Video: Beg-packing or just hitching? Foreigners with "no money" spark debate

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, rascalman said:

They should be sent to their embassies, then deported. 

 

You would wish to see people deported for hitch-hiking ???

 

Deported by the Embassy?

It’s immigration who deport aliens BTW & there needs to be a legal reason - not liking something is not sufficient unless getting a free ride somewhere becomes illegal.

 

 

 

 

[retoohs]

1 hour ago, Bluespunk said:

Travelling has many forms.

 

I prefer luxury these days, but would not swap the memories of my budget traveling days for anything.

yep, here in New Zealand we have an issue with "freedom camping" which was just camping when I was young and not totally over controlled because of tourists not willing to pay to camp so they take a dump in a toilet etc. but rather they would park for the night and just leave their rubbish and human waste on the side of the road. I'm with you, over budget traveling though I'm still on a budget. If you have $40 in your pocket you are only ever going to do one overnight bus trip when you could have flown for $40, budget traveling wears pretty thin quickly at 60 on those things. Gotta have a hotel room bigger than 20sm these days also, couldn't do the backpacker way nomore. Thailand doesnt need growth in anymore budget tourism but I fear the trends of the world will filter that way as farang bring hitching, freedom camping or whatever they think is frugal elsewhere with them to Thailand. I'm surprised nobody is renting budget campervans yet. Could you imagine the chaos? You should see the accidents close to the international airport near where I live as unskilled drivers rent and wreck vans within minutes. Imagine really bad farang drivers in vans on a holiday weekend like songkran with all those intoxicated Thais on the road. It is already chaos. 

One thing I must say about hitching, if you can get rides its a great way to meet the locals. I hitched from Sydney to Darwin when young, it took 3 months and stayed with plenty of people I met along the way. I knew when I got to Darwin the only way I was ever leaving that place was in a plane. Good thing Java was close.

[retoohs]

1 hour ago, atyclb said:

perhaps he has to be frugal after not being able to use the 800, 000 baht he put in a thai bank?

why would he lose his money? Has something changed with the banking?

[Jay72]

Hitchhiking was the original way to go backpacking on a budget, but i'm not sure it still works these days. Young women travelling alone should be extra cautious for obvious reasons!

[retoohs]

Just now, Jay72 said:

Hitchhiking was the original way to go backpacking on a budget, but i'm not sure it still works these days. Young women travelling alone should be extra cautious for obvious reasons!

as said in earlier post "freedom camping" in cheap vans is the latest budget travel option or at least in the countries where the vans can be hired cheaply. Young women would be foolish to hitch alone and probably also with a partner. A couple of relevant links from my home country

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/95346417/Swedish-murders-Clothing-found-near-murder-site-sparks-renewed-interest-in-case

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9226190/Hitchhikers-murder-sparks-coroners-warning

 

[Sydebolle]

It is a cultural thing; I saw half Europe as a teenager by hitch hiking - but that was more than 40 years ago. Today it is more a security issue with all those loony bins out there.....

Here in Thailand it is possibly considered "Cheap Charlie" and hence not the best of ideas considering the cheap flights or bus tickets you can get. For those who consider this still too expensive there is the train. I am using the train regularly from Nong Khai to Udon Thani; not for the 11 Baht it costs but there is no faster and easier way, no traffic lights and you arrive in midst of the city. The punctuality and comfort is something different but we're talking of 45 minutes rides here ........... 

[bangkoken]

Transportation in Thailand is very economical and affordable to even the poorest of Thais. Yet, these backpackers want to travel for free. Get rid every last one of them, they do little if nothing for the economy or image of the country. Nothing but beggars in foreign clothes. 

[Nanaplaza666]

8 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

I did my share of it in the US. It was about conserving money and a free ride. SF - Seattle, and LA - SF with a few more small ones in-between out of necessity.. Of course they were most for Dead Shows. 

In my country the taxi meter starts at 7.50 € didn't even drive 1 meter so there you can imagine people hitch hike but here in thailand you drive from bkk to pattaya for 25 € ,so these are cheap cheap charlies. i geuss in your country its as expensive as mine so hence the hitch hiking but. But in my mimd if i dont have enough money to travel aroumd i wouldn't even go on a holliday in the first place 

[DJ54]

To some it’s an adventure.....

[sharpjwe]

i have hiched hiked in europe in the 70 s

i was acceptable then 

now for backpakers to travel on the cheap i can understand

but in thailand and even asia it is not culturally understood

so to live on the cheap not pay for sex beer cigs transport coach surfing i can conceive 

but when you pay 500 + euros for i filght i am sure tou can pay 3 euros for the bus

considering the price of petrol now most transporters pay ride 

also in europe pay ride is the internet norm

not free ride 

 

[SpeakeasyThai]

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

And in commenting you've fallen foul of your own criticism of commenting on things which you don't consider worthy of comment...  

 

.......who cares if someone decides to comment on a topic you don't find interesting ????.....oh the irony... Sigh indeed...

Do yourself a big favour. Get a life !

[hotchilli]

Maybe he's saving up for the entrance fee into the Kanchanaburi national parks such as Erawan..

