Word: thailander
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...Japanese travelers - 18.4 million, up 4% on 2000 - are expected to head abroad this year. A reshuffling of midweek public holidays means an additional eight three-day breaks - and many of these will be spent on short package trips elsewhere in Asia. Current favorite destinations are South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Bali and Hong Kong. "Every major hotel has someone assigned to specifically service the Japanese," says a guest relations coordinator at a five-star Bangkok hotel. "They are a very big market...
While Westerners may be outraged to be charged anything but local prices, Japanese are overjoyed to find costs, however inflated, are still lower than at home. Jonathan Hepfner, assistant editor of the monthly magazine Thailand Indochina Traveller, says: "Most Western tourists would be pretty angry if they were herded into specific shops and pushed to buy things. The Japanese actually demand it." Hard-bargaining nationalities may be banned, even ejected, when the Japanese arrive. Adds the Bangkok guests relations coordinator: "When it comes to cheating, scamming and overcharging, the Japanese really get creamed...
Vacationing Japanese often take advantage of cheaper prices on items other than Gucci scarves and Louis Vuitton bags. Dentists and doctors in Taiwan and Thailand are increasingly on the tourist trail from Tokyo: a round-trip ticket to Taipei and a visit to a dentist - many of them U.S.-trained - cost less than a lunchtime appointment with a tooth doc at home. Japanese travelers are also increasingly making a beeline for luxury services at bargain prices, like foot massages in Taiwan and herbal steam spas in South Korea...
...hits are a testament to the power of the Internet to bring us closer together. Computers from as far away as Thailand and Japan have found their way to my humble apartment in New York City. A Canadian identified only as guelphppp217545.sympatico.ca must have wanted in badly. He, she or it tried 15 times over the course of a few minutes. Now, when I get home at the end of the day and check my e-mail, I also look to see who's been knocking at my computer door. I'm on to you, newteq.com.tw telocity.com and pascal-jp.com...
...room Auberge Sala Done Khong ($20-$30). Feast at the restaurant on succulent Mekong fish steamed in banana leaves. Both rest houses are owned by Auberges Sala Lao, tel: (856-31) 212725. From Don Khong take a bus to Pakse (three hours) and continue to Vientiane or cross into Thailand, an hour away...