I lived in UAE for 10 years and ME for over 25.
Dubai used to be a great place where ex pats worked and played hard. There weren't the malls, traffic, pollution or herds of booze swilling young Euros/S. Africans who feel they can do as they please and screw the rest.
Progress, but at what a cost?

Chris, Faversham, UK

What a load of crap! You are obviously a HATER so why don't you write part 2 of this article and tell us why you're really hating. You have some issues and I agree with the people who think that you are full of ignorance and prejudice. You consider "sex and gambling" qualities to look for in a city?

Nas, Hollywood,

A lot rubbish.I am quite happy thank you to accept my 110k GBP salary from a country that respects experience. I see Xmas trees and Happy Xmas greetings, have no fears on security, see my kids educated in a positive, trouble free, drug free environment. No going back yet, life is good thank you.

Alan Redman, Dubai, UAE

Id also like to mention that every country has something different to offer, and we are all entitled to our opinion on places we like and dislike, though i think an opinion would be better suited from someone who has visited the country and met the traditional people..

sara, brighton, uk

Haven't been there either but get the same impressions.Before I read your comment about Vegas, I was thinking the same thing. One niggling point, though. As an international job applicant, I notice that the UK - unlike the US - asks very detailed questions about race (i.e. what type of white?)!

Laurie, West Haven, USA

I suggest that you visit , so that you can see that our city has more to offer than just what the papers report. There is a unique local culture in dubai. We also pride ourself on catering to every interest, and nobody leaves disappointed. Unless ofcourse you were caught having sex on the beach:)

Rohan Nathan, Dubai, UAE

I'm working in dubai, you are right partially.

Zhaojia, Dubai,

I have lived in Dubai for 13 yrs and I agree it is dreadful. - now. It was a relaxed, friendly place with natural beaches, Arab culture, little pollution or traffic. Now its a dog eat dog society where intolerance reigns. It is also full of common Brits trying to get their kids into Repton Dubai.

Constantia, Dubai, UAE

I personally have no desire to visit Dubai, I would rather visit Istanbul, Damascus, Jeruselum, but I would not critisize it until I tried it, the author writes I would rather die then visit Dubai, just shows how small minded he is.

Peter Cook, Leicester,

I find it unbelievabe that people complain about Dubai, and have never set foot there.
I bet you all sit in your little matchboxes you call a home thinking about who and what you can complain about.
I have been there and the rest of the UAE and I love it and the people, but detest the expat Brits

P. Robinson, Northants, UK

Sathnam, I agree with you 100%. But to be reminded of how we have descended into the sort of people who would love to go to Dubai, by someone of foreign descent is humiliating indeed.

The British people used to be models of propriety who would have hated Dubai and its excesses, but sadly no more.

Chris Simmonds, Herne Bay, Kent, UK

Dubai is good for business, but is only suitable for the rich tourist. People who try to compare Dubai to Britain will always be disappointed as it is a different culture and country. I would visit Dubai but only for business.

Alex Jones, Colchester, Essex

I wouldn't mind going to Dubai as long as someone offered it to me for free. Otherwise, I am happy to be at home in Scotland :-).

Ashish, Stirling,

And if you stripped searched them in the uk they would be screaming racist ,we must respect their culture ?so they must change ours and not respect ours? doesnt make sense to me.

jack, sydney, australia.

Well said. I thought I was the only person who would never like to go to Dubai.

I remember when that women was locked up for using the pain killers her doctor gave her and I advised everyone not to go there and they didn't think that was a reason not to go saying she shouldn't have broke the law

David, Aberdeen,

Hear hear. I went to Dubai at the start of the year to a visit a friend who lives there. It was hideous. One giant building site and the only thing to do was go shopping. I also heard some terrible stories about the way that the poor, immigrant workers are forced to live.

Clare, Jersey, C.I., UK

I thought I was the only one who dislike the vulgarity and the unnecessary ostentatiousness normally associated with Dubai. As you said, it has not got the historical intrigue or cultural nous of places like Eqypt, Greece or Italy. Also, nothing intellectual or educating by visiting the place.

Olubunmi Olajoyegbe, Hanworth, Middlesex, United Kingdom

A well researched piece which shows Dxb for what it really is. I consider it the ME's Las Vegas, minus the gambling. However I think the point is driven home a bit too callously. My parents live in Dxb not because they're souless but because for people in the Oil business it is the world's epicentre

Simon Coulthard, Toulouse, France

Well said. Go to Dubai, work and earn tax-free money, very well. But there really is not much to boast about as a travel destination or as a place to live in, compared to Britain! Expats who are living in Dubai are seriously in denial, blinded by the money. Sad really.

Chiang, Reading, UK

I cannot imagine why anybody would want to go there either, give me England, or Barbados any day.
A complete fabrication with no history, has no Soul.

Clive Burghard, Lancing, ENGLAND

It is indeed a city build on sand ....... without a soul.

victor Vella, sydney, Australia

Wonderful! Well said, indeed.

Chris, Atlanta , United States

It sounds and looks awful. I never want to go there. I am happy where I am.

