Dark enough for you?

Dark enough for you?

'Dark tourism" is an interesting concept that did not come to my attention until I watched a Netflix series recently. Few countries actively promote offbeat or slightly dangerous pursuits but it's a niche with potential, if managed carefully -- even if it's hard to explain to your insurer.

Dark Tourist on Netflix features New Zealand journalist David Farrier, who gets high marks for research even if he lacks the panache of the late Anthony Bourdain, who would have fit the role better in my view.

One of the first episodes takes place at "La Catedral", the Colombian prison that once housed the drug lord Pablo Escobar. There we were introduced to John Jairo "Popeye" Velásquez, an Escobar hitman who confessed to have murdered 250 people and spent 23 years behind bars before his release in 2014. Today he is a YouTube star with 1.1 million followers.

I was hoping to see Mr Farrier press Popeye for more details about his violent past but the host seemed a little nervous. Who could blame him? But we journalists are nosy by nature and that probably makes us ideal dark tourists.

Other episodes of Dark Tourist have Mr Farrier witnessing an exorcism in Mexico and participating in a faux illegal border crossing, which didn't impress me much. But the segment on Japan left me captivated, with visits to radiation-hit Fukushima, the Aokigahara "suicide forest" and the abandoned Hashima Island.

That got me thinking: where in Thailand would you take a dark tourism enthusiast? The answer came to me via a cab driver.

When you're stuck in Bangkok traffic, chit-chat with your cabbie usually turns to the weather, the traffic or the economy. But the other day my driver was keen to talk about the infamous No.8 bus, the drivers of which are regularly flayed on social media for recklessness, cutting off other drivers and treating passengers like dirt.

No one in his or her right mind would want to ride the No.8 bus unless there was no other choice, right? But then my driver told me about the passengers he had picked up earlier in the day.

The two young Chinese tourists, he told me, asked him to follow a No.8 bus until it stopped at a convenience store so that they could get on. It turns out that they had heard about it, and now that they were in Bangkok they wanted to experience the thrill for themselves.

So much for the stereotype of Chinese tourists lacking a sense of adventure.

Lots of questions came to my mind, including exactly how a Chinese tourist couple had heard about the bus in the first place? Why would they want to be on it? It was then that I thought they would be great candidates for Dark Tourist.

In fact, my recent research for a story on Chinese tourism turned up evidence that many young Chinese tourists want new experiences and to do things that their countrymen would never have done in the past. This real-life example convinced me it is true.

How can Thailand and other countries exploit this trend, or should they even try? The No.8 bus, after all, is little more than a symptom of the failure of Bangkok authorities to fix the problem of awful drivers and bad service. Tourists might consider riding it as something exotic and daring. But those who have to use the bus every day don't share their enthusiasm.

The lesson from this regrettable reality is that authorities have to improve services if the government truly wants more people to use public transport instead of letting more new cars flood the streets.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand, however, could explore some safer options for dark tourism to take hold if it wants to generate extra revenue from some of the more creepy locales in Thailand.

For example, the Mae Nak Shrine could be promoted as a destination for the adventurous. I am sure there are many other places out there that fit the bill, such as the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, which draws crowds to witness extraordinary feats involving swords and pierced cheeks.

Finding out what tourists want is the key. One prime example of not knowing your tourist is the recent effort by Bangkok authorities to "clean up" Khaosan Road.

If tourists really want a clean street to walk in without any street food and stalls, then they would have gone to Singapore.

Erich Parpart

Senior Reporter - Asia Focus

Senior Reporter - Asia Focus

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