Vocês sabem quanto custará o Trem Bala?

Em breve, o governo publicará o edital do projeto que prevê a ligação entre as cidades de Campinas e Rio de Janeiro através do trem bala, um meio de transporte inegavelmente moderno e rápido com velocidade superior à 350km/h.

O que é pouco veiculado, ou mesmo pouco ponderado é o custo desta obra. Segundo a matéria divulgada no jornal Valor em 17/07/2009 o projeto já está orçado em R$ 34bi e a tarifa entre Rio - São Paulo estimada em R$ 200.

Quero compartilhar com vocês algumas ponderações, questionamentos e melhores alternativas para esta obra:

1. R$ 34 bi é muito dinheiro. Para facilitar: a obra em São Paulo da linha 4 do metro (Linha Amarela) que será inaugurada em abril/2010 teve um custo de R$ 2,4 bi. O trecho sul do Rodoanel com inauguração prevista para novembro/2009 teve um custo de R$ 3,4 bi. Estas obras totalizam R$ 5,8 bi e terão um impacto muito maior (em relação ao trem bala) sobre o transporte de cargas, escoamento de mercadorias e na qualidade de vida dos paulistas.

2. Os trechos Campinas – São Paulo e São Paulo - São Jose dos Campos possuem a maior demanda. Já o maior trecho de São José dos Campos – Rio de Janeiro é questionável pelos seguintes motivos:

a) A tarifa para o Rio de Janeiro / São Paulo com o valor de R$ 200 não compete com a tarifa de avião que, muitas vezes, é inferior a R$ 150. (Atualmente, a Gol faz uma promoção por menos de R$ 80)

b) Para quem conhece bem a ponte aérea, sabe que de nada adianta fazer um trecho a mais de 300km/h (entre as cidades), se no destino (seja no Rio ou São Paulo), o passageiro vai gastar, muitas vezes, mais de duas horas para chegar em sua casa / escritório devido ao caos do trânsito.

3. Ao invés de apoiar projetos que beneficiam uma minoria a custos exorbitantes, tenho convicção que o orçamento destinado ao trecho São José dos Campos – Rio de Janeiro será melhor alocado em investimentos que gerem um maior ganho coletivo. Exemplos:

a) obras de infra-estrutura para escoamento de produção em todo o Brasil como ferrovias e hidrovias. Levando em consideração que 80% da população brasileira mora próximo ao litoral – 200km da costa, é um contra- senso não ter investimentos em mais e melhores portos além de incentivos fiscais para o transporte de cabotagem.

b) desafogar o trânsito nas grandes capitais com a ampliação e integração da malha metroviária com os demais meios de transporte.

c) Dignificação e melhores condições para profissionais das áreas de educação e segurança pública.

d) Combate à morosidade na aplicação das leis

e) Saneamento básico em todas regiões. É simples: gente sem verminose estuda e trabalha mais, gerando mais riquezas para o País.

Os investimentos do governo devem ser direcionados para ganho de qualidade de vida coletivo e ganho de competetividade perante os demais países. Desta maneira sim, o Brasil estará nos trilhos para atingir a velocidade de um verdadeiro trem bala.

O Governo e o Pré Sal - 13/Ago/2008

Em 12/agosto/2008 nosso presidente da República, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva em um dos seus numerosos discursos, proferiu à toda nação brasileira seu ponto de vista com relação ao futuro da exploração de petróleo no Brasil. Tema que ganhou grande relevância principalmente após as descobertas de novas reservas a mais de 6.000 metros de profundidade.

Lula defendeu a alteração da lei 9.478/97 para destinar uma parte dos ganhos das novas descobertas de petróleo para a educação e pregando um maior benefício coletivo. Seguem alguns trechos:

" Precisamos aproveitar esse petróleo para transformar o Brasil em uma nação mais forte, mais soberana, muito mais dona de si "

" O petróleo não é do presidente da República, não é do governador do Rio de Janeiro, não é da Petrobras. O petróleo é do povo brasileiro "

" O petróleo do pré sal não ficará com meia dúzia de empresas privadas "

Antes de ser tomado por um sentimento nacionalista com este discurso claramente populista, quero apresentar alguns esclarecimentos e alguns questionamentos para reflexão e ação:

1. Para cada gota combustível que abastecemos nos carros em todo território nacional, incidem os seguintes impostos federais: CIDE, PIS/COFINS além do ICMS como imposto estadual. Somados, eles representam 45% do preço do combustível. Isso mesmo meus "companheiros", para um tanque de gasolina de 50 litros, damos ao governo R$ 72,00. A mesma proporção vai quem tem motor bicombustível ou a alcool.

