The dark side of tourism in Thailand

Who hasn’t dream of going to Thailand on holidays? A destination that offers first class hotels at a bargain price, beautiful beaches, a wide range of leisure activities and some of the biggest parties around the world... Tourism is having a massive affect on Thailand but, at what price? The documentary screened by the BBC ‘Thailand: Tourism and the Truth’ try to give answers to this question.

After touching down in Pucket, the host Stacey Dooley stays in one hotel of the island, where enjoys first class facilities for only 30£ per night. Massive swimming pools, luxury rooms, no-end to sight free buffets, and tropical cocktails make a dream vacation that, unfortunately, ends as soon as the working day starts for the hotel’s workers. The staff usually works around 8 hours per day, 6 days per week. The maids earn 4.5£ per day, which means, approximately, 80£ over the legal minimum wage. Although the hotel provides to the staff accommodation in a shared room, food and transport, they almost scratch a living, as it is usual that a worker supports an entire family.

In spite of the economic growth in Thailand, there are huge inequalities between rural and urban areas, that’s why it can be seen an important rural flight to those areas improved by tourism. The most of the people who decide to emigrate to find a job in the tourism sector, leave their families in other regions and support them in the distance, by sending them the money earned at the hotel. In the particular case of the maids, plenty of them are mothers who can spend even two years without see their children.

Some of the hotel workers, who earn a bit more money than maids, can afford to rent accommodation by their own. They prefer to live outside the hotel because they can enjoy more freedom as visits at the accommodation for staff provided by the hotel are not allowed. The problem here is that, because of the massive tourism, rentals in the town are really expensive for the locals so they just can rent domestic properties far away from city centre and in a inadequate sanitation. Rats, cockroaches, unpaved streets... is the other side of the coin when it is offered a luxury holiday at bargain prices.

Tourists takeover the island

More than 3 million tourists from all over the world visit Pucket island every year, which is almost 10 tourists for every local. Bearing in mind this figures, is easy realize until what extend tourists takeover, literally, the little island of Pucket.

To accommodate so much tourism, investors are building hotels in areas traditionally occupied by local communities. The documentary shows the case of a fisher’s community who arrived in Pucket from China 400 years ago. The lack of rights and the no knowledge of the land’s law among the locals are making things easier for the investors while the locals are seeing how their lifestyle is threaten due to the loose of their land.

Other significant case shown in the documentary is the popular Full Moon party, which takes place every month in a tiny island called Ko Phangan that is “invaded” by a plage of young people, who are eager for party, alcohol and tecno music: over 30.000 people takeover the island in the main season of holidays.

Providing that health centres are far away from the beach where the party takes place and there aren’t enough resources to take care of all tourists, lots of locals volunteer in order to help those drunk or stoned tourists needed from medical attention. In sptite of the effords, the resources of the tiny island are not enough and it’s not new to hear about tourist’s deaths every year during the celebration of the Full Moon party in the island.

Choosing to die

It’s difficult to remain indifferent after watching the documentary ‘Choosing to die’, broadcasted on BBC last 13th of June. It’s not only because the issue attracts a great deal of discussion, but also because at the end of the documentary it’s shown Peter Smedley’s assisted suicide, a 71 years-old millionaire hotelier who was suffering from motor neurone disease.

Peter share with us the moment of his death and drinks the lethal substance that will make him sleep and, then, die. He swallows the poison with no doubt, his hand doesn’t shake. His last words after being asked by the nurse were “I’m sure”. Later, would come the goodbye for his death’s witnesses and a message for her wife: “be strong, dear”. The more awkward moment was just before he fell asleep, when he asked for and was denied water. Those seconds probably made his wife a lump in her throat, who cried after realizing that her husband was slipping and he wouldn’t wake up anymore.

That is how was the end chosen by Peter Smedley, who wasn’t a terminally-ill patient, but it was visible his lack of independence. Maybe it was the main reason that drove him to the Swiss clinic Dignitas in order to end his life, a decision which was made, according to his words, without being depressed, but with mixed feelings.

For 12 years, Dignitas has helped more than 1.000 people to die. The assisted suicides take place in a residency provided by the organization and under the supervision of the assistants, who prepare the drugs, give advice about how it must be drunk, provide psychological support and keep patients company in their last moments of life. Patients must drink the drug by themselves to die within the law. In Switzerland, law doesn’t punish or prosecute people who help others to die, providing that the person who wants to die is aware, repeatedly express their demand to die and consume the lethal drug by themselves.

