Medical Tourism in Thailand

Owing to critical differences in the prices and ready accessibility of medical services in the West and the Middle East today, there has been a rapid rise in foreign demand for medical treatment in Thailand. Thailand attracts medical tourists because it offers high quality and readily accessible medical services at affordable rates, while enabling patients to combine treatment with vacationing. This explorative study focuses on some key sociological issues at the core of the development process of the Thai medical tourism sector: the commodification of Thai medicine; the emergence and growth of foreign-oriented medical services; the creation of “hotel-spitals,” business-like hospitals, combining high-class medical and hospitality services for a foreign clientele; the linkage between foreigner-oriented medical establishments and the tourism industry; and the consequences of the development of the medical tourism sector on the Thai medical system. The directions of future development of the sector are outlined as a conclusion

Inverse problems connected with two-point boundary value problems

For the purpose of studying those properties of a nonlinear function $f(u)$ for which the two-point boundary value problem $u''+\lambda f(u)=0 (00$, the authors construct a number of kinds of special examples. "Inverse" in the title refers to the fact that the multiplicity is specified first and then a suitable function $f$ is constructed

Principales tendencias en el turismo contemporáneo

Este trabajo constituye una reflexión crítica sobre las tendencias principales del desarrollo del turismo de masas, así como sobre la forma en que ha sido descrito y estudiado en el marco académico. Se apunta que las grandes tendencias en su evolución, marcadas por modernidad y post-modernidad, han ido acompañadas por diversos sistemas teóricos que destacaban alternativamente la búsqueda de la autenticidad, la distinción, la fantasía y las emociones fuertes. Se analizan logros y carencias de las principales hipótesis que enmarcan teóricamente cada una de esas tendencias.This paper contains a critical reflection on the development of mass tourism and its main current trends. At the same time, it follows how mass tourism has been described and theorized ion tourism research. Main trends in mass tourism have been marked by modernity and post-modernity and accompanied by different theoretical systems that highlighted the search for authenticity, distinction, fantasy and extreme emotions. Achievements and dead ends of the different theories are examined

Tourism-related Crime: Towards a Sociology of Crime and Tourism

The purpose of this article is to: (1) categorize tourist-related crime, (2) relate these types of crimes to current criminological theories, and (3) place tourist-related crime into the broader social context. Through this analysis, a conceptual framework was developed to specify the factors determining the probabilities and the potential rates of success of certain kinds of offenders against different types of tourists in various situations

Bus paintings in Thailand: a post-modern urban art form in comparative perspective

"Studies of paintings on motorized vehicles are rare. Existing studies indicate that such paintings play a role in national identity politics or serve as means of representation of an alternative national history. This article deals with the origins and execution of airbrush paintings on charter tour coaches in Thailand, and with the sources and styles of the motifs represented on them. The paintings are produced in a hybridized process, involving artwork and computerization; they are thus a post-modern art form, which is not strictly classifi able into modernist categories of art, craft, or decoration. The sources, styles, and motifs of the paintings refl ect global infl uences: They are highly heterogeneous, deriving primarily from contemporary Western or Japanese popular cultures or from Thai or Chinese ‘traditional’ painting. The bus-owners’ motivations for the choice of motifs are primarily aesthetic and social rather than religious or political. Thai bus paintings can thus be seen as a globalized, postmodern art form, with most of the motifs just being pleasing symbols, without external reference." (author's abstract)"Studien über Malereien auf motorisierten Fahrzeugen sind selten. Vorhandene Studien zeigen, dass solche Malereien eine Rolle in nationaler Identitätspolitik spielen oder als Mittel zur Darstellung einer alternativen nationalen Geschichte dienen. Dieser Artikel beschäftigt sich mit den Ursprüngen und der Realisierung von Airbrush-Malereien auf Charter-Bussen in Thailand und mit den Quellen und Stilen der Motive, die auf diesen dargestellt sind. Die Malereien werden in einem hybriden Prozess entwickelt, der Kunstwerk und Computerisierung vereint, und können deshalb als postmoderne Kunstform bezeichnet werden, die nicht klar modernen Kategorien wie Kunst, Handwerk oder Dekoration zuordenbar ist. Die Quellen, Stile und Motive der Malereien spiegeln globale Einflüsse wider: sie sind äußerst heterogen und beziehen sich vor allem auf zeitgenössische westliche oder japanische Populärkultur oder auf thailändische oder chinesische 'traditionelle' Malerei. Die Beweggründe der Buseigentümer für die Wahl der Motive sind eher ästhetische und soziale als religiöse oder politische. Thailändische Bus-Malereien können deshalb als globalisierte, postmoderne Kunstform gesehen werden, in der die meisten Motive ansprechende Symbole ohne externe Bezüge darstellen." (Autorenreferat

