Invasion of the begpackers

[NoshowJones]

24 minutes ago, mikebike said:

Sorry! My mistake. Apparently I didn't feel the urge to reply until I read your post and quoted his post from your reply... again sorry!

No problem.

[moe666]

I guess they are over running some other location than Chiang Mai have not seen any around here in a yearor so 

[Seth1a2a]

Thailand has the Busking law that allows them to stop some of this legally.

 

In the 70s a lot of this type behavior was made popular after  "Steal This Book" by Abbie Hoffman was published.  The essence of which was to extend your childhood of being cared for by your parents to being cared for by society by using any and every loophole that was setup to provide for those less fortunate (blind /handicapped/retarded. etc .) who could not care for themselves.  In other words , how to become a successful barnacle . 

 

 

 

It's pretty ironic that the Guardian starts begging for donations at the end of the article ........ 

 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Seth1a2a

[Tapster]

I fuckin' hate the GoFundMe types but they are the new wave of travelers.

 

Apparently, it's everyone's right to travel with no insurance and very little money.

I'm 850 years old and am not happy to go online and sell my soul for healthcare refunds.

Thus, when my wife fell ill, way beyond our insurance's ability to pay, I had to spend my nest egg.
I'm not being smug, especially as I don't have the money any more, but it cost 50,000 GBP to save my wife and it was worth every penny.

BUT .. it makes me mad that some  ill-prepared <deleted> can get idiots to give him money to get him home, while I'm grinding my teeth because I don't have any money left.

[DJ54]

On 8/2/2019 at 8:44 PM, Tapster said:

I'm 850 years old and am not happy to go online

Wow 850 years old... the Eltz Castle was like new then. Good on you! Bustin your balls .... Question you still have a full head or hair 

after.... ok ok Cheers 

[RocketDog]

On 8/2/2019 at 11:44 AM, Uptooyoo said:

The best strategy is to not look like a begpacker.  I don't approach the immigration officer with the begpacker's De rigueur style of dreadlocks, chin stubble, and bare feet. So, to make the transit through arrivals as painless as possible, I make the extra effort to distinguish myself from one of the thousands of unkempt, dodgy characters coming to take advantage of the Kingdom. I arrive with close cropped hair and a clean-shaven face, in addition, mouthwash and a dab of after-shave cologne to neutralize the unpleasant effects of a shower-free transoceanic flight, which does not go unappreciated by my fellow travelers and Thai hosts; neither does a snappy short sleeve shirt, for the ostensible purpose of displaying my tattoo free, needle free, forearms.  In brief, to minimize any difficulties, it only takes a quick stop in the washroom to clean up before making way to the arrival counter.

Agreed. Simple wisdom and common sense.

 

"You never get a second chance to make a good first impression."

 

Not my words but something I always thought worth remembering.

 

I and my Thai GF actually take the opportunity to dress up a bit even when we just go out for dinner. We enjoy seeing each other well groomed, and never had any complaints from others either.

 

Win-Win situation.

[RocketDog]

OP:

Sorry, can't complain. Never seen any of those people where I live.

 

I guess if the problem becomes big enough then I'll notice it and may even become slightly concerned. But probably not as I try to ignore trivial annoyances.

 

But hey, if it pulls your trigger, then  by all means, carry on!

 

Until then:  yawn......on with my day.

[micmichd]

On 8/2/2019 at 9:34 AM, dotpoom said:

Do you think you should have more "right" to travel than them...or that you are more important?

Maybe some people worked for their money while others didn't. Yes, the ones that worked should have more rights to travel.

[Thaifriends]

On 8/2/2019 at 11:40 AM, Megascott said:

I actually had this happen to me in Cambodia, OK, not a fancy restaurant, but I digress. Four (what sounded like) German male backpackers, full tattoos, Dreadlocks, Man buns, 5 day shitter pants and all, ate a whole three course meal at the table next to mine at a Siem Reap Curry restaurant, at the conclusion, one of the party asked ME for money to pay the bill. Of course, I said no and they walked out without paying. Nice touch, but then again, most backpackers aren't like this.

Some 30 years back a huge size Dutch guy sitting sharing table with me in a busy restaurent left without paying. He looked well off and was dressed well also.

[Brunolem]

2 hours ago, RocketDog said:

OP:

Sorry, can't complain. Never seen any of those people where I live.

 

I guess if the problem becomes big enough then I'll notice it and may even become slightly concerned. But probably not as I try to ignore trivial annoyances.

 

But hey, if it pulls your trigger, then  by all means, carry on!

 

Until then:  yawn......on with my day.

In my neck of the woods, I don't even see a farang... per year! 

 

So I am not expecting begpackers anytime soon. 

 

Having said that, it is not because an issue doesn't affect someone personally that it should be ignored. 

 

If a wellknown international newspaper publishes an article about begpackers, it is probably because the issue is significant enough. 

 

And because it seems that begpackers are attracted by South East Asia, maybe is it worth mentioning it in a place like TV Forum. 

 

Generally speaking, I don't process information according to my personal situation, or feelings, otherwise my view of the world would be very narrowed... 

 

[RocketDog]

1 hour ago, Brunolem said:

In my neck of the woods, I don't even see a farang... per year! 

 

So I am not expecting begpackers anytime soon. 

 

Having said that, it is not because an issue doesn't affect someone personally that it should be ignored. 

 

If a wellknown international newspaper publishes an article about begpackers, it is probably because the issue is significant enough. 

 

And because it seems that begpackers are attracted by South East Asia, maybe is it worth mentioning it in a place like TV Forum. 

 

Generally speaking, I don't process information according to my personal situation, or feelings, otherwise my view of the world would be very narrowed... 

 

Lots of information these days from too many sources; some of it worth more than a passing thought, most of it not. A search engine without a filter is just a flood.

 

If you don't process it based on your own personal situation what criteria do you use? Everybody has a personal lens through which they view life. That choice is made every single day of life. Choose carefully.

 

I try to interpret and assign import based on my personal situation.

Otherwise I'm depressed and sniveling about all the pain in the world that I cannot influence or prevent. Frankly, it's not the way I want to spend my days.

 

Title of a book I once read :

"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff (and it's all small stuff) "

 

I also believe that our worldview influences what we get out of life.

 

I have a sign posted on the wall that I see when I walk out of the bedroom every day:

 

WHAT DO YOU DO TODAY?

It reminds me to choose carefully.

 

 

[Brunolem]

In the context of TV Forum I select information that may be of interest for  its members. 

 

When some issue, even minor for the time being, such as the begpackers, may influence the treatment by immigration of Westerners entering Thailand (like systematic proof of funds), I think it is worth letting others know about it. 

 

Not long ago, there were multiple threads dedicated to non OA visas and the request for having health insurance for the applicants...even though a very small minority of members appears to be on non OA visas... 

 

More generally, there is a lot of information out there that, at this time, appears not at all related to my personal life, yet could be in the future. 

 

For example, what is happening in China these days (Hong Kong, export tarriffs, Huawei, and now the yuan plunging) doesn't concern me in the least, yet if things were to detoriate they could well affect not only me, but all of Thailand. 

 

I consider it important to have this information stored in the back of mind, so I will not be completely taken by surprise if the situation takes a wrong turn...