Kim Penfold, Bridgetown, Barbados

Australians are no better. Having lived on the coast at a popular summer break location I can empathise with the muslim populace that have to put up with the drunken debauch Australians in Indonesia go on with.
Funnt thing is most of these types don't get what 'Downunder' by Men at Work was about!!

dhjin, Canberra, Australia

Is nobody going to point out to Nick from Rotherham that his well-meaning policy of avoiding Dubai due to the human rights issues in Saudi Arabia is somewhat geographically challenged!!

The article is spot on though.

AG, Sydney,

I thoroughly agree with the author's comments, although I've never been to Dubai and probably never will

Paolo, Rome, Italy

I have always felt that Dubai was an excercise in bad taste, although, like the writer, I have never been there.

It oozes the impression that the Government is so insecure that the only way it can gain Western approval is to build everything bigger and better than else where.

It will not work!

Anne Kent, Dorset,

couldn't agree more with this article

andrew, brisbane, Australia

1. 0% corporation tax guarantee for 50 years!
2. Highly unlikely you’ll be stabbed/mugged by a 16 year old..
3. Tax free salary. Need I say more?
4. World class healthcare & education system.
5. Great Ent/Malls/Amazing Golf courses.
6. 1 plane journey to almost every other major city in the world.

Hashim, London, UK

I thoroughly enjoyed reading all these offerings! Thanks to all; dissent is healthy and encouraged! Has anyone read this? I laughed! Someone is better off anywhere but Dubai! But bless her for stating her views! http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/94/art_20_Reasons_Not_Move_to_Dubai.html
EZ does it :

Jo, Grants Pass, USA

Ed, Newcastle: please read the article.

There's also a clue in the title.

In the early 80's, Dubai was great. Now, Sathnam's comments are insulting to Blackpool.

But I hear hotel occupancies are at an all time low, so you can go and find out for yourselves.

Bob, Santiago,

This article is out of date, as the target of 15 million visitors by 2015 was recently abandoned. Otherwise this article is sound.

Oliver Chettle, Bedford,

Just because you are not keen to go to a place gives you no right to insult others who do. I'm not keen on going to Benidorm but am not about to have a go at people who do. Not everyone is the same! I loved Dubai - that doesn't mean I'm not aware of the problems they have there!

Rebecca, London,

Neil - did you have to go to apartheid South Aftrica to condemn it? I hope not. I have never been to Saudi - nor will I ever (unless the place changes dramatically). But I still know it is a place that systematically abuses women. Have you no empathy or imagination? Your stance is merely an excuse.

Nick, Rotherham, UK

Having lived in Dubai for 5 years now I can honestly say it has been a great experience from a work point of view , however , there is still the mindset of " one rule for locals , another for everyone else " which is something that Irks almost all the expats that i speak to here .

Martin, Dubai,

Give me crime free streets any day

K Hussain, bradford, uk

I agree with pretty much everything thats been said... Dubai's property "boom" will deflate rapidly... it may get covered over by billions in aid from its near neighbours but it wouldn't suprise me if the interlinked builders, promoters, sellers and lenders system will lead to real problems. Bust

abharrisson, london,

Your opinions essentially mean nothing if you haven't been, or more importantly, lived there. You'll find the majority of Brits over there are at the top of their field, except they are now paid far more money. It's certainly not for everyone, but it isn't as bad as this smear campaign makes out.

Neil, Liverpool, UK

Millions of people have died fighting for human rights, legal rights, the right to a fair trial and right to vote. As a Westerner in Dubai, you have none of that - what's the attraction? the glamour and the shopping? what do these people do? leave their brains and principles at the airport? amazing

bob, maidstone,

Do you think Dubya will visit Dubai? :-)

Sushant Pandit, New Delhi, India

I grew up in Dubai before it got so glitzy, but I wouldn't like the city now. Having said that, though, the desert and the mountains are beautiful, as is the sea. Try riding a horse out into the desert - pure romance.

K John, London, UK

Dubai is the Victoria Beckham of cities. No amount of plastic surgery or glittering sky scrapers will ever make either remotely beautiful.

Ailsa Ross, Edinburgh, UK

@ Alexander
Atrocities were committed from both sides. Balkan Muslims were killed by Balkan Christians, you do. We invaded Cyprus because ethnic Turks were being killed there after the military junta. Again atrocities were committed from both sides. Kurds are not repressed. The PKK is repressed.

Muratcan Ozturk, London, UK

What Dubai has done is nothing short of Miracle - acheived through shear imagination. Not rich with natural resources, human capital, natural beauty, or history, it has become the envy of many. What I like best about Dubai is its trading culture where billionairs and poor alike - come to make deals.

Mirza, washington, DC, USA

Very easy to comment that someone could only possibly move to Dubai having failed in their home country. Some people just have the bottle to try something new, experience a completely different culture and hopefully become more open-minded as a result. An experience the author could benefit from.

Katie, Dubai, UAE

Jeff,London doesnt seem to realise that Dubai controls a great deal of the world production of bio fuels from plant derived oils.

