What's wrong with backpackers?

[theguyfromanotherforum]

I used to think backpackers in Thailand are scum. Then I realized that was my own jealousy acting. I with I was young, free will and no worries again.

It's really no fun being a grumpy old farang expressing your anger on a public forum. But in case I'm wrong may I ask what's wrong with being a backpacker?

[Pattszero]

Nothing - and you're right, it is just jealousy that they are acting out what we would have loved to have done if given the same time again.

[Neeranam]

Nothing - and you're right, it is just jealousy that they are acting out what we would have loved to have done if given the same time again.

Nothing, I used to be one.

[pgrahmm]

Really nothing straight up....but some are on shoestring and small spenders.....some comsidered unhygenic...unwashed...other as rastas or druggies seeing/financing the world through a slightly different perspective....any group that is viewed in a bad light usually

has earned it over time....their dressing habits don't help......the truth is somewhere in the middle... I've kind of envied their packing skills since I always seem to over pack....we actually use backpacks for our trips around Thailand...much easier to manage

than wheeled luggage for some of the resorts...our last trip was two + weeks

Edited August 7, 2014 by pgrahmm

[iancnx]

Absolutely nothing if they are real tourists on the right visa. If they are habitual overstaying border hopping illegal working dossers then a good proportion might well be labelled as beach bum, pot head scumbags.

[choochoo]

body odour?

[submaniac]

I personally have never had any problems with or ever disliked the backpacker types. There are a few things...however...hygiene, yeah I know you're traveling cheap and all...but really taking a shower every now and then really isn't that hard to do. And they seem to have the same dress code...dressing like 60's hippies (seriously, the 60's are long over) or trying to go local with the Thai fisherman pants. Other than that...

I also do feel kind of sad for them. The thing is that the Thailand that they hoped to find...I know is long since gone.

[ATF]

They've all read the Beach and sit around with a bottle of water all day long. They bargain with street food vendors.

But what I *^*%%*%*% hate the most is they are always bumping you with their stupid backpacks.

[pgrahmm]

They've all read the Beach and sit around with a bottle of water all day long. They bargain with street food vendors.

But what I *^*%%*%*% hate the most is they are always bumping you with their stupid backpacks.

+ 1.....

[Ulysses G.]

Most are fine, but a minority of them steal to "finance" their trip and they don't care that the people they are stealing from are often poor. I have seen some order a cheap Thai meal, eat it and then refuse to pay, because it was "too expensive" These types are scum IMO.

[neverdie]

They've all read the Beach and sit around with a bottle of water all day long. They bargain with street food vendors.

But what I *^*%%*%*% hate the most is they are always bumping you with their stupid backpacks.

Many years ago, in Australia, there was a guy called Ivan Milat. He liked backpackers, he use to drive around and pick them up & take them for a drive.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Milat_(serial_killer)

[Franky Bear]

everything

[HeijoshinCool]

Nothing - and you're right, it is just jealousy that they are acting out what we would have loved to have done if given the same time again.

Nothing, I used to be one.

Me, too. Three months in Africa at 15 was a life changing experience.

What I don't get are the ones with more stuff than Zsa Zsa Gabor.

[zeichen]

I think the problem with them is that they follow the beaten path not trailblaze. They learn very little about the culture and are just on an extended holiday. For me I see no real value in it but it is kind of a coming to age ritual for many so I tend to overlook the annoyances that they sometimes cause.

Individually they are no different than anyone else. I have met some wonderful people. But overall they do need to take care of their personal hygiene better.

The group that annoys me the most are the missionaries trying to save the world. Especially the ones that recruit teenagers to do their fundraising. One organization has the kids raise a minimum of 25k USD and then sends them here for 2-3 weeks. They feel like they are doing something great but really just filling the coffers of a few.

[samuibeachcomber]

Surely many of us here were backpackers once trying to do everything on the cheap.The difference today is they travel around with essential electronics....cell phones,note books,i pads and even lap tops.They are so busy talking to mummy on skype back home,posting on facebook the things they are doing as they post.This i find really pathetic,where's the fun,where's the originality of the experience?

However i am happy to see and talk to them and hope they are enjoying their travels.

[keestha]

As a long term guest house owner, I have just one little grudge against backpackers. As far as travelling cheaply is concerned, they are completely fixated on room prices, and forget about everything else. Many times they tried to move heaven and earth to knock down my already cheap room price, and after that.....went into town to book a costly several days diving tour. Remember two young women coming, first fighting an epic battle with me about a 50 Baht room price difference....and after having settled, they went upstairs to the restaurant and ordered not Thai but European food, which they washed down with a generous amount of beer. What is the point? It also happened that a couple shared a room with a single guy they met on the bus, to keep costs down, but after that they went to eat Thai food in a completely tourist oriented restaurant, which charges more than 3 times as much as places geared for Thai customers. Could go on and on.