The legal gap that allows assisted suicide in Switzerland encourages those who live in the United Kingdom -where it’s forbidden- to travel to that country in order to go to Dignitas and die “legally”. However, die within the law is not cheap at all: people who require the Dignitas help must pay more than £10,000. According to the organization, the money is needed to pay the forensic analysis and the expenses for the funeral.

Lack of legal rights

The BBC was flooded with complaints after it screened the documentary, and there were plenty of comments of condemnation pointing out that the film was “pro-assisted suicide propaganda loosely dressed up as a documentary ", as the spokesman for Care Not Killing, Alistair Thompson, said. In spite those critics, the main theme of the documentary doesn’t want to “glorify suicide”, but to condemn the lack of legal rights suffered by those who decide that their life is not worth to be lived anymore and, therefore, want to die.

The lawlessness in the United Kingdom in this issue is forcing these people to hire the expensive services of certain organizations and die in another country, far away from home, in an impersonal residence like that one chosen by Smedley, located in an industrial area near Zurich. The criticized documentary shows that Dignitas is not an ideal option, it would be fairer to have the chance of dying at home or in the particular way a person has chosen.

This is a reality that exists. The easiest is to look the other way, but the government should stop doing this and face up to this problem by working on the regulation.

E.T. The Extraterrestial: 29 interesting trivia

The 30th anniversary of ‘E.T.: The Extraterrestial’ will be next year, which means that I should write a special post by next 11th of June. Obviously the 29th anniversary doesn’t make the news as much as a round figure like 30 years... however, a couple of days ago I saw E.T. and I couldn't resist: I started looking up information on the Internet and I gathered plenty of interesting facts about the Steven Spielberg’s classic film. Because today has been 29 years since its release on 1982, here you have 29 interesting trivia on one of my favourite movies as a kid:

1. The screenplay for the film was written by the Harrison Ford’s second wife Melissa Mathinson.

2. The concept for E.T. was based on an imaginary friend Spielberg created after his parents' divorce in 1960.

3. Spielberg said the film’s main theme isn't the friendship between Elliott and E.T., but the emotional situation of kids when their parents get divorced.

4. Religious parallels between E.T. and Jesus were found by some critics. As Andrew Nigels said, E.T. was crucified by military science and then resurrected by love and faith.

5. Although Spielberg refuses the Christian parable, Universal Pictures appealed directly to the Christian market with a poster that reminds the Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam.

6. Henry Thomas, best known as Elliott, auditioned in an Indiana Jones costume and he didn’t perform well. However, an improvised scene convinced Spielberg: Thomas tears caused by thoughts of his dead dog were more than enough to get the role.

7. Drew Barrymore (Gertie) was chosen because her invented story about a punk rock band leaded by her. For Spielberg that story proved her right imagination for the film.

8. E.T. ‘creature’ was created in 3 months and the final cost was $1,5 million.

9. Spielberg declared E.T. was "something that only a mother could love”.

10. The major voice work for E.T. was done by Pat Wels, an elderly woman who used to smoke two packets of cigarettes a day, which gave her that particular voice sound. According to the Spanish magazine Cinemania, she did the voice for every language.

11. The sound effects creator Ben Burtt’s sleeping wife, who had a cold, was used as well for the alien’s voice.

12. Two dwarfs, Tamara de Treux and Pat Billon, as well as a 12-year-old Mathew de Meritt, who was born without legs, wore the E.T. costume. Billon died a few weeks after the shooting and he did the sequence in which E.T. is having a walk with Elliot and Michael, covered by a blanket. The final scene was made by Tamara de Treux and de Meritt did the fridge scene.

13. Looking for funding, Spielberg got in touch with M&M company, but its sales representatives though it wasn’t a good idea that an alien eat the candies. They got wrong: the Reese’s Piece that E.T. eats increased its sales by 65% after the film’s release.

14. The project was filmed under the cover name A Boy's Life, as Spielberg did not want anyone to discover and plagiarize the plot.