10 X the Thai cost??

Just saying as many Thais don'r realise that's how farangs are made to suffer!!

[Mark mark]

…  Yes, Hitch Hiking has that "Freedom" sort of Genera, that goes right back to Jack Kerouac, and on the road !  ...  Highway 61 wasn't it ?  …  That Bob Dylan sang about ?  ...  Like Freedom, AND Positivity, … To share with you fellow Human beings, that ride !  …  And the REAL Positivity to take your chances, … out on the road !  …  Like, you DO have to be pretty positive to do that.  … The guy with the Sign, could be run over, … at the very least in Thailand, just to start off with !  So he IS taking quite a chance to be out there !  And try to get his free … Positive !  Ride !

 

…  I hitch hiked half way around the world when I was Young, … (a middle-aged man, but a Young one, and with very Rose Colored glasses on also)  … , and "No Money" really means just for that particular ride, and you cannot fit the details in a short Translation, ....  Like in Asia back in the old days, sometimes when you hitched, the drives would want you to pay ?  …  Like they did not quite understand it ?  …  Well I never got that, but well I only hitched in Asia, the 80's ...

 

I never hitch hiked more than once just 100k in to BKK in Thailand, as well the roads were still too chaotic, even back in the 80's for me, and well the Buses were convenient and cheap.

 

I did Hitch in Malaysia, and a lot !  And I would say that I learnt MORE about the Real person’s life, in that country, by Hitch Hiking, than I did in any other way, and well Ditto for all over Europe also ! 

 

Like the Oil and Gas men, … one of which I also was for another 20 years after 1990 ... "No Money No Honey" ?  …  "Money talks and Bullshit walks" ?  ...  They only get to meet the real people from a country, in a Bar !  …  And paying for it also ...

 

…  I stay in a back packers Place or Youth Hostel ....  And meet the Really People ... For Free !  ...  And also, when I used to hitch Hike.

 

…  I struck a Speeding Stoned Junkie Truck driver on my way from Germany to Amsterdam, ... after visiting a few brothels and heroin suppliers, where I had to hide in the back of the truck, ....  And nearly killing a Dutch girl on a bike !  After we had dropped the trailer, and he had gone for a spin !  ....(That is why he has be along I think, so I could hold the coupling pin up, as he reconnected the trailer, after his spin around town, and past all the brothels and Dealers places …. 

 

But then he went mental and nearly killed me, (Crying, and in between sobs) “My Father was such a Good man” !  ….  And then … “Just find the Hash, Just find the hash”, … “You lost the Hash” …  As he pushed my head down on to the mess on the floor in the truck, with one hand, …  and did 120km per hour down the dark and empty local road, with only the other hand on the wheel ….  …  …  Me trying to get my head up, …  so that I could see, so as to brace myself for when we crash off the Road !!!  ….

 

…  And then later he threatened to beat me up with a steel bar he had in his cab !  ….  (Well I was shall I sat , just a bit, “Fried”,  after that journey, … so that I ? accidentally jackknifed his truck, ? … when I was trying to spot him in to the loading bay near Amsterdam, …  well he was totally ripped also, …. and well, his tarp got ripped off  the Trailer … Woops ...) ....  “Welcome to the EU ?  Mark , … … Well Holland” !

 

… I ran away, and slept on a pile of sand, outside a local farmer’s house.  I tried to speak to the warehouse managers about him in the morning, but they would not listen to me … Just a Useless “Lifter” Right ! …  And the Junkie driver had been going on about how much they loved him, as he just drove and drove, (And Popped speed at the ditch border each time, to keep on going ?) … …  and did a lot more runs that all of the other drivers ?  ….. 

 

…  I took the bus in to Amsterdam,

 

….  And I never hitch hiked again after that.

 

… So it is not really free is it, … in the long run ?

 

Mark Mark ...

 

 

 

[KKr]

10 hours ago, worgeordie said:

People complain about anything now,in the 60's and 70's

I hitchhiked quite a lot, and nobody seen it as doing 

anything wrong, bit more dangerous in this day and age

but,things were simpler then.

regards Worgeordie

same here, hitch-hiked home during weekends, and traveled all over Europe on a shoestring. 
Met some of the nicest, guest friendly and welcoming people one can imagine.

[Onemoreplease]

The beginning is slightly of topic but relevant.

I’ve been here longer than some shorter than many, but long enough to know I’m overcharged on a lot of things on a weekly basis. I don’t complain I just ask the price and if I’m willing to pay I do, if not I don’t. I’m not aware of any western country that holds a two tiered price system. The vast majority of expats here also can get along with this I hope.

Whislt hitching a ride might be alien to most Thai people it is not for Europeans or Americans of a certain age ( I guess I’m falling into the old crusty bracket).

 

My pennies worth is open your mind and look beyond your cultural borders, especially when it’s something as trivial as hitchhiking.

 

Happy travels.

[holy cow cm]

1 hour ago, Nanaplaza666 said:

In my country the taxi meter starts at 7.50 € didn't even drive 1 meter so there you can imagine people hitch hike but here in thailand you drive from bkk to pattaya for 25 € ,so these are cheap cheap charlies. i geuss in your country its as expensive as mine so hence the hitch hiking but. But in my mimd if i dont have enough money to travel aroumd i wouldn't even go on a holliday in the first place 

Also it is a sense of adventure, but for here I sort of see it as an idiotic thing to do as Thailand is not really hitch hiking knowing or friendly. 