Catrin, Caernarfon, UK

I have lived on and off in Dubai since 1994 and am now resident in Egypt but trying to find a job to get back to the Emirates. Why? because for all the excesses it is a country with Visionary leadership , dynamic locals and expats, an honest and professional police force and great health care.

Tim Chapman, Cairo, Egypt

A country and city based on a single ever diminishing commodity is not a car crash waiting to happen! It will implode, it is just a matter of time, soon we will discover some answer to our fuel needs that doesn't involve fossil fuels and the middle east will collapse.

Jeff, London, UK

I think the author could do us all a favour by staying well away from Dubai. Hope he enjoys meeting Fidel and visiting Fidel's political prisons in Havana instead. Mind you he is not the only whining Brit when it comes to Dubai. Most of the ones over here, making tax-free money, always complain too.

James Mason, Dubai, UAE

Yes, Dubai lacks the liberty we take for granted in the US, the UK and India. But it provides jobs to millions who had nothing back home. 50 years ago it had palm-frond huts, today it's the Atlantis. Dubai will pay for its excesses, but from its own pockets. Give it time to grow. 50 years is nothing

Raju.Nagarajan, Dubai, UAE

If you want to be famouse these days or you want to get more hits, just talk about Dubai or mention "Dubai" in your article.

I bet you that you went to Dubai many times.

Dubai, Luv it or leave it :)

SAEED, Ann Arbor, MI, United STate

I've observed that those that clamour to move to Dubai or sing it's praises are those that have failed or achieved little of note in their own countries, with the locals not knowing any better! Also, Muratcan, most Turks would strongly deny that Turkey is an islamic society but rather a secular one.

Kash, London,

Totally agree with everything in the article. I spent a month there working and couldn't get out of the place fast enough. The point that should be made is that the place is not so offensive; it's the people who like and go there that are.

No mention of the Russian prostitutes!

Ian, Sydney,

If Turkey – commits and then denies Armenian genocide, invades and continues to occupy northern Cyprus, brutally represses its own Kurdish population – is an example of a modern Islamic society, I'll take Dubai.

alexander, london,

Dubai has a long way to go before it challenges Turkey which is a far better example of a modern Islamic society.

Muratcan Ozturk, London, UK

what you're clearly forgetting is the very tangible benefit, similar to that of Vegas, of taking some of the worst elements of tourism and consolidating them in one physical locations, thus leaving much more enjoyable locales less, shall we say, stained!

justin, Oakland, US

I've been. You're right.

gp, grove,

After a friend was imprisoned for six months after they decided his melatonin was "drugs", I for one will not even change planes in Dubai, much less visit the godforsaken place.

Kieran, London, UK

Earning good money tax free is better than living in the cramped, oppressive, overtaxed UK. The weather here is amazing, and when you DO have a bit of imagination, unlike the author, you can find lots of fun things to do.

jim, Dubai, UAE

No, please, we want everyone to go there, see the celebs, go shopping, whatever. The more the merrier.
Just leave North Cornwall and other "real" places to those of us who really appreciate them.

Michael R, Towcester, UK

Sathnam have you actually been to Dubai or have you just based your opinion on a few travel books?

Ed, Newcastle,

Dubai is one of those places, you either love it or hate it... But if you hate it, why do you feel the need to pen and publish a whole article on it?
I lived in Dubai for a year, and regardless of it's (many) faults, there is infinitely more security and social respect than there ever will be here

KM, London, UK

Sent on work.
Everything you say here is true except about the desert - it really is beautiful (once you get past the bits of rubbish left behind by the tourists) - and quite imposing.

For Arabic speakers, forget it. They hardly speak Arabic in Dubai. It's all in English.

Going to try Oman.

Richard, Leighton Buzzard, UK

Couldn't agree more, man-made beaches in an arab-western hell. I know I really wouldn't like it there because my sister-in-law loves it.

David, St Albans, UK

You have hit the nail on the head with this articles. Dubia , which visted laste year for new years eve, was ghastly , overated and over priced!..there is very little to do there...most off the malls where jammed packed full, but strangley enough no one was actually doing any actual shopping!

salim, London, U.K

Spot on!

A thin veneer of tolerance stretched across a typical mid-east mindset

Still, as you say, no one's forcing anyone to go there

Homer, London,

Dubai serves a vital purpose. It greatly reduces the chances of the rest of us running into footballers and their gormless girlfriends, dreary pop stars or other overpaid nonentities. With any luck, some of them will go there and never come back. Dubai and they deserve each other.

Sarah, Dartmouth,

One of the great blessings of the current recession/depression is that bad taste will be buried under the mountain of debt on which it was created. Good taste is inexpensive and eco friendly.

Kara Swart, London, UK

Agreed on all points.

JJ, London, UK

It baffles me how anyone would want to live or holiday in Dubai. An oppressive, soulless, tasteless, vulgar hellhole. A bit like Trump Tower on steroids.

Frank Parry, Wokingham, UK