15. The film was shot in chronological order to get a better actors’ emotional performance.

16. The film was shot so adults, except for the kids' mother, are never seen from the waist up in the first half of the film, as a tribute to the cartoons of Tex Avery.

17. Spielberg decided to cut a scene featuring Harrison Ford as Elliott's headmaster.

18. ‘Real’ doctors were recruited to play the doctors who try to save E.T’s life.

19. Spielberg liked so much John Williams’ music that the final scene was adapted just to match it.

20. In July 1982 Spielberg and Mathison wrote a treatment for a sequel to be titled E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears. Later, Spielberg decided against pursuing the sequel, feeling it "would do nothing but rob the original of its virginity”.

21. Amblin Entertainment's logo features the silhouette of E.T. riding in the basket on Elliott's bicycle flying in front of the moon. That production company was founded by Spielberg.

22. The 20th anniversary version was criticized as political correctness because the guns feds carried were replaced by walkie-talkies. In a recent interview, Spielberg regrets for those changes.

23. There were allegations that the film was plagiarized from 1967 script The Alien. The Spanish comic drawer Joaquín Blázquez allegated as well that the E.T. design was plagiarized from a comic character he created 7 years before.

24. In an American Film Instute poll, E.T. has been voted the 24th greatest film of all time. It was also listed by Time as one of the 100 best films ever made.

25. Henry Thomas has appeared in more than 40 films but still is best known for his role as Elliott. He was also involved in The Blue Heelers band from the mid to late ‘90s as a player, singer and lyrics writer.

26. Robert MacNaughton, Elliott's brother Michael, gave up acting and works as a mail handler in Arizona.

27. Drew Barrymore is just as well known for her films (Charlie's Angels, The Wedding Singer, Never Been Kissed) as for her pre-teen slide into alcoholism and drug abuse.

28. Erika Eleniak, the girl kissed by Elliot, has become an American Playboy Playmate and actress, perhaps best known for her role in Baywatch as Shauni McClain.

29. The budget was $10,500,000 and gross revenue reached the overwhelming amount of $792,910,554.

The UK, the promised land?

“England is not what was in its time”, it can be read in one of the website Spaniards forum’s comments. “When I was in Bournemouth more than 10 years ago, you could find four gigs in just a week... and without knowing much English”. Now, if you want to work as a kitchen porter you have to fill in hundreds of application forms and, of course, your English must be, at least, good.

Job-hunting in the UK has been complicated not only for those who are behind an unskilled job. The opinion of many foreign professionals living in the country since the days of the British economic boom is reflected in another comment on the forum: “since the very beginning I decided to look for a good job, something related with my studies. If was complicated; after all I was a foreigner with no experience or qualifications from England opting to skilled jobs, and the issue of the language was definitely a barrier... it wasn’t easy. However, once you have achieved that first job, you could promote without problems. I feeling I had was: if I don’t get an increase in my salary or a promotion I will quit. This situation, nowadays, has changed”.

Many Spaniards who have emigrated to the UK, partly because of the Spanish economic crisis, partly because they want to learn English, have found a very different picture of that immigration which the British island received during the 90’s until 2007: those immigrants enjoyed a period of full employment, with an unemployment rate of just about 5%.

However, between July 2007 and December 2010, about 900,000 jobs were destroyed in the UK, which meant an increase of the unemployment rate to almost 8% at the end of last year. The English have left being full employment period and they are competing now for those jobs traditionally held by foreigners who were eager for promising work experiences in the English-speaking world. In general terms, to find work in England today is basic to speak fluent English –hardly difficult to achieve for Spaniards because of an inefficient language education – which must be better according to the qualifications required for the post.

It is hard to compete with native speakers, obviously, but so it is with those immigrants who work for less than minimal wage without complaints. Another comment on the forum points out that Spaniards in general no longer put effort to search for ‘any kind’ of job. According to the author of that comment, the problem is not the impossibility of finding a job, but the rejection of certain posts by the Spaniards with studies. That’s why it is easy to find people who say: “Clean bathrooms, are you kidding me? I have a career!”

Whether the increase in the UK’s unemployment rate, the major competition in the job market or the rejection to work in certain jobs; job-hunting for foreigners can be extended to months. However, despite a scenario not so encouraging, many Spaniards decided to immigrate to the UK last year: a total of 3,949 people, according to the Register of Foreign Spaniards (PERE), which are included within the 64,317 Spanish residents. Of course, the real figure is much higher, as this number represents only those registered with the PERE.