[BKK Blues Brother]

The majority of backpackers these days follow the well worn safe path of Kosan road and ko samui/ko Phangnan for a month before a year staying in youth hostels up the Gold Coast in Australia. They don't need a backpack a suitcase would suffice.

They enjoy and have fun and anyone who dislikes them is just jealous of their freedom.

True backpacking doesn't really exist any more.

[Neeranam]

Absolutely nothing if they are real tourists on the right visa. If they are habitual overstaying border hopping illegal working dossers then a good proportion might well be labelled as beach bum, pot head scumbags.

People like you would probably not be in Thailand or even ever heard of it if it weren't for backpacker of the past. 'Pot head scumbags' is rather judgmental and over the top. I find it often alcoholic sex addicts in Lower Sukhumvit bars that have a disliking for backpackers. Could it be as many are graduates having a bit of fun.

Khao San Road used to be a great place to hang out before they started having Thai bars there maybe around mid 90s.

Good company whilst watching a couple of new movies and a bottle of Sang Thip for 40 baht for the duration, unless you were Israeli where it would be 1 bottle of water between 6.

[Bernard Flint]

I have never met one so i cannot offer anything.

[smokie36]

Nothing - and you're right, it is just jealousy that they are acting out what we would have loved to have done if given the same time again.

Some of them take around more stuff for a month long trip than I would for three....and I still manage to wear jeans and a freshly ironed shirt in the evening while they lounge around in singlets stinking the place out sharing one beer between four of them....and on and on.....lol

[barry553]

I think some people like to use them as a scapegoat to make themselves look good in comparison. A common psychological phenomenon. It's a bit crazy how they are demonized when they are pretty harmless.

[smokie36]

I think some people like to use them as a scapegoat to make themselves look good in comparison. A common psychological phenomenon. It's a bit crazy how they are demonized when they are pretty harmless.

No no they are stealing our oxygen....not to mention our straws....!!

[Crazy chef 1]

sheit to realize getting old ?

[BKK Blues Brother]

Backpackers may seek out bargain 150 baht rooms but spend a couple of thousand baht a day on tours,food,drink etc

VERSUS

Pattaya monger sat in bar all day 1000 baht room but spend a couple of thousand baht a day on drink and women.

The difference is morals and age

Edited August 7, 2014 by BKK Blues Brother

[smokie36]

I was staying in a shared accommodation some years ago....three floors with like thirty rooms each with maybe four bathrooms per floor.

Well it started to piss me off that I could never find a plug for the bath in the morning....so I found some cheap ones in a hardware store and placed one in each of the bathrooms....so we wouldn't have to borrow them and be searching around every morning.

Well....within a week they had all disappeared.....so yes....backpacker to me is a state of mind rather than a holiday......

[BKK Blues Brother]

I was staying in a shared accommodation some years ago....three floors with like thirty rooms each with maybe four bathrooms per floor.

Well it started to piss me off that I could never find a plug for the bath in the morning....so I found some cheap ones in a hardware store and placed one in each of the bathrooms....so we wouldn't have to borrow them and be searching around every morning.

Well....within a week they had all disappeared.....so yes....backpacker to me is a state of mind rather than a holiday......

lol, just brought back a memory of some Sydney Kings X hostel that required a $20 deposit for your own bath plug.

[Neeranam]

The difference is morals and age

Classic!

[WitawatWatawit]

Absolutely nothing if they are real tourists on the right visa. If they are habitual overstaying border hopping illegal working dossers then a good proportion might well be labelled as beach bum, pot head scumbags.

How do you know that someone carrying a backpack is not a real tourist with the right visa? Or should they be instantly suspected of being a dope-smoking beach bum?

[GuestHouse]

I regularly 'backpack' for my holidays, most backpackers I have met are from what can only be described as privileged middle class backgrounds.

As a general rule, backpackers (when not backpacking) are well educated professionals earning good salaries and enjoy a flexibility in their working life that most people can only dream of. Even the young kids who packpack are for the most part university graduates taking a break before they start their careers.

Nor are all backpackers young kids. I recently met a Dutch couple backpacking in Sukhothai, in their mid 60s both retired dentists.

[Crazy chef 1]

Backpackers may seek out bargain 150 baht rooms but spend a couple of thousand baht a day on tours,food,drink etc

VERSUS

Pattaya monger sat in bar all day 1000 baht room but spend a couple of thousand baht a day on drink and women.

The difference is morals and age

one of the best!