I read an article in the "Sunday Times Travel" just before Christmas. It seems that Mr Raymond Diaz the Goa tourism minister wants to have a fleet of casino boats along the Goa coast. He would like to "attract a new class of tourists and get rid of the hippies, drugs and booze image" that Goa has.

I think Mr Diaz will find that he has swapped the hippies for pimps, prostitutes and gangsters. Gambling has always been a favoured way for criminals to launder money. I would also hazard a guess that there will be an increase in black market money changing, as local Goans try to get their hands on foreign currency to use in the casinos.