It is clear that there is economic crisis worldwide, touching even powerful economies like the UK, however in Spain the figures are more than alarming: unemployment rate in April break its record at 21.9%, making up the highest percentage of unemployment in Europe. Since this trend has not stopped increasing, and we do not see any factors that predict the decline of the unemployment rate in the short term, Spaniard increasingly choose to emigrate to other countries with a greater chance of employability.

The *data speak again: Spain records the lowest number of job vacancies for every thousand people in all the major European countries, in fact, in 2008 the figure dropped significantly to 33 compared with the 352 in the UK.

Behind these figures is the reality of thousands of Spaniards who see in the UK the island of the opportunities, despite the economic crisis is also making an effect in the UK. "Job-hunting is difficult here”, says another Spaniard from London, "but there is no comparison with Spain, I stay in the UK".

*Source: Eurostat

15M movement, from the outrage to the action

After the results of the Spanish local and regional elections which took place on May 22, the centre-right Popular Party was more than pleased with the victory, whereas the Socialists suffered heavy election losses.

Once the recount finished, everything was done that night, the elections were over.

Just the opposite was happening in the Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol. It could be sensed that the people from the called “Movimiento 15M” were intended to stay in the square, that movement just started.

People gathered around a megaphone used by citizens to express their major concerns, onlookers stopped to read the hundreds of protest signs, while many volunteers, installed in their makeshift stands, reported on the movement and collected signatures and proposals at the same time.

During the election’s night it was possible to walk through Sol square, as the protests of thousands of people in the days before the elections dissipated. Although the agglomeration decreased dramatically, several hundred people remained in the Madrid’s heart square and ended that day of protests in the camp with a silent sittingheld minute before twelve o’clock.

About twenty tents are still set up along the main camp, organized by working committees with no visible leaders and created spontaneously. “The intention was to organize ourselves, but we didn’t expect so much people would join us”, says a spokesman of the movement, who studied to install renewable energies and, after looking for a job in Spain without success, is determined to try his luck in Italy. Organization, precisely, makes up one of the foundations that support the survival of the camp established strongly on 17 of May as a consequence of the forced evacuation of the previous day.

Since that first time, committees were organized according to the needs of the camp. “As it has expended, the commissions have been extended. There is a children’s area, an infirmary, a mental health and natural therapies area with professional masseurs and psychologists...” says Sofia, a 26 years-old journalist who has lent herself to be a spokeswoman of the movement.


Although there are people ranged all ages, most volunteers working in the camp are educated young people who find in the movement an opportunity to show that they can organize and carry out their duties professionally.

The proof of that is that, in less than a week, a perfectly organized camp divided into committees has been created by the members of the 15M movement for self-management.

Thus, it has been established a legal committee constituted by lawyers to solve all sort of legal issues related to the protests and the camp; the commission of respect that is responsible for avoiding altercations and keep the square clean; extension to create links with other Spanish cities or overseas; the communications commission to inform the media; the information one to explain citizens what is the movement... in total there are about ten commissions which are constantly growing and changing, depending on the needs and the new proposals submitted by anyone who decides to go to Sol square with the idea of helping.

A different society, in Sol

Many say that in the Puerta del Sol has been created a mini-city. “At first it was a protest, but now it is a way to say that a totally different society is possible”, says a 19 years-old girl who is studying Occupational Therapy first year degree. She is working in the food commission: “we give food to colleagues working in the camp and then to others”.

Although poor naughty and very cunning people finds its place in the Sol’s camp (there are those who try to sell the food they get for free or try to get sandwiches without working in the movement), people’s solidarity is the protagonist. “If we need spoons, half an hour later we have lots of them”. And all this without money involved, “there are many people, of all kinds, who bring food. Everything works through donations, which is the only thing we accept. Sometimes we have to say not to people who want to give us more food, because we have plenty”.

Others try to give money, however, they have always the same answer: “we only accept donations ‘in kind’ so doesn’t get us wrong”.

The committees, in turn, are divided into working groups, which collect the proposals of the citizens who pass through the camp. These proposals are discussed by each working group made up by anyone who wants to participate and, after being unanimously approved, they are voted at the general meeting which takes place usually in the evenings and with the participation of several hundred people gathered in the square. Everything said, is written up in the minutes.

