Originally Posted by IAN-UK

Absolutely - affordable, comfortable and efficient public transport is one of the tangible differentiators from the rest of SE Asia.

But theres a price: as a destination it's largely lacking anything to attract travellers, other than those on a first trip ... or others who don't much like travelling.

As a place to work, or to stop-off on the way to somewhere interesting, it works just fine. I'm always more than happy to spend a couple of days there - but as a tourism destination in its own right, surely it's got to be something of a niche market.