenty of places to have a good feed and a nice, cold Beer Lao.
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Re: Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

Post by bkktrapper »

phuketrichard wrote:good write up;

I was first there in 2002,
Last there in 2013
wont go back

The monks out in the morning collecting food/alms has become totally fucked,
few years ago the monks said they would stop their morning walk but the local government said they would hire actors to do it as it brings in the tourist.
Its disgusting seeing the people photographing (and i am a photographer) the monks and buying old food from the locals to give to the monks who then turn around an give it to the kids or give it back to the locals to sell back to the tourists

The night market is crazy
there are some great places to sat and eat thou

I have only been recently ( 2012, 2013 ) in the summer and hate to think what its like in the winter
What's the point of hiring actors when there's already monks there?
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Anchor Moy
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Re: Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

Post by Anchor Moy »

bkktrapper wrote:
phuketrichard wrote: The monks out in the morning collecting food/alms has become totally fucked,
few years ago the monks said they would stop their morning walk but the local government said they would hire actors to do it as it brings in the tourist.
What's the point of hiring actors when there's already monks there?
This is what happens when spend all your time in the ceiling.
When the monks threatened to strike because of all the tourists treating them like Disney characters, the govt said they would replace them with scabs/actors. Tourists rule.
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Re: Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

Post by bkktrapper »

OK. Makes sense .

Should be public information.
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Re: Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

Post by ot mien kampf »

sigmoid wrote:
Been to all of them and mostly agree but take Vang Vieng off this list. All the bars along river but two have been shut down and rope swings of death removed so no more dead tourists. I rented a mountain bike and crossed the bridge and found some of the most beautiful country side in SE Asia. Plus cheap food and lodging, even found a brothel out on the highway north of town. Love it there.
Yes, that's right. VV was cleaned up about 2 years ago already after an Australian diplomat's son became a casualty, or so I heard somewhere.

Here are a couple of articles from that time:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/travel/ ... 10992.html

http://www.eturbonews.com/30814/laos-cl ... vang-vieng

So, the place is a lot quieter now. There are still bars in town and some backpackers, but the place is going upmarket with a large hotel (five star?) being built near the river and Koreans and Chinese couples and families outnumbering the hippies/druggies/boozehounds.

Still, most of the problems of mass tourism are there lurking in the background and further development will likely ruin the place in a different way. The road there is still a mess so that will keep numbers manageable hopefully. And so far the govt there seem to be keeping the doors to Laos shut to the huge multinational corporations that destroy the uniqueness of a country.
The hippies were never the issue in VV, it was the frat boys and chavs who turned it into minor hell hole. Although if it's being overrun by package tourists and 5 star abominations it has found a much worse way of undermining its good qualities.

Pattaya, Kuta, Manila? All crowded, polluted and bland, it's a pretty good list if it suggest avoiding them. Add the Riverside to the list.
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Re: Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

Post by willyhilly »

Wot no snookyville?
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Re: Tourist Areas You Should Avoid in Southeast Asia

Post by StephanieG »

hanno wrote:What a useless article..... The criteria used would put pretty much every town in SE Asia on the list.
haha, true, Saigon is bustling, many tourists were robbed, but i think it's still an interesting place to visit
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