Para um governo que afirma que o petróleo "é do povo", ao que tudo indica estamos pagando, e muito para este suposto benefício. Uma vez que a arrecadação é diretamente proporcional ao consumo e levando em consideração que a indústria automobilística está batendo recordes de produção, já não deveriamos estar sentindo "na pele" e no dia-a-dia os efeitos de uma nação "mais forte", "mais educada" e "mais soberana"?

2. A Petrobras opera muita de suas explorações através de Join Ventures com as "empresas privadas" com a finalidade de dividir os riscos e custos de exploração. Para cada reserva encontrada, são feitos enormes investimentos tanto da Petrobras como das "empresas privadas" em equipamentos próprios, desenvolvimentos de novas tecnologias, aluguéis de equipamentos, mão de obra especializada etc. Em uma nação com regras claras de negócio, nada mais justo que as eventuais descobertas e seus lucros, (no caso desta descoberta ser economicamente viável), seja compartilhado entre as empresas envolvidas - privadas ou não, assim como seus acionistas que também apostaram nestas empresas e financiaram suas operações.

3. No atual governo, já existe uma orda de políticos se movimentando para criar uma OUTRA estatal, que já tem nome (Petrosal) e os mais apressados, assim como Altemir Gregolim - o quase ministro "dos peixes" já estão improvisando o seu discurso de posse e escolhendo os novos conchavos para temperar esta nova pescaria em mares profundos.

O resultado provavél, caso este absurdo se materialize, será uma enorme desvalorização da Petrobras frente ao mercado, uma vez que grande parte de seu valor atual está apoiado sobre o potencial de exploração de SUAS descobertas em conjunto com as empresas parceiras, além de um golpe sem prescedentes na credibilidade do Brasil frente aos investidores.

Os papéis da Petrobras entram na composição de inúmeros fundos de investimento (nacionais e estrangeiros), sendo um cartão postal para outros investimentos em empresas nacionais. Qual a mensagem que queremos dar aos futuros investidores quando as regras são mudadas no meio jogo pelo governo?

Para dar legitimidade ao discurso do nosso Excelentíssimo Senhor Presidente da República, suas ações já deveriam estar focadas na correta destinação de todos os tributos que já são arrecadados pela União bem como na definição clara de uma politica tributária e royalties sobre as novas descobertas. Isso sim, torna o Brasil com maiores chances de ser "uma nação mais forte, mais soberana, muito mais dona de si".

http://www2.petrobras.com.br/produtos_servicos/port/Composicao/Preco_Gasolina.asp

FROM SURVIVAL TO PROGRESS – SINGAPORE - 2001

I confess that after staying in South East Asia for a while, heading to Singapore was an idea that didn’t please my mind at all. Big cities in South East Asia (e.g. Bangkok, Georgetown, Medan) are, as a rule of thumb, noisy, chaotic, polluted and dirty. That’s why I was avoiding them, preferring, quieter and smaller places. For my surprise, Singapore is completely different comparing to other big cities in South East Asia. It’s clean, organized and not polluted. If I had to describe Singapore in a simple way, I would say that it’s kind of “Asian Switzerland”. One of a kind place. Within the places I’ve been so far (Western Europe and South East Asia), Singapore is the #1 for living and working.

Some of its history:

Since the 13^th century, Singapore was seeing as a thriving port place, thanks to its geographic position. Disputed by many countries since then (Melaka, Portugal, Netherlands) it ended up as a British colony in 1824 after a good paperwork. Sir Stamford Raffles and his good diplomatic relationship, granted the British settlement and the development of the harbor for the English East India Company in Singapore from 1819 to 1963.

The British supremacy was disrupted in 1942, during the II WW, when Japan easily took over Singapore for 3 and a half years.

When the war ended, the British returned. This time, its colony was a complete mess. Lack of food, electricity, water, destroyed homes and unhappy population was the scenario. That made the population pissed off and awake for the politics, willing to clean the mess and control their destiny. Four main political parties were struggling to gain power. To make things worst, communist were promoting riots. It was a complete mayhem.

