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

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

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

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

TOWARDS A CONVERGENCE OF TOURISM STUDIES AND ISLAND STUDIES

Otočni studiji i proučavanje turizma uvelike se bave istim temama, ali do sada je među njima bilo malo interakcije. Cilj nam je olakšati konvergenciju tih dvaju istraživačkih područja. Slijedeći praksu otočnih studija, članak propituje ulogu metafora ‘neba’ i ‘pakla’, odnosno ‘raja’ i ‘zatvora’, u dinamici turističkog razvoja na malim otocima. Snažna metafora otoka kao “raja na zemlji” potakla je razvoj koji se pokazao razornim upravo po rajske atribute otoka. Istovremeno, metafore ‘pakla’ privlače tanatoturizam, ali imaju manju preobražujuću snagu. Tvrdi se da metafore vezane uz ‘rajsko’ zanemaruju ljudski aspekt ‘otočnih’ rajeva te da istraživači otočnog turizma poklanjaju premalo pažnje utjecaju turizma na društvene promjene na otocima. Moguće je da bi intenzivnije bavljenje ovim pitanjem olakšalo konvergenciju otočnih studija i istraživanja u području turizma.Island studies and tourism studies have overlapping interests, but there was little interaction between them. This article seeks to facilitate a convergence between the two fi elds. Taking its cue from island studies, the article investigates the role of the metaphors of ‘heaven’ and ‘hell,’ in the specifi c mode of ‘paradise’ and ‘prison,’ on the dynamics of touristic development on small islands. The powerful effect of the metaphor of islands as “earthly paradises“ is brought out, but the very development which the metaphor provoked turned out to be destructive of their paradisiac qualities. Metaphors of ‘hell’ attract thanatourism but have less transformative power. It is argued that ‘paradisiac’ metaphors underemphasize the human aspect of ‘island’ paradises, while island tourism researchers pay insuffi cient attention to the effects of tourism on social change on such islands. It is suggested that greater attention to this issue might be a facilitating factor in the convergence of island studies and tourism studies

TOURIST MYTHS – A COMPARATIVE EXAMINATION

Uzimajući ozbiljno turističke mitove, cilj ovoga rada je usporediti status i dinamiku “turističkih mitova” u tri društveno-povijesna konteksta: moderni zapadnjački turizam, postmoderni zapadnjački turizam i suvremeni nezapadnjački, prvenstveno azijski turizam. Rad pokazuje da se odnos između mita i turizma znatno razlikuje u navedena tri konteksta te da, iako turisti, kako navodi Selwyn (1996), tragaju za mitovima, oni to čine na veoma različite načine. Nostalgični moderni turisti prvenstveno nastoje pronaći tragove mitske prošlosti na rubovima suvremenog svijeta vjerujući da ti tragovi još uvijek postoje. Postmoderni turisti, uvjereni u uzaludnost takve potrage u svijetu simulakri, nastoje mitske teme ponovno oživjeti na ozbiljno zabavan način u umjetno stvorenim izmišljenim kontekstima koji sadrže drevne mitove s postmodernim pomakom. Za razliku od navedenoga, nezapadnjački turisti koji žive u svijetu u kojemu je mitsko još uvijek živo prisutno nastoje izravno svjedočiti njegovim povremenim manifestacijama u samom tom svijetu.Taking the concept of myth in tourism seriously, this paper seeks to compare the status and dynamics of “tourist myths” in three socio-historical contexts: modern Western tourism, post-modern Western tourism and contemporary non-Western, predominantly Asian, tourism. It shows that the relationship between myth and tourism varies signifi cantly between the three contexts, and that, though tourists, as Selwyn (1996) argued, might be chasing myths, they do so in very different ways. Nostalgic modern tourists seek primarily to recover the traces of a mythical past on the margins of the contemporary world, where they have been led to believe that those traces are still reserved. Post-modern tourists, convinced of the futility of such a quest in a world of simulacra, seek to re-enact mythical themes in a seriously playful manner in contrived make-believe contexts, which confer the ancient myth with a post-modern twist. In contrast, contemporary non-Western tourists, for whom the mythical is still vitally present in the world they inhabit, seek to witness directly its occasional manifestations in that very world

SMALL ISLANDS TOURISM: A REVIEW

U ovom članku razmatraju se osnovna pitanja i problemi svojstveni za turizam malih otoka koji se pojavio s razvojem zrakoplovstva nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata. Nakon definiranja pojma ‘otok’ i udjela otoka s razvijenim turizmom u svijetu, raspravlja se pet osnovnih tema: osobine koje neki otok čine privlačnim turistima, napetost između opće prihvaćenih mentalnih slika otoka i otočne stvarnosti, ambivalentni ekonomski učinci razvoja masovnog turizma te utjecaja otočnog turizma na okoliš. Zaključno se u članku skreće pozornost na premalo istraživana pitanja u području (otočnog turizma) naglašavajući potrebu integracije proučavanja otočnog turizma s rastućim područjem proučavanja otoka te se predlaže da se u istraživanju otočnog turizma u obzir uzmu i nova konceptualna saznanja o pomorskim studijama.This article reviews the principal issues and problems inherent in small island tourism, as it emerged with the development of aviation after the Second World War: after dealing with the problem of definition of ‘island’ and the proportion of islands with a tourist industry among the world’s islands, the article discusses five major issues: the traits which make an island attractive to tourists, the tension between the popular imagery of islands and island reality, the relationships between tourists and islanders, the ambivalent economic effects of mass tourism development, and the environmental impacts of island tourism. In conclusion, the article draws attention to under-researched issues in the field, stresses the need to integrate island tourism studies with the emergent field of island studies, and suggests that island tourism researchers take account of new conceptual developments in marine studies