Well....you can't expect everyone else to get British humour....no matter how funny. (Or Dutch for that matter!)I'm really amazed that so many people take the Phuket vs Koh Tao thing that serious.
I sometimes wonder if I'm one of very few on the board who appreciates a joke with a bite.
Maybe I should watch more Black Adder, The Young Ones, The (British) Office, Little Britain and the like and post a bit less on ScubaBoard?
I've never really noticed a real Phuket vs Koh Tao thing happening - but Pattaya is another matter altogether.
I've been several times to Thailand and actually KNOW some of you (sorry I missed you Bowmouth - a little birdie told me that you worked on a boat that used to be (part) owned by an ex-boss of mine!! ) - but I do think that the Thailand forum does present an unfortunate image to the world sometimes. There IS quite some apparent bickering in various threads, and we've even had people hiding behind screen names to make wild personal attacks on people, and their ops.
I know perception isn't always the reality, but perception is often what decides who cgoes to Thailand and who doesn't. It's really easy to be misunderstood on the Internet - and some are really quick to get offended. (which does make me wonder why some of them come on the Internet in the first place, because sometimes it comes over as a little naive! )