"We're deciding what we want", says a volunteer. At the moment there is such a volume of submissions that it is very difficult to develop a common manifesto. "We're not overwhelmed, is that there are many people who want to participate. We will stay at Sol square, at least, until Sunday, and then we want to organize meetings in the neighbourhoods and villages in order to revitalize the local communications, which currently are very weak”, says another spokesman for the 15M movement.

They are organized, but what they want?

Despite having no manifests, 15M members agree that democracy mechanisms for citizen participation don’t work. That’s why they claim the use of public spaces as a forum for debate. "Politicians do not represent us, only represent the interests of banking", complains a volunteer. "We are very tired, very tired, we want a change".

Some say they cannot find a job because they are “overqualified”, others want to reform the electoral system because it promotes two-party system; all agree that is should be removed the privileges of the political class. “My generation has seen no prospects, but has been now when we have realized that the situation is really bad, that’s why we have organized”, says a 21 years-old boy. Another spokesman states: "even if you aren’t affected by the crisis, you should be touched; this is not only about what can happen to you, this is as well about what happens to people around you. Your neighbour may be unemployed. We live in a society, we are social beings and we have to fight to achieve an universal social justice”.

"I was just hoping that young people did something, it has been necessary", says 71 years-old, Eugenia. "We didn’t know what was wrong with young people, why have not complained so far, but now I'm very happy about this movement, it's about time!", says excited 56 years-old Vicenta. The two disappear into the crowd, leaving a crowded Plaza del Sol which has gone from being a transit area to become, in just a few days, in an agora to discuss, debate and propose ideas.

*Published in La Opinión de Granada on 25/05/2011

The public outrage is justified

The public indignation materialized in outcries of anonymous people since 15th of March in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, and in several cities in Spain, change the course of the political campaign and becomes the protagonist of the front pages of national media. All I can see and hear from my laptop in the UK resulting in a feeling that moves between the hope and the relief of knowing that we are not asleep. "It’s about time1”, I tell myself. The media have made us protagonist in less than a week, and it is curious, because we have been it for years, victims of economic crisis, social injustice, corruption, manipulation and the curtailment of our rights. Something that, however, is not new in our history.

Because we are the protagonists in this play, we know all too well the reasons for these concentrations, that’s why we don’t need anybody to light us up and explain the reasons of our boredom and tiredness. I just list them:

1. 43% youth unemployment. Almost half the youth Spanish population is not working, those who have no experience or studies find really difficult to be recruited due to the high competition for the few jobs on offer; and those who have got qualifications and work experience , now are considered "overqualified". And all of this is happening, while we see that in Spain, to be prime minister is not required to speak English.

2. Injustice in the labour market. Those who work don’t envision a scenario very encouraging: aspiring to be "mileuristas" (earning no more than 1.000 euros per month for a full time job), having precarious contracts and enduring hellish working conditions for fear of being fired. If you are a woman, the situation is even more difficult: maternity redundancies double with the excuse of the crisis. How to escape from this labyrinth without end? Many, like me, have chosen to emigrate to other countries in search of opportunities denied to us in Spain.

3. "Tighten your belt". We have heard so many speeches appealing to social responsibility and the need to apply "difficult" measures to tackle the crisis ... In this term we have witnessed a labour reform that makes dismissals cheaper, lower wages for government employees, an increase of the retirement age and a drastic cut in social benefits (no more check-baby income, college loans with no interest rate or benefits to long-term unemployed). All this would make sense if there is a consistent policy of cuts and restrictions for all sectors of the population, but, unfortunately, in Spain the political class keeps their privileges, for example, by having exorbitant salaries - in some cases for life, paid from our pockets.

4. Ministry of Housing, what for? The housing bubble burst and, although prices have fallen slightly, housing in Spain is overvalued by 40%. Renting a house is also expensive, the average price is 750 euros per month, slightly less than the salary of a Spaniard "mileurista" without access to a mortgage. The alternative is to share an apartment for rent or live with parents. "To get by," say many young Spanish -and not so young. The trouble is that this option becomes mandatory and indefinite. And people get tired of that.

