Proof That Los Hippies Have Been Forced Out Due To Visa

[Zardoz]

I am in PAI now; last year there were at least 6 buses daily to the Burma border in mai sai.

Now there is ONE, at 10 PM. I asked why and was told the long termers packed up.

People looking for evidence in Bangkok should check out Ko Sa moi road(sp)..much quieter too.

This place has changed too. free videos in lounges have closed and become pay dvd rooms

Hotel prices are up a whopping 30% ! Some businesses seem closed and there are a lot more

bank machines and internet rooms.

Internet prices are still the outrageous 1 baht a minute everywhere.

But food is still good to excellent and still cheap.I'ts still nice

but I really worry about it's future.

It is obvious that PAI is where they want to test "quality tourist"

and the new airport is set to receive it's first flight in a few days

which is strange but perhaps this belongs in a seperate thread...

This has been your ACTION NEWS for today

Edited January 30, 2007 by Zardoz

[Ulysses G.]

It is true.

I went to Pai a few weeks ago and most of the dirtbag hippies have vanished. Good riddance!

[meadish_sweetball]

This is more of a travel forum topic I think.

[cdnvic]

Oh no.... what are we going to do without the smelly mass of dreadlock wearing Bob Marley wannabes?

[britmaveric]

Khao San Rd next???

[sbk]

Khao San Rd next???

Suspect that was what the OP was trying to say with this :

People looking for evidence in Bangkok should check out Ko Sa moi road(sp)..much quieter too.

Funny how misconceived and uninformed people are about backpackers in SE Asia. Yes, there are the smelly hippies with dreads but most of them are gap year students, people who have just finished Uni, or people who have worked a few years, saved their money and travel for 3-6 months.

But, no point in going on about it to closed minds such as some people seem to have.

[britmaveric]

SBK - no worries about backpackers personally, don't travel in same circles. I'm sure they just move on to cheaper places in the end. (laos/cambodia perhaps??)

[phibunmike]

Khao San Rd next???

Suspect that was what the OP was trying to say with this :

People looking for evidence in Bangkok should check out Ko Sa moi road(sp)..much quieter too.

Funny how misconceived and uninformed people are about backpackers in SE Asia. Yes, there are the smelly hippies with dreads but most of them are gap year students, people who have just finished Uni, or people who have worked a few years, saved their money and travel for 3-6 months.

But, no point in going on about it to closed minds such as some people seem to have.

Thanks SBK - people like my daughter....

[sbk]

I doubt the 30 visa exemption crackdown has had any effect on the usual backpackers as 1 month here then onto Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam then back to Thailand for the flight out is the usual route. The 30 day crackdown would have an effect on those people who live here long-term but only run to the border every 30 days. Seems just as prevalent amongst older farang guys with Thai wives as it does with hippies judging from the discussion on this forum.

[gummy]

I concur with most of you - good riddance. First it was Ibiza, then the next generation got to Goa/India and eventually Thailand. Where next probably Laos/Cambodia as most certanily China won't entertain them.

Slovenly, ill-mannered and unkempt loathsome individuals - the excuse being they are on a Gap year Uni students. Makes it even worse as many of those will probably eventually enter politics and attempt to impart there new found ideals on others. Still ,thinking about it politicians are mostly always in the catergory of "Screw you I'm all right" the world owes me a living.

[dantilley]

I concur with most of you - good riddance. First it was Ibiza, then the next generation got to Goa/India and eventually Thailand. Where next probably Laos/Cambodia as most certanily China won't entertain them.

Slovenly, ill-mannered and unkempt loathsome individuals - the excuse being they are on a Gap year Uni students. Makes it even worse as many of those will probably eventually enter politics and attempt to impart there new found ideals on others. Still ,thinking about it politicians are mostly always in the catergory of "Screw you I'm all right" the world owes me a living.

Blimey. I've never met anyone like that backpacking around Thailand! Much less in Ibiza or India. Where do you get this impression from?