Trying to end the communist threat and to gain independence from the British, Singapore merged unsuccessfully with Malaysia for 2 years from 1961 to 1963. Their political, economic and political differences made it impossible.

On 9^th August 1965, Singapore split from Malaysia and finally became an independent tiny island-nation. Such a small country (less than 650 sq kilometers or less than 405 sq miles), without natural resources and British support, forced them to face daunting issues such as defense, unemployment and housing.

I have always said that to make a sustained big change, it takes 2 generations. Singapore with its international policy, brakes that rule, attracting many first tier companies and nowadays is one of the most important commercial / trading hubs in the world. More than that, they are leaders in the communication, banking and petrol industries.

-Transportation

--Public transportation is reliable, fast, simple and good value. Like in Europe, they use the integrated concept: MRT, buses and LRT together, using the same payment method and integrated logistics. You use an electronic card that you can load a minimum of S$ 10 (US$ 5,5) to a maximum of S$ 90. The MRT cost varies between S$ 0,80 to S$ 1,80 depending how far is your journey (automatically calculated and deducted from your card-account)

--Owning your car is almost a luxury. It’s unbelievably expensive. An ordinary car can make you easily US$ 50.000 short. What hurts the pocket is the license, which is valid for 10 years. And to make owners even “happier”, they automatically charge you (around S$ 1,70) every time you go downtown. Every car and motorbike has an electronic device that you insert your personal card. When you pass through the downtown gates, it automatically deducts the fare from your card. What happens if you don’t insert the card? The system takes a picture of the license plate and a “think-twice-fine” will be duly delivered to your mailbox.

-Military Service

Military service is compulsive for every man in Singapore and lasts for 2 years (minimum). You can postpone it, due to educational reason, but when you finish, you have to start it. Male foreigners that were raised in Singapore can enlist in the military service and get the Singaporean citizenship.

For the government, at least, the military service is seeing as a very important issue and they focus their minds and money to make it look “cool” and worth doing for the will-be soldier. Examples:

-In the Singapore Discovery Centre, a place mainly for kids and teenagers (I liked it though :)), they have the whole ground floor devoted to the military service. Of course the attractions were guised as push buttons for the entertainment for the would be “Rambo”.

-An advertising campaign scattered in the MRT’s billboards shows some office shirts or attendant’s cap with funny honor badges such as: “Distinguished Service Order – Bravery in the Face of Rude Customers” and in the right side the question: “Is this what you want to be recognized for? Be somebody”. See picture below (in the Word version). The complete Navy’s campaign advertising can be seen in my Web Site in the Album section (left side menu) http://communities.msn.com/GeorgeHollandsWebSite/join?iid

-Press

The reason why you can read so many essays in the newspaper praising Singapore is because the press is tightly controlled.

-People

Singapore has many different ethnics and religions that coexist pacifically. That’s one of its highlights. Diversity.

-Main ethics: Chinese (77%), Malay (14%) and Indian (7%)

-Religion is, as a rule, ethnically associated: Buddhism and Shenism with mostly Chinese, Muslim with Malay and Hindu/Muslim with Indian.

-Indians are the mostly seeing ethnic doing the “not dreamed” job such as cleaning.

-Chinese people organized themselves in communities (even in secret “communities”) since the early times to help themselves economically and socially. That’s one of the reasons why you see “Chinatown” everywhere. Chinese people always manage to plant their flag.

- Filipino, Malay, and Indonesian labor are highly deployed in the house keeping and babysitting markets. In the job classifieds they are ubiquitous.

-Traveling in Singapore

Traveling in Singapore in terms of transportation is great, but in terms of budget accommodation can be quite difficult. The government is closing all budget accommodation (yes… somehow they can do that). They pay a lower market price for the building or the place and that’s it. “Take it and leave it” or… Don’t take it, but leave it anyway”

Thankfully, I stayed at Galen’s place, an American that I met in Ko Phi Phi (Thailand). Great hospitality.