Tourism and Terror: a Case Study: Israel 1948-2012

Israel is a popular tourist destination which has by afflicted by varying levels of terrorism against civilians over the course of its history. A longitudinal analysis of data pertaining to tourism and terrorism is undertaken to examine how terrorism affects patterns of tourism. It is found that on the macro-level, tourism to Israel continues to grow although it experiences periodic declines corresponding with times of high terrorist activity. National and religious subpopulations of tourists react differently terrorism at the destination. Overall, Jews are proportionally more likely than non-Jews to continue to visit Israel during times of conflict, but this varies among Diaspora communities. Moreover, among US Jewish tourist, the strongly religious populations represented a greater percentage of visitors during years of high terrorism. This preliminary analysis explores how internal structural features of the Jewish community (such as Jewish educational settings and family ties to Israelis), external factors of the home country (such as anti-Semitism or the economic situation) and national and cultural value orientation affect tourism patterns. The impact of these factors on tourism deserves continued research

An Appreciative Inquiry into an Urban Drug Court: Cultural Transformation

The purpose of this study was to use an appreciative inquiry (AI) theoretical research perspective and change methodology to transform the working relationships and cultural expectations of members through the discovery of their positive core leading to an optimistic and confidence - based future for an urban drug court. This study describes how participants through their participation in the first two stages of an AI 4 - D cycle (Discovery and Dream) transformed their working relationships and organizational culture. Participants included an urban drug court magistrate, manager, and purposively selected staff [15 participants]. The urban drug court is designed as a last chance opportunity for substance abusers. As a result of participation in the appreciative inquiry process, participants (a) discovered a resiliency and willingness to overcome challenges, (b) reaffirmed a sense of purpose in their work and (c), discovered a positive core of successful experience. Our study demonstrates the creative possibilities when applying AI to groups mired in deficit thinking. In doing so, we advanced the research in AI, positive organizational psychology, and learned optimism

Extremal Presentations for Classical Lie Algebras

The long-root elements in Lie algebras of Chevalley type have been well studied and can be characterized as extremal elements, that is, elements $x$ such that the image of (\ad x)^2 lies in the subspace spanned by $x$. In this paper, assuming an algebraically closed base field of characteristic not 2, we find presentations of the Lie algebras of classical Chevalley type by means of minimal sets of extremal generators. The relations are described by simple graphs on the sets. For example, for $C_n$ the graph is a path of length $2n$, and for $A_n$ the graph is the triangle connected to a path of length $n-3$.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure

Creating a Healthy Workplace Culture Using an Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Cycle

This study describes the second year of an ongoing partnership between an urban drug court (UDC) and a research university with very high research activity. The purpose of the second year of our study was to engage an appreciative inquiry (AI) Learning Team in all stages of the AI 4-D Cycle to discover the positive core of their work history and work relationships to create a healthy UDC workplace culture. Nine purposively selected participants were engaged in all four stages of the AI 4-D Cycle. There were four findings. Participants (a) developed a strong sense of personal and collective empowerment; (b) created a compelling vision for healthy workplace culture; (c) created a blueprint to achieve their vision of a healthy workplace culture; and (d) generated important action steps to implement a healthy workplace culture. The application to practice of using an AI 4-D Cycle provides managers in both private and public organizations with strategies to create healthy workplace cultures