[Reedey]

No money no honey.

[holy cow cm]

3 minutes ago, Reedey said:

No money no honey.

There was a blond honey amongst them

[micmichd]

11 hours ago, keith101 said:

I believe that if they don't have enough money to support themselves while their here they should not come and i do understand some like to do it on the cheap so take buses .

I usually spend my change on tips or give it away to beggars. And there's not always an ATM around where I can get 1,000 THB notes (that nobody could change anyway) 

So, sometimes I'm quite glad if someone stops to give me a free ride. 

[jago25]

Hitchhiking's alright. 

In cuba, it's illegal not to offer a ride. I like that. How's about we find a way to do that everywhere. Wouldn't that be more efficient?

[whaleboneman]

8 hours ago, losername said:

Because it costs money to provide what they appear to be looking for.

Picking up a hitchhiker costs the driver close to nothing and can be the most rewarding of experiences. I've hitched all over the world and now that I have vehicles, I never pass by a hitchhiker.

[whaleboneman]

36 minutes ago, jago25 said:

Hitchhiking's alright. 

In cuba, it's illegal not to offer a ride. I like that. How's about we find a way to do that everywhere. Wouldn't that be more efficient?

Are you sure about that?

[HHTel]

9 minutes ago, whaleboneman said:

Are you sure about that?

After 5 mins on Google, it's apparently true.  However, in practice drivers don't stop unless you show some willingness to pay 'something'.

[lamyai3]

12 hours ago, RotMahKid said:

Hitchhiking is very normal to do in western countries, it can bring you free to far destinations. I also did many times when I was younger and it does not mean " No Money ", because if I did not get a ride, I took the train or other transportation.

Yes, it's a western tradition going back decades, and especially popularised in the post war years of beat culture. In my first job I used to sometimes hitchhike to work if I couldn't start my old 1969 mini. This worked great, I met some cool people, and always arrived on time, until one day I realised that I'd been picked up by one of the senior management, who suggested that I might be advised to find an alternative method of getting to the office 555 

[utalkin2me]

This seems like a complaint without any victims. If you do not like it, don't give hime a ride. I do not get it. 

[MaksimMislavsky]

10 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

The taxi driver *(who recorded this video) may have simply taken objection as it interferes with his sense of entitlement that these 3 kids should somehow take his taxi. 

He actually said nothing negative about them at all. Just being slightly amazed and wondering if any car would ever take them.

[cyberfarang]

40 years ago in England, I met a girl on a blind date. She invited me back to her place, and I thought, this is my lucky night.

 

But no, at 1.30 in the morning she told me to leave. Back then there were no mobile phones and I did not have my own transport. Being 20 miles from my lodgings, having missed the last bus and trains, I was stranded. On top of that it was cold and started to rain. Hailed a taxi, but the driver said it was his last shift and refused to take me for long distance. Out of desperation, tried hitch hiking but no one would stop. Eventually walked to a police station, explained my situation and they let me sleep in a cell all night. Arrived back to my digs early morning too done in to go to work.

 

That was the first and last time I tried hitch hiking and probably in my case was justifiable. And BTW, I didn`t bother seeing that girl again. Regarding those poncing beg packers, wouldn`t give them the time of day.

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, cyberfarang said:

40 years ago in England, I met a girl on a blind date. She invited me back to her place, and I thought, this is my lucky night.

 

But no, at 1.30 in the morning she told me to leave. Back then there were no mobile phones and I did not have my own transport. Being 20 miles from my lodgings, having missed the last bus and trains, I was stranded. On top of that it was cold and started to rain. Hailed a taxi, but the driver said it was his last shift and refused to take me for long distance. Out of desperation, tried hitch hiking but no one would stop. Eventually walked to a police station, explained my situation and they let me sleep in a cell all night. Arrived back to my digs early morning too done in to go to work.

 

That was the first and last time I tried hitch hiking and probably in my case was justifiable. And BTW, I didn`t bother seeing that girl again. Regarding those poncing beg packers, wouldn`t give them the time of day.

 

... so you wouldn't give 3 youngsters the time of day because you crashed and burned at 1:30am 40 years ago ????

 

 

 

.... 

[cyberfarang]

34 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

... so you wouldn't give 3 youngsters the time of day because you crashed and burned at 1:30am 40 years ago ????

 

 

 

.... 

I would help anyone if in desperate need, young or old. 

 

Let me put it this way to you; if I were short of money and friends invited me out to a bar for some drinks with them, and couldn`t afford to pay my way and reciprocate in paying for my share of drinks, I would make my excuses and not go. Have my pride.

 

I would also not visit foreign countries without being able to afford it. Pure and simple, don`t have the money, can`t have, tough titties.

[rossco1]

Could it just be that he was saying no money for taxi 

Maybe they hitching so can meet locals get first hand knowledge of area 

Someone said free loader coming here without money I would think they have money and on tight budget