Bangkok bomb: Expectation of bombers will be that this devastation will deter prospective visitors

Ever since Thailand graduated from backpacker haven to mainstream tourist destination in the 1970s, the nation has maintained two very different faces. To many visitors, the country lives up the “Land of Smiles” tag and its promise of carefree holidays. But a less-appealing dimension is the chronic political turmoil centred on Bangkok, and a long-standing insurgency in the deep, troubled south of Thailand.