[Dupont]

Stood next to some in Patong last weekend and they do stink. Really stink, worse than sex tourists, alcoholics and old people!

This girl in a part middle class, part worldly traveller voice was in the seven eleven and her conversation with her other pretentious idiot mate was as follows (talking about her new Khao Sam Road hair extensions) :-

"Dave man, I must so do my dreads, the're like, wild man"

She bought a ligher and started singeing them outside as the rest of the modern holidaying public looked on in bemusement. Not seen many here for a long time, lets hope it stays that way. Our customers now buy a few drinks and the odd meal here and there, not sit drinking supermarket water and eating crisp sandwiches in their rooms, leaving the place a pig style as their trendy parents never taught em any self respect or decency. edit! source me and hundreds of other guesthouse owners Dantilley before you ask!

They (our customers in the post hippy era) also book the room for one or two people, not take a single room and sneak another bunch of stinking hippies in when they think you are not looking.

If they are gone from Pai, lets hope they are not re-colonising Phuket. Couldn't do with all them copies of the beach and lonely planets cluttering up the place.

And!!! why do they all have to say "like" in every sentence and call each other "man"?

Oh! and if you are in Thailand, you are like so on HOLIDAY not travelling

Edited January 30, 2007 by Dupont

[Jonson83]

One smelly,dreadlocked backpacker is worth 10 fat,wrinkly, perverted sex tourists..

Seriously though the gap year backpackers are the ones who go home and then later return with their families year in,year out.

In the short term places like pai,ksr etc might not smell that bad but long term it doesn't make sense.

[GuestHouse]

I started my travels as a backpacker.

Like many of the backpackers I met in Thailand on my last trip, traveling was something I did between University and Career.

My second round of backpacking was as a career break (actually a break away from Thailand). And that gentlemen is another aspect of backpacking, take some time to talk to backpackers in Thailand and you'll find many are mid career professionals enjoying some of their hard earned money.

Backpackers are on the whole, well educated, middleclass and very sociable. My guess is most go on to good jobs earning the kind of money and getting the kind of employment conditions people preaching off bar stools in Thailand dream of/resent/BS about (select the cap that fits).

It's also my observation that the backpackers, smelly as many claim them to be, are not paying for the company of the women they are with, unlike many of those denigrating them on the basis of blind ignorance and prejudice.

If Thailand had any sense they would realize that attracting well educated people to spend time in Thailand when they are young is a great way to build loyalty among the people who will later be able to afford the up market hotels and holidays that Thailand is trying to promote.

[Dupont]

One smelly,dreadlocked backpacker is worth 10 fat,wrinkly, perverted sex tourists..

Seriously though the gap year backpackers are the ones who go home and then later return with their families year in,year out.

In the short term places like pai,ksr etc might not smell that bad but long term it doesn't make sense.

Well, you fill your hotel with 150 baht a night kids mate. We let the same rooms now for 1,200 baht a night (150baht in 2001) and are full 9 - 10 months of the year.

[pumpuiman]

I was in Pai last year with a couple of Thai friends.After noticing their discomfort, I asked what was bothering them. They remarked to me about the disrespectful attitude of the hippies there. They pointed out the farang setting up makeshift street stalls selling beads and trinkets without permits, taking food from the local's mouths.

They remarked that they considered the manner of dress offensive to Thai people.

I got the same feeling about Pai. As if a part of Thailand had been raped by these people.

You would think that these liberal thinkers would have more respect for Thai culture and social norms....but it was not evident to me.

I believe lonely planet suggests proper dress and respect for local custom when traveling in Thailand.

I guess they missed that page.

Good riddance.

[sbk]

"Dave man, I must so do my dreads, the're like, wild man"

Absolutely hysterical. What decade are you living in? Did you know its 2007 and young people haven't talked that way since, oh, about 1987?

