It’s been a busy couple of weeks and a nice break over the weekend. Amazingly it’s already December… I’m all for supporting the economy, but I didn’t join the shopping melee last Friday. I find myself holding back and shopping a little more carefully these days. In fact I’ll shop more on the internet than in retail stores, looking for bargains here and there. Today is supposed to be Cyber Monday for shopping online, but it looks more like Red Monday with the stock market after a key manufacturing index fell to a 26 year low.
Beyond the economic news there’s incredible unrest around the world these days, and now travelers have much to be concerned about. If the events in India tell us anything, it’s that we must keep up the fight for freedom and against terrorism. How can we live and grow as free nations around the world if we allow other countries such as Pakistan and Somalia to harbor or export such people? This is not a simple fix, but will require generational change to overcome. Hopefully we’ll see it happen in our lifetime.
In Thailand there are hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded at airports around the country trying to get home because of protesting within the nation. And this at nearly the peak of the tourist season. Civil unrest in Thailand and other countries is going to impact tourism in a huge way, and deepen the economic crisis for many people. But the Thai government recognizes the impact and is trying to support tourists through lodging and food allowances while the protests continue.
“Tourism Minister Weerasak said the government will set aside as much as 400 million baht ($11 million) from its budget to pay for hotels and food for stranded tourists. Tourism generates about 1 trillion baht in revenue each year, he said.”
“The government will pay 2,000 baht per person per day for hotels and food,” Weerasak said. “We think we need to spend this to take good care of the tourists. We will try our best to make them feel taken care of.”
When I read such news I must say I am thankful in so many ways. Doesn’t quite give one the travel bug does it?! And it puts the economic challenges we face in a better perspective. We’ve got work to do certainly, but we’ve got a strong foundation to build upon and people willing to work. Soon we’ll have a new President and administration, as well as a host of minions running around Washington D.C. trying to get things going in a new direction. Between all the new economic experts and a January stimulus bill, the news is bound to get better eventually. What happens between now and then is a good question!
With the holidays upon us it’s time to decorate and focus more on home and family. We won’t be doing much traveling, except perhaps closer to home. Gas prices are helping the budget immensely, and that’s one more reason to be thankful. Have a great week.
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