-Housing:

One of the Singaporean government prides is the home ownership of more than 90% of the population. Most of them are small apartments, but a very decent place to live. To dry the clothes, people just hang them on a stick, put them outside the windows and let mother-nature do the rest. From outside, aesthetically speaking, it looks…. “different”. :)

-Education:

Singapore has just 2 public universities: Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore. They accept just a small fraction of the students, letting the rest with three options:

1. Do a technical education in another place

2. Get your diploma overseas (huge market: loads of English and Australian universities advertised in the classifieds section)

3. Become a worldwide video game champion

In Singapore, the 12 year old kids do a once in a life chance exam that will impact their life dramatically. It’s similar to the German’s exam, but in a younger age.

Miscellaneous

-An Asian habit that really makes sense is to take off your shoes before going inside the house and even in some shops. It makes so much sense that even two year old kids know that. : “George is wearing shoes!!” protested Kylie (Galen’s/Lora’s daughter).

-Literacy rate: almost 100% (they invest in kids and grown up education)

- World's fourth highest per capita income!

-In the exhibitions of the Singapore’s history (in the Singapore Discovery Centre and National Museum), they show with pride how Singapore became such a developed country and overcame all the odds of a little country and, more important, they always remember that there will be always challenges and difficulties to be coped now and in the future.

A simple phrase that summarizes the way of thinking of the Singaporeans, by Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore in the 60’s, that strove against all difficulties (colonialists, communists, corruption, homing an etc) to make the foundation of the Singaporean thriving history.

“God helps those who help themselves… Britain has promised to help only as much as their economy will allow them. More important is that we help ourselves…”

Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore in the 60’s

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? - INDONESIA (2001)

Millionaire. That's how many people might think they have become when they arrive to Indonesia. Not only because of the currency ratio (with US$ 100 you make 1.000.000 rupiah), but the cost of living and transportation are incredibly cheap as well. Average expense per day = US$ 4 to 5 including a room with 4 beds, bathroom, breakfast, lunch and dinner. This bargain paradise for tourists is the result of 3 combined fatal factors: economic, political and social crisis that emerged since 1997.

Indonesia is a huge archipelago with more than 13.000 islands scattered from Asia mainland to the Pacific Ocean.


Some of its history:
Indonesia was dominated by a couple of European countries according to its heyday period. First by Portugal and mainly by the Netherlands for 350 years (no surprise why many words are written in Dutch there). The natural resources (quinine, pepper, rubber, coconut, tea, sugar, coffee and oil) nourished the Dutch wealth/industrialization and created a powerful company called United East India Company (something like an ancient Microsoft in the spice market), which influenced the Brazilian history as well.
The independence came after a struggling period and was finally recognized by the Dutch government in 1949.
Just like the former Yugoslavia and India, the social differences/gaps started to come out after the unification factor wore out (common enemy or charismatic leader) With its thousands islands, mountainous terrain, many religions (mainly Islam with 90%, Hindu, Buddhism and Catholics) and two main ethnics: Malays and Chinese (which is the wealthiest group) is pretty hard to coexist with each other. Particularly during crisis when someone or ethnic group has to be responsible for the whole mess. Chinese are the people's first choice target, since they are the wealthiest. Remember the Jews in Germany or the Korean community in CA in the very beginning of the 90's?... just like that). Chinese people have a hard time to keep their culture, since the government discriminate it by law. Chinese characters were banned and Chinese schooling was forbidden. (in the immigration form, they make very clear that Chinese magazines, books or anything related to Chinese culture is prohibited as much as drugs)

Follow some impressions about the places that I've been so far.

-=> Medan
It's a big city with more than 2 million people. The first thing that stood up, being the first place in Indonesia was the prices. Very, very cheap, even for South East Asia standards. It's really a give away. Accommodation for US$ 1 or even less, McMeal for US$ 1,5 and so forth.
With the economic nightmare, people are eager to work for cents. Tourists are touted every second to get a taxi, or tuk tuk (modified motorbike) or just answer the greetings: "Hello Mister", "Hello Mister", "Hello Mister",....