GH says it all with this sensible response:

If Thailand had any sense they would realize that attracting well educated people to spend time in Thailand when they are young is a great way to build loyalty among the people who will later be able to afford the up market hotels and holidays that Thailand is trying to promote.

Too bad some people don't get it. But, never mind, you keep your mind closed, I am sure it makes you happy to look down on someone else solely based on their age and their luggage

[Billfo]

I started my travels as a backpacker.

Like many of the backpackers I met in Thailand on my last trip, traveling was something I did between University and Career.

My second round of backpacking was as a career break (actually a break away from Thailand). And that gentlemen is another aspect of backpacking, take some time to talk to backpackers in Thailand and you'll find many are mid career professionals enjoying some of their hard earned money.

Backpackers are on the whole, well educated, middleclass and very sociable. My guess is most go on to good jobs earning the kind of money and getting the kind of employment conditions people preaching off bar stools in Thailand dream of/resent/BS about (select the cap that fits).

It's also my observation that the backpackers, smelly as many claim them to be, are not paying for the company of the women they are with, unlike many of those denigrating them on the basis of blind ignorance and prejudice.

If Thailand had any sense they would realize that attracting well educated people to spend time in Thailand when they are young is a great way to build loyalty among the people who will later be able to afford the up market hotels and holidays that Thailand is trying to promote.

Great post GuestHouse.

Don't get me wrong I've met a couple of smelly backpackers but I can honestly say the majority don't smell and are nice people who spend hard earned cash in Thailand, which the Thais no doubt appreciate. It just seems to me there is resentment for younger people amongst the 'older' ex-pats on this forum.

[dantilley]

My second round of backpacking was as a career break (actually a break away from Thailand). And that gentlemen is another aspect of backpacking, take some time to talk to backpackers in Thailand and you'll find many are mid career professionals enjoying some of their hard earned money.

Backpackers are on the whole, well educated, middleclass and very sociable. My guess is most go on to good jobs earning the kind of money and getting the kind of employment conditions people preaching off bar stools in Thailand dream of/resent/BS about (select the cap that fits).

I did the same thing a few years ago, and many of my friends have also. During this time I met some great people from all kinds of different backgrounds, and hardly anyone who fits this "hippie" image which seems to have bizarrely become the stereotype for all budget travellers.

[lingyai]

While there are a few idiot backpackers most are decent people trying to travel without spending a ton whats wrong with that?

It is sad to see the hate espoused by some in this forum.

[gummy]

And how would one propose Thai authorities ensure that they do attract those well educated as you put it - only give a VISA now if they have a degree?

I have heard some utter tripe in my time and this is another of them. Well educated does not solely mean the attainment of a degree. Education also entails the embodyment of respect, something clearly lacking in many of these loathsome ,irresponsible individuals and is one reason why the Thai authorities, in their wisdom, are attempting to curtial the continuance, mainly by these "well educated persons", in never ending VISA runs. It is unfortunate that that the need to uphold and respect the law in a visiting country did not form part of that education, but then that is also a fault of the parents who most probably have the same BA. The knock-on effect of course is that genuine highly educated and responsible people, for example teachers, are harrased no end due to the bad examples that these irresponsible individuals give.

Edited January 30, 2007 by gummy

[meadish_sweetball]

I was in Pai last year with a couple of Thai friends.After noticing their discomfort, I asked what was bothering them. They remarked to me about the disrespectful attitude of the hippies there. They pointed out the farang setting up makeshift street stalls selling beads and trinkets without permits, taking food from the local's mouths.

They remarked that they considered the manner of dress offensive to Thai people.

I got the same feeling about Pai. As if a part of Thailand had been raped by these people.

You would think that these liberal thinkers would have more respect for Thai culture and social norms....but it was not evident to me.

I believe lonely planet suggests proper dress and respect for local custom when traveling in Thailand.

I guess they missed that page.

Good riddance.

