Inside Dubai: Playground of the Rich. BBC2.

[Legacywr]

Not sure what to think…

[shambolic]

I wasn’t sure what to think when it was aired last year.

[ecs]

Where do they find these people?

[dannnd]

shambolic said:

I wasn’t sure what to think when it was aired last year.

This seems to be happening more and more over the past year. The issue I have is it normally takes me 10 - 15 minutes to realise I've already seen it!

[oddball1313]

I didn’t watch it as i know would give me tourette’s but suspect it’s low level scammers scamming high level scammers with lots of sycophantic descriptions including ‘special people’, ‘unique requirements’ and ‘ expecting nothing less than perfection’

wkers the lot of them

[droopsnoot]

I seem to recall enjoying the series when it was first on, though I think that's the one where there's a snip in the "coming soon" intro that didn't actually appear in the series, where the bar owner(?) had obviously been asked an awkward question about the country / government. It seemed there was quite a bit of "we don't talk about that" along with all the glossy impressive stuff.

[Ecosseven]

I watched a bit of this last night. I worked in Dubai for 18 months in the early 2000s and whilst the glitz of the hotels and the shopping malls is familiar, the typical life of an expat is very different to that shown on the programme. I worked long hours on a construction site and whilst my rented accommodation was perfectly acceptable it was a one bedroom apartment, not a huge mansion.

I enjoyed my time in Dubai and don't regret it one bit. However my life is different now and I have no intentions of returning.

[HD Adam]

Ecosseven said:

I watched a bit of this last night. I worked in Dubai for 18 months in the early 2000s and whilst the glitz of the hotels and the shopping malls is familiar, the typical life of an expat is very different to that shown on the programme. I worked long hours on a construction site and whilst my rented accommodation was perfectly acceptable it was a one bedroom apartment, not a huge mansion.

I enjoyed my time in Dubai and don't regret it one bit. However my life is different now and I have no intentions of returning.

Same for me.

Was working there for about a year & a half around the same time.

I had a 1 bed apartment up at Jebel Ali.

I'm sure Dubai is a great place to visit with your partner for a week if you stay at the Atlantis, Burj or the Kempinsky but actually living there? Not so much.

Once you've seen a big shopping mall, that's it.

The only saving grace was that my boss raced saloon cars at the Dubai Autodrome so spent a lot of spare time wrenching for that.

[redrabbit29]

I watched the last 40 minutes and was amazed by it. In a bad way. Always been intrigued by Dubai - don't mean I want to go - but it just looks so outrageous, big, crazy

The program made me naucious and angry. Hearing that stupid b1tch going on about getting a private jet back to the UK for £80k. Having shed loads of food loaded on board in bags, the fact they took 2x limos go the airport, they were greeted by a private musician and that stupid coffee with a drawing of her printed on.

Also equally stupid but nowhere near the same levels of hate was that going guy who had lots of cars and from a young age has done YouTube videos all about his wealth.

It turned my stomach honestly. Especially the comparison to the staff - the female who was paid £20 for a day I think and has only seen her son once since birth due to money

I know they're picking extreme examples but wow, horrible people.

[dirky dirk]

benidorm = no teeth
dxb = too many teeth and too much debt

[lauda]

Dubai. The living, breathing, shining embodiment of that old adage that whilst you can’t polish a turd, you can certainly roll it in glitter. Seven star glitter.

[paulw123]

dirky dirk said:

benidorm = no teeth
dxb = too many teeth and too much debt

Both places I will never visit.

[CloudStuff]

I'm amazed at how liberal it appears to have become.

I thought it was the case that rules were relaxed in the hotels to a large extent, but elsewhere modesty was expected, with displays of affection in malls being a big problem, for example.

When did it change? It seems to be like Brentwood with sand and sun now?

[okgo]

CloudStuff said:

I'm amazed at how liberal it appears to have become.

I thought it was the case that rules were relaxed in the hotels to a large extent, but elsewhere modesty was expected, with displays of affection in malls being a big problem, for example.

When did it change? It seems to be like Brentwood with sand and sun now?

I went for the first time last autumn and it didn’t feel like it was difficult at all to find places to drink. They had a timeout market by the tall building and it was exactly like the ones of a similar ilk you get in London. Only that you can smoke inside there but NOT outside. Mad. Endless places to eat that serve booze around the marina. It felt pretty western tbh. And obviously they now also follow the western working week vs what they used to do.

A couple of mates live there, I couldn’t as it just doesn’t feel like somewhere that has much depth or variance but they seem to like it for some reason. You can get a servant or nanny so you don’t have to look after your kids, you earn more because of the lack of tax (though jobs pay less than here I feel) but ultimately you do wonder if they’re just pissing it up the wall. Who knows.

The people they find are obviously awful. But you could find people like that anywhere where there’s money.

[redrabbit29]

The lack of tax appeals to me (obviously), especially as I find living in the UK we are just taxed to ridiculous levels. 20% Vat, Inheritance tax, even charged interest/tax on our own savings. Don't get me started on stamp duty either.

[anonymous-user]

I was there in 2005, I remember driving past the Burj then immediately past a small shack. Seemed to be the case everywhere I went.

I was in land a bit at Fallujah visiting a foundry though, so not staying in any resorts. Not a place I've ever thought about going back to.

[andymc]

that women did not come across well

[ruggedscotty]

CloudStuff said:

I'm amazed at how liberal it appears to have become.

I thought it was the case that rules were relaxed in the hotels to a large extent, but elsewhere modesty was expected, with displays of affection in malls being a big problem, for example.

When did it change? It seems to be like Brentwood with sand and sun now?

Nah it cant be... all the Arabs are in Brentwood now.....nothing like Dubai.... thats where Trevor and Tracy are....

[Boom78]

I watched this the other night and it reconfirmed my opinion that I never want to go to Dubai for any reason. Fakest place on the planet with terrible human rights. A typical dictatorship with a veneer of westernism that’s attracted the very worst people, not a bad thing as it means there’s less shysters and grifters roaming about in Europe/U.K.

[DaveGrohl]

I saw the programme when it was first aired. Mixture of fascinated disbelief and utter disgust at the human race.

But cows are killing the planet. Christ Alive.