-Religion:
--Sumatra Island is mainly Muslim. You can see mosques everywhere with serious sound systems that they use to broadcast the Muslim prays every hour starting at 5 am (lets say that's a more exotic way to wake up than listening to the rooster’s singing).
In a society where religion plays a critical role in shaping people's behavior, being a woman, especially tourist can be a hassle. Men are considered a supreme creation and women in the other hand, merely a "by-product" of the human's reproduction cycle. Indonesia is not a zealot Muslim country, but if you are a woman, expect some annoyances in the islands where Islam is big. (e.g. Sumatra)
--5th of March was a very important religious date. The Idul Adha, a Muslim festival that commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. The owner's of the place that we stayed, offered a traditional Idul Adha's day breakfast with rice, fruit salad, chocolate and some other chili food. When we were heading to Bukit Lawang, we saw another typical thing of this date: goats being sacrificed at mosques. Their meat is then distributed. Can be nasty at first, but it's the same meat that we all eat. It just has the outdoor show as an add-on.

-=> Bukit Lawang
Bukit Lawang is 96km (60 miles) north from Medan. It took more than 4 hours to complete the journey. Stopping everywhere to get more people, I can say that breaking the sound barrier wasn’t our priority. It was fun though. Particularly if you imagine 2 seats with 5 people (fair enough for 30 cents). In Bukit Lawang, they keep a touristy Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, but you can see them in the wild as well. We saw one passing in front of one waterfall, just like in the National Geographic magazine. Very beautiful.

-=> Danau Toba or Lake Toba
Lake Toba is 100 km (62 miles) south from Medan. It's the biggest lake in South East Asia that occupies the place os a collapsed volcano. The first 2 days wasn’t very nice thanks to a massive food poisoning that we all had. Visiting the toilet on regular basis wasn’t, lets say, the best highlight of this place. At least it was "free of charge" :). We survived after all. It's a very relaxing place. Perfect for trekking, cycling, swimming in fresh water (for a change) and reading.

-=> Bali
Bali was nice but it could have been nicer. We (me, Steph and Gina) stayed in Kuta, a very touristy place, paradise for Mastercard and American Express with a wide variety of high end products at cheap prices. A good thing that is worth buying is tailored clothes, shoes and accessories (wallets, hats and etc) and wooden handicraft. Tailors and wood carvers are very gifted. Just come with your idea and they will do it for a fraction of the price you would pay back home. (to be honest, I didn’t order anything special but the girls didn’t resist the temptation… girls and credit cards… explosive combination :) )

Since Kuta is the most touristy place in Bali, expect touting people every 10 sec offering from batiks, sarongs to accommodation, drugs and believe it, stolen mini vans!


Religion:
Besides all that, Kuta in general is very interesting, thanks to its Hindu influence. Temples and especially offerings can be seen everywhere and local people are more easy going comparing to Sumatra (some of them really try hard to scam you though)
After Kuta I split from Gina and Steph. They went to Ubud (better place.. more cultural and less touristy) and I came to Gili Trawangnan.

-=>Gili Trawangan
Gili T. is a very small island in the west coast from Lombok with no traffic at all (just some horse powered coaches). Like Sumatra, it’s Muslim, giving you the opportunity to hear Muslim prays every hour from the mosque’s speakers. Snorkeling is a highlight. Excellent spot. After the first 2 meters or warm cloudy layer, paradise! Cooler, crystal water (30m vis) with loads of fish and soft corals. So beautiful that it pushes you unconsciously to stay longer and longer.


Miscellaneous:
-Monica’s Team: one thing that surprised me in a shopping mall in Sumatra was to see a very traditional Brazilian comic book called "Monica's Team" translated to Indonesian. Monica's Team is a nationwide hit back in Brazil for more than 30 years. It stands out in the comic book scene for showing relationships between parents and their kids and exploring the kid's stereotypes, personalities and the typical situations faced by them. Very far from the "Don’t Touch me Hero" or miniatures of characters and their uncle, aunt, nephew relationship (e.g.: Uncle Donald). OK... enough of comics.

-Driving in Indonesia: be sure to get your license to kill by having your driving license issued in England with a double 0 before the serial number (I’m quite positive that Indonesians do that). Beeping the horns every 10 seconds, dodging trucks, speeding, running over motorbikes... these all make the driving game experience more exciting. In Brazil we used to have a road called the Death Road (much better nowadays), but after Indonesia, it looks like a child's game.

--Talking with some girls that approached me in Sumatra to "practice their english" or just to chit chat (all Catholics and they make sure I was aware of that), makes evident how they "worship the West". For them Western people deserve all the good superlatives. Ironically, Indonesia is a main supplier of goods (using contemporary slavery) that enhances the glamour of the Westerns.

