Welcome to the real world...Maybe Switzerland would have been a better destination for you.I don't know what your previous travel experiences have been, but I'm used to...overall...being a pretty hardcore traveler...and I don't judge a place by its appearance. But, then again, I'm more interested in getting to know and interact with the people of the places... as in... more of getting into the interior of a place than dwelling on the exterior of the place. Happy Travels!

Now that I've had the time to read a lot of the other comments, I say thumbs WAY up to the comments of Icuy/Kim Japan/Mealea...couldn't have said it better myself...and by the way...there is PLENTY of poverty in the U.S...along with dilapidated, rat infested, tenement buildings/houses that NO ONE should have to live in. I personally know an 85 year-old woman... a family friend... who was very sickly and raising her great grandkids in a rat/roach infested house in Texas.The rats were almost the size of kittens.We live in California so weren't aware of how bad this particular situation had gotten. My sister, personally, took her own money and went down there and literally rescued them out of the situation and got them into decent housing. So, you don't have to travel half way around the world to see poverty...just look beyond your backyard. As my parents always say and said when we were growing up..."There's more going on out there in the world than what's going on in your backyard so get out there and experience it". I'm VERY grateful for the 30+ years of annual overseas/domestic travel and also grateful for just plain old having friends from different socio-economic backgrounds here in my own country... which has exposed me to not only the good, but also the horrible...and trust me... if you think that Bangkok is the horrible then you must not have seen very much. Happy Travels!

Having lived in Califonia for 20 years I can attest the same conditions can be found in Calif. as well- its not a Texas thing- although the varments are bigger here in Texas as is everything else! Happy travels y'all!

Bill...I didn't say it was a TEXAS thing. I'm just stating what that person's condition was which happened to be in Texas...of course it could have happened anywhere in the US.Happy Travels!