In Reply to: Bali has one real issue posted by luvthe NT on Monday, 22. December 2008 at 10:39 Bali Time:
Shortly after the first event in October 2002 and when quite a few tourists (understatement) had left Bali, some restaurants decided to add between 10 and 20% on all items, drinks included. No wonder that those restaurants got even fewer customers.
In Phuket, after the tsunami, hoteliers and restaurant owners enticed customers buy lowering the prices. The same is happening now in Thailand, after the airports in Bangkok had been closed and the exodus of tourists. The government is "sponsoring" the various establishments due to a drop in arrivals and hope to recover by lower rates. Some income is better than zero income.
Basically we see greed in full blossom in Bali once things started going well and demand was bigger. Yes, well, blame it on more expensive fuel and electricity. The men doing "Transport, boss" did the same. When petrol costs doubled they doubled their total fares although petrol is just a part in the business as Bali is a small island.
This is how Bali has always been. Perhaps it is time to stop pitying the Balinese businessmen at all times as they have been entering the business with open eyes. Perhaps they should be better back in the village farming as that would serve Bali better than leaning on their cars all day. Eventually they will have to return the car to the bank as they will outprice themselves.