-Petrol price: 1 liter = US$: 0,112 or 1 gallon = US$0,41 (I don’t have any idea how they manage to set this price, since the price of the petrol is set internationally and as far as I know, Indonesia is not big in petrol production)

(update: Indonesia is pretty big in oil & gas)

Amazing Thailand - 2000 / 2001

One of the Thais’ prides is that Thailand is the only country in South East Asia that has never been colonized by another country. One of the main reasons for that was the development of a good diplomatic relationship with the Europeans countries since 1851 by the king Mongkut or Rama IV (Rama stands for a royal title). It doesn’t mean, however, that the Western countries did not influence them. From the education of the royal family (many of them studied in England, Switzerland or United Stated since the middle of the 19th century) to the building of railways, purchase of Western products as a mean os status, use of Thai labor by western companies and etc.

The current king of Thailand, Rama IX, took the throne in 1946, being the world's longest and living reigning. His image can be seen/found everywhere throughout the country, amid Buddhist amulets, before every film at cinemas and at 8am or 6pm when TV stations and radio broadcast the national or royal anthem (when is audible or visible, everybody stops what they are doing to stand up and listen to it)

Rama IX has a huge charisma and is idolized by the nation. It's a very good example of how to create a long-term idol.

Besides its official political system (constitutional monarchy) the king enjoys a respectable non-official political power and he is untouchable in his royal position. If you say or write something against the royalty and make it public, you may get free food and free shared accommodation for seven years (behind bars)

Follow some general topics about Thailand and the places that I have been so far.

• Bangkok

Bangkok at first seems to be a chaotic, very polluted and crowded city (it really is...and bear in mind that I come from Sao Paulo), but it doesn't take long to realize one of its positive sides: it's very safe besides the poverty and social gaps.
Beautiful and exquisite Buddhism temples are scattered throughout the city with an impressive richness of details and are really well maintained (I didn’t see any trace of pollution on it)

Entertainment
- All sort of fighting events such as chicken fighting, fish fighting, bull fighting and of course, Thai fighting are the big time for Thai people. Many of them gamble on a fighter, making the game/fight more exciting. It lasts roughly for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Some places in Bangkok offer the ultimate high tech night clubbing experience, featuring the latest releases in terms of sound and light systems. These places usually gather the top of the social pyramid of Thailand (which is quite a minority)
- Thai massage is found in many places. I got one at Wat Pho and I must say that's really professional and relaxing. One hour of massage costs 250 baht or 5 dollars

Business & "Business"
- 7 Eleven must be the strongest franchise in Thailand. Just in Bangkok, you can find 72 branches, and in some places, 2 branches in the same block. AMPM tries to do some inroads in this market, but it has a long way to go to become a real competitor.
- The energetic drink, Red Bull, enjoys respectable brand awareness, comparable to Coke's. It’s easy to find people wearing T-Shirts with its logo stamped.
- Next time you want to do "heavy" shopping, forget New York or Miami and head to Bangkok. Electronics and clothing are really cheap. One of the most popular places in Bangkok to shop is the Weekend Market with a wide variety of products and shows of chicken fighting and fish fighting. Thai people really flock to this place, making the movement from one stall to another, a daunting job. Popular shopping malls are crowded and have the best deals, while the high-end shopping malls have more sellers than customers (and of course, are more expensive)
- Pirate industry: a myriad of products (e.g. gems, clothing and media) are fake or don’t pay any royalties at all. CD players with built in MPEG (e.g. MP3) decoder are widely deployed, spurring the pirate media industry even more. For example: it's possible to buy one CD in MP3 format with the entire album collection of famous bands like Metallica or Pink Floyd, or even watch the latest movie releases (e.g. The 6th Day, Pay it Forward, Charlie Angels and so on) while having lunch or dinner (specially in Phi Phi island)
- Stalls that sell all kind of products occupy many sidewalks in Bangkok. From colorful glasses to fried insects (that I haven’t tried...yet :) ). Sometimes it's really difficult to walk on the sidewalks, making the streets a "better" and faster alternative.
- Touting people are the biggest "disinformation provider". Regardless of whether you are going to a temple or to a toilet, for them, all directions lead to a store (and to their commission) or worst, to an attempt to rip your money through scams. In tourist spots, they are ubiquitous. You realize pretty soon that the best thing to do is to ignore them to avoid that annoyance.
- Prices in many islands are standard. From inet connection to pancakes or scuba diving. That's for sure the best way to avoid war price. If a someone make a "special offer", there's a big chance of having a friendly gathering with all of yours competition's colleagues to make sure that you are 100% clear about the meaning of the word standard.
- Commission is a huge industry in Thailand, employing loads of people, but in the other hand that inflates the prices a lot. Just check out the "non official" price list of the ferry from Krabi to Phi Phi island. (1 US = 43 baht)
=200 baht: if you buy from one of the millions travel agencies scattered everywhere without bargaining.
=180 baht: if you bargain at a travel agency.
=150 baht: if you buy directly from the ferry's office and bargain a little.
=120 baht: if you have a good bargaining skill and use it at the ferry's office
=100 baht: if you look like a Thai and speak Thai as a native
= 75 baht: probably the break-even price
Having in mind that commission is merely the monetary correlate of deficient distribution, I believe that in 5 years from now, with the development/deployment of communication technologies, payment methods and digital signatures, the "facilitators"/travel agencies will have to be more creative to get their money. (Europe, SEA and Oceania share the same wireless protocol, so... booking service via mobile can be a reality soon)