I got the same feeling about Pai. As if a part of Thailand had been raped by these people.

Rape is what comes to mind when I see places like Pattaya, Phuket and the rapid development on for example White Sand Beach, Koh Chang.

Hardly Pai, which still has largely intact, beautiful nature instead of multistory concrete buildings, polluted water and plenty of criminals, beggars and prostitutes. If it wasn't for the Thai back-to-nature artists and Western backpacker crowd there wouldn't be much tourism in Pai today. The same obviously goes for backpackers in regard to most other popular tourist resorts in Thailand, with the possible exception of Pattaya.

While it's true there are bad eggs among people with a backpack, and that many Thais are suspicious of people who aren't reasonably well groomed, anyone who has taken the time to talk to others without prejudice will know that it's the inside that counts, and that the guy in dreadlocks in front of you could be your private economic advisor in 3-4 years' time (personal experience, and he is very successful at that ).

Plenty of my friends from back home have passed by as backpackers over the years I've been here. medical students, business masters, psychologists, journalists...

You are tarring people with an exceptionally large brush when you choose to stereotype all of these people's behaviour on the basis of choosing a rucksack instead of a suitcase.

[jbsears]

"Dave man, I must so do my dreads, the're like, wild man"

Absolutely hysterical. What decade are you living in? Did you know its 2007 and young people haven't talked that way since, oh, about 1987?

That is exactly how they talk. I'm a young man in my 20s and can't stand those that talk like that and they do. If they are gap year students, then they should be educated enough to speak proper English and not Ebonics or teenie bopper talk.

Also, some of them do smell, even as bad as a lot of the Frenchies I smell on the BTS. If they didn't smell, I wouldn't mind them, but for heck's sake, take a shower and use some deodorant. That's all.

[keddy]

"Dave man, I must so do my dreads, the're like, wild man"

Absolutely hysterical. What decade are you living in? Did you know its 2007 and young people haven't talked that way since, oh, about 1987?

GH says it all with this sensible response:

If Thailand had any sense they would realize that attracting well educated people to spend time in Thailand when they are young is a great way to build loyalty among the people who will later be able to afford the up market hotels and holidays that Thailand is trying to promote.

Too bad some people don't get it. But, never mind, you keep your mind closed, I am sure it makes you happy to look down on someone else solely based on their age and their luggage

I agree not just closed minds, but lazy minds, and worst of all ignorant minds. It's so easy to come up with a lot of stereo-types. Have you ever talked to any of these people. Some of you seem to have had the courage to get your germ free bodies close enough to have a sniff but then retreat manfully before you realise that there's a human being standing there. By the way what exactly were you doing at the same age. I dare say some of you were mocked for your bum fluff sideburns, nylon high waisters and the not so great smell of 'brut' back in the day!

[britmaveric]

It's also my observation that the backpackers, smelly as many claim them to be, are not paying for the company of the women they are with, unlike many of those denigrating them on the basis of blind ignorance and prejudice.

Full Moon parties? Not to mention the rest of the debauchery these tikes get themselves into.

[Dupont]

"Dave man, I must so do my dreads, the're like, wild man"

Absolutely hysterical. What decade are you living in? Did you know its 2007 and young people haven't talked that way since, oh, about 1987?

GH says it all with this sensible response:

If Thailand had any sense they would realize that attracting well educated people to spend time in Thailand when they are young is a great way to build loyalty among the people who will later be able to afford the up market hotels and holidays that Thailand is trying to promote.

Too bad some people don't get it. But, never mind, you keep your mind closed, I am sure it makes you happy to look down on someone else solely based on their age and their luggage

I agree not just closed minds, but lazy minds, and worst of all ignorant minds. It's so easy to come up with a lot of stereo-types. Have you ever talked to any of these people. Some of you seem to have had the courage to get your germ free bodies close enough to have a sniff but then retreat manfully before you realise that there's a human being standing there. By the way what exactly were you doing at the same age. I dare say some of you were mocked for your bum fluff sideburns, nylon high waisters and the not so great smell of 'brut' back in the day!