5. A discredited political class. Corruption scandals in the two major parties, lies, false promises and political actions in the service of financial power or lobbying businesses rather than citizens are, I’m afraid, too common in Spain. These politicians work for our welfare? People feel that politicians don’t represent them them, because they live in a “bubble”. As protesters say in front of the Puerta del Sol: "Citizens have lost respect for the major political parties, but because of this we are not going to lose our critical sense".

Clearly, there are plenty of reasons to be indignant and demonstrate against government. Still, we endure outrageous interested views saying things such as "behind all the protests are the extreme left-wing parties and communist groups" or that "this is organized just by young people, bored, with nothing better to do." Two days before regional and municipal elections, the Electoral Board has outlawed concentrations, so people can be fined just for protesting. This shows that who most should, still don’t understand. The day of reflection is not important. The election result doesn’t matter. The important thing here is that the Spanish have managed to organize in order to point out their outrage. How this will end? At the rate that is changing the world with the push of social networks, even sociologist can’t agree. I'm not a sociologist and couldn’t foresee the consequences, however, I hope that this has just begun.

Fighting poverty, from the laboratory

Development economics, it’s just theory without a scientific basis? Not for Esther Duflo, of course. This economist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) believes that by using random testing, similar to those utilized by the pharmaceutical industry, lies the key to create effective measures which determine the success of the aid programs.

Money, obviously, is important to fight against poverty. But it’s not the only thing. To Duflo’s view, the most important is to know what (and why) works and doesn’t work in the implementation of aid programs to make them the most effective possible. “In technology, we spend so much time experimenting, fine-tuning, getting the absolute cheapest way to do something, so why aren't we doing that with social policy?” – says Duflo in a speech organized by the MIT.

Since 2003, through the Poverty Action Lab, Duflo and her team has gathered real data in order to find answers to alleviate poverty. From this data, they have got really interesting results. For example, the efficiency of public benefits depends on the gender of its recipient; or that the acceleration of the rate of human capital is not matched with economic growth. Another research that has generated quite a lot controversy has been the measure of the ‘microcredit’ programme effectiveness, which is not really effective because only one out of eight people use a ‘microcredit’ to set a business that wouldn’t exist in any other way.

Social experiments to fight poverty

Using a ‘micro’ approach, Esther Duflo has made plenty of social experiments to fight poverty. In a MIT speech, the economist gives three examples to get an impression of her work:

Immunization. In spite of the existence of vaccination programmes that offer vaccines for free, there are yet at least 25 million children who do not get the immunization they should. This is not due to a lack of vaccines or because parents don’t care about their children, there are other determining factors that must be considered like, for instance, the distance of the vaccination centres or the survival chores that poor people have to face day by day. These factors make parents to postpone their children’s vaccination until it is too late. After carrying out several experiments of random selection, it was found that which made the best measure to get an increment in the vaccination rate was a simple kilogram of lentils, offered as a gift in response of going to a vaccination centre. Something so cheap could increase the initial vaccination rate by six times.

Malaria. To fight malaria, there are lots of programmes which distribute bed nets for free. Having realised that there were people who didn’t value this prevention measure (maybe just because it was for free) and they use them as fishing nets instead. Duflo’s team wondered until what extend it was the best to give bed nets for free. It was also important to know if people would buy them in the future in case they were no more for free. Should they be for free, then? After doing some experiments, they came to the conclusion that this ‘alternative’ uses were made by a minority and that the distribution of bed nets for free, in spite of decreasing, guaranties a greater rate of purchase in the long term.

Education. How to get children into schools? In Duflo’s words, education intervention can be applied in many different ways, for example hiring teachers, school meals, school uniforms, scholarships... but, what is the intervention which makes the best result? It was proved that by telling people the benefits of education, something really cheap, it was achieved the biggest schooling rate increase. Another finding less intuitive was the relation between worms and school attendance: intestinal worms make a considerable amount of children weaker and, as a result, they didn’t attend to school. By curing these children, the attendance was incremented considerably.

Thanks to her research, Ester Duflo is becoming one of economist more important in the field of development economics. Her name has been mentioned since 2009, when she was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, otherwise known as a 'genius' grant. In 2010, Duflo was awarder with a John Bates Clark medal, which is considered a reliable indicator of future Nobel consideration.