• Phi Phi island

The island in the south of the state Phuket, has an incredible natural beauty. Beaches with crystal water makes it perfect for snorkeling and scuba diving. Unfortunately, some anchoring was done on the corals in the past, destroying part of its beauty. Nowadays, most of the boats use fixed buoys, which is much wiser if they want to keep doing business in the future. Environmental advice for tourists would help as well since many of them, step on corals (probably they think it's just a fancy rock). If you want to have a clue how this place look likes, rent the film The Beach (but cut the drama off...trust me, there are no shark attacks nor marijuana plantation there)

• Tao Island

This island in the east coast of Thailand is devoted to scuba divers from rookies to pros. Accommodation places usually have and agreement with scuba shop. If you come to listen to the singing of the birds and don't get any course or fun dive, you're gently kicked out. Diving is pretty cheap here. 10 dives including 1 night dive and 2 long distance dives including 1 week accommodation costs 6200 baht or 140 US dollars. The dives have been excellent so fat. 10 to 30 meters (30 to 100 feet) of visibility with colorful corals and a myriad of fishes including the clown fish, trigger fish, moray, ray, lion fish and etc.

• Other Topics:

Sex
One of the images that are widely broadcasted by the international media is the sex industry. Some tourists come here just for this purpose (fortunately, this kind of tourist is an exception among backpackers). In some districts of Bangkok, pedophiles, whores and homosexuals are easily seen, since they're tolerated by the Thai society. However, the majority of the Thais have a descent way of getting their income.

Women and men to get a better "rate" among Thais, must be white... very white (just like plain yogurt or sheet of paper... some of them literally "bleach" their faces with whitening products... probably endorsed by Michael Jackson) with "Westernized" eyes. Sometimes is even hard to tell if they are actually from Asia. Thai soap operas and the entertainment industry as a whole love them. Following the examples of the Mexican and the Brazilian soap operas, they go for the "exotic stereotype" for the main roles, letting the "cleaning crew roles" for the typical stereotype.

Tourists:
---Thailand is very popular among English and Swedish people. Roughly 55% to 60% of the tourists (backpackers) are from these countries.
---Bearing in mind that tourism is a huge income stream to Thailand, they run a tourism campaign every year called Amazing Thailand with services and conveniences targeting the package tourist. Comparing to other countries in South East Asia, they are very successful.

Health:
-Bangkok is bloody hot and humid. If you don't want to become a raisin, drinking mineral water is highly recommended. Water was my main concern about health in Thailand. In the beginning I was brushing my teeth with mineral water, but it seems that I can skip this procedure, since most os the tourists rely on the tap water (to brush the teeth only)
-Most of the sanitary vases work in the manual mode. There's no secret about it. You just have to follow these easy steps:
1-fill one bucket with water (you can find it beside the sanitary vase)
2-throw the content of the bucket in the sanitary vase
3-if necessary, repeat the operations 1 and 2