Got me there mate. I was then and still am now.

I'm not that intollerant in real life, but they really do talk like that. I've met lots of travellers and a lot of em definately overuse "like" and "man".

PS, Guesthouse has been getting his devestating reply together for a full 20 minutes already!! . Gonna love this one I;m sure

Edited January 30, 2007 by Dupont

[GuestHouse]

Gummy, all accusations you lay of 'loathsome irresponsibility' fit perfectly with the beer swilling sex tourists that exchange larger swilling in their local sports bar back in Farang for a fortnight of Chang swilling and bar hopping in Thailand.

As for "highly educated and responsible people, for example teachers"...P..lease. The wisdom of the Thai authorities of which you speak is well demonstrated in their purge of farang teachers with fake degrees.

Of course if you yourself are a teacher in Thailand I can understand why you would feel threatened by backpackers, as I, and others, have noted above, very many backpackers are taking a break between University (where they got a real degree) and a career, many do indeed take up teaching to fund their travels - Good for them, it is a free world, if they have skills and education to sell, let them do so.

But honestly guys I do understand the emotions here.

Some middle aged guy, looking back on his own youth which was p1ssed away in the local pub with the highlight of a ten day holiday on the Costa Del Sol once a year. Comes to Thailand and sees young people, educated, not yet loaded with life’s responsibilities, enough money in their pocket to see the world and a local girl on their arm who actually wants to be their because the guy is the same age and can attract a girl with looks rather than waving a purple passion voucher. Yeh I can understand while the balding pate would pucker and the old sagging guts would gripe a bit.

Youth, contrary to popular belief is not wasted on the young.

Young people out seeing the world – Great stuff, I did it, I hope my own kids will do like wise.

But I tell you, if the end of my kids dreams are a night down the local, swilling larger and grabbing the footy on Sky TV – Now that is when you’ll hear me ranting.

I hope my kids and young people in general have the sense to look at old guys who wasted their own youth and then became bitter about young people enjoying the best years of their lives.

[Robski]

GH says it all with this sensible response:

If Thailand had any sense they would realize that attracting well educated people to spend time in Thailand when they are young is a great way to build loyalty among the people who will later be able to afford the up market hotels and holidays that Thailand is trying to promote.

Quite right good comment SBK, shame though he has to do his usual holier than thou bit and try and label anyone that would disagree as some kind of resentful lowlife.

Backpackers are on the whole, well educated, middleclass and very sociable. My guess is most go on to good jobs earning the kind of money and getting the kind of employment conditions people preaching off bar stools in Thailand dream of/resent/BS about (select the cap that fits).

[gummy]

To earn respect you must first give respect. How true is that?

So all I would say to those clearly so fond of supporting this raft of human flotsom is to advise them that to earn respect in Thailand they must first show respect to their hosts. That means dressing smartly ( a few magazines may help here as they can look at the pictures ). It also means dressing respectively in accordance with local customs. So highly educated are they that many of the female varieties of this street dross expose their chests excessivly as if they were in Chelsea High Street. The showing of breasts to that degree is lewd practice in Thailand, but of course respectibility could not have formed part of those people's education. From the comments made it also appears that Brut is the first advert that that poster can remember and hence gives an indication of their age group which may explain your acceptance of the loss of values typified by that persons support for this group of individuals.

[GuestHouse]

Quite right good comment SBK, shame though he has to do his usual holier than thou bit and try and label anyone that would disagree as some kind of resentful lowlife.

Nah, not at all, but I am inclined to the wild fanciful guess, and it is my wild fanciful guess that those who rant about backpackers are on the whole people who themselves have no higher education.

Let's be right here, the I'm making a counter argument to the 'holier than thou' attack on backpackers.