Thailand no longer wants backpackers
When I first came over here at the turn of the millennium, Thailand was exceptionally welcoming of backpackers and over the years I have seen that situation change dramatically. They have transitioned their tourism strategy to attracting high-end tourists, primarily from China, who are going to come into the country for a few weeks, spend a bunch of money and then head back home. While i find this frustrating, from a business point of view I can't really fault them for this.
For the uninitiated, a backpacker is much more than just someone who uses what is bound to be the least efficient method of suitcase - they are also a group of people that are traveling for a very long period of time, normally many months, and tend to be on a very low budget in order to extend their travels for as long as possible. I have met people that were trying to spend less than $10 a day on all things consumed. I was never this stingy but at one point I owned a guesthouse that catered to them. They can be a bit frustrating.
However, in order for this situation to work out for them, backpackers need to visit countries that are willing to accommodate the fact that they don't necessarily have a plan. Thailand used to accommodate this, they do not anymore.
Years ago it was possible to cross into this country and get stamps pretty much endlessly. The stamp was only for 30 days but then people would simply pop down to another country for a few days and come back. The people that were really enjoying this country would simply go to a border crossing and get stamped into malaysia for 2 minutes then come straight back. This process is all but impossible now.
While it is kind of up to the attitude of the individual immigration official, there are a few things that they can request, that will throw off the plans of a backpacker these days and send them "packing" in the other direction.
- proof of funds - they can and sometime do request to see proof of having 20,000B (about $700) on your person. While i am quite certain that most backpackers do in fact have this much money, requesting that they currently be carrying it is a bit absurd and only invites theft.
- proof of onward travel. It is necessary to show that you will be leaving Thailand upon arriving. This is problematic for backpackers because often they don't know exactly when they will be leaving or will be departing Thailand by land on a bus or train. I think this rule is particularly stupid because there is no way to get a certified bus ticket before arriving.
- proof of lodging for your entire stay: This is pretty annoying. The whole idea behind true backpacking is that you don't know where you will be staying for the next few days, let alone for an entire month. The backpacking culture is one of adventure, not of rigid plans.
I don't know if these requirement were designed to thwart backpackers from coming here at all but it is working. Many people decide to travel to nearby Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, or even Indonesia who are still quite welcoming to the backpacker hordes. I would imagine this is because Thailand attracts significantly greater numbers of tourists than probably all of those countries combined.
The elimination of this demographic is not good for the tourism sector as an awful lot of the lodging and attractions in this country were designed specifically for catering to backpackers. Now, the people I know that have businesses geared towards the backpacker are all suffering and many are closing entirely. The government doesn't care for a very specific reason: These small businesses do not pay very much tax. They pay extremely little if any. Giant hotel chains have teams of accountants and pay a massive amount of tax based on sales to higher-end tourists who stay for a short amount of time.
So once again, the reasoning behind a bunch of rules is the fact that the gubment wants their cut.
I am no fan of government, but like I said at the start of this article. Like most things in life, it all boils down to money. The days of simply rocking up to a street and finding a place to stay will likely come to an end in this country very soon. I find it sad because a lot of people don't want to live a regimented life - the adventure of not knowing where you are going next (but still knowing you have the resources to do so) is a really exciting way to live your life, even for a short while.
it looks like crap, but it is actually a lot of fun
I don't think backpacking is done, it is a right of passage for many of the world's youth and one that I think is extremely helpful for personal development. However, I do believe that the days of Thailand being even a little bit welcoming of it, is coming to a close :(
"a lot of people don't want to live a regimented life"
It is a shame, because the regimented lives that we are all being pushed into living come with so little awareness and adventure that many of us die without ever having really lived at all. We might as well all be robots, engaging in the same routines and programs as everyone else, then simply shutting down, indistinguishable from anyone else in the great robot scrapyard in the sky.
My sister once went backpacking for about a year, and to this day, she dines out on stories about those days. They shaped her too, allowing her to engage with all kinds of people, and she's so much better for it, she's an example to me, that's for sure.
Of course those days ended, as she wanted a family, and only the regimented life can really sustain family life, as far as I can tell. But those days still live in her, opening her children's eyes to a wider world that they may never see if Thailand and all the world's wonders shut their doors to adventure. :(
I was in Vietnam for 5 years and kind of seen similar things there related to backpackers. The people of Vietnam encourage tourists to come but the government has been making visas and permits tougher to buy, renew, and everything. Upvoted.
i was thinking of moving to Vietnam next, up north.
Yes even when I recently went to Thailand I had to show proof of stay and my outbound flight. There are ways around this, for example booking the cheapest flight out of Thailand (to Malaysia for about £20). I was doing a Muay Thai camp so I stayed for 6 weeks, there’s an immigration office on koh samui where I was living and I can pay 1800 baht to get another 30 days, much easier than having to cross the border.
I can understand this method, I feel the gov will implement it and then put it back. It was like when Australia stopped tax refunds for working holiday visa holders, they then had a huge drop in tourism and changed it right back.
But as you mentioned maybe Thailand as a country might not benefit from tourists (tax) as much as it seems, but lots and lots of Thai locals sure do.
Thailand’s great! Always sucks about changes and it becoming hard to stay, I find that about lots of places, it sucks about all of the rules when we just want to stay that bit longer or settle etc
there are now agencies in border towns that specialize in fake flights and hotel bookings to thwart this rather silly regulation. Since the border agents don't have the capacity to confirm or deny any of the information, this was always going to happen. However, i feel bad for the backpacker that turns up only to be told they have to purchase an onward flight at absurdly high airport prices
What is a rather silly regulation is there to clear out people working on no permit and staying indefinitely without any form of resident or work permits. Meanwhile, thousands of expats run honest business (paying VAT and more), or just work in education sector, Muay Thai fighters can also easily and indefinitely get 1 year Ed visa to study Muay Thai with any semi-reputable gym. Would you think England for example or USA is having success because they let any losers young and old bounce in and out of their borders, move into all the nature spots, and open immigrant bars, burger stalls and dive shops? No; I’m happy Thailand had the sense finally to start playing by it’s own rules. It’s a lot cleaner now for a start on many beaches. Phi Phi being a prime example, pristine and wiped clean after 2003 Tsunami, was a total dump by 2012, just now this year the government take it back and start to restore it. Good!!!
Backpackers are very welcome in Thailand - 3 month tourist visas are obtainable if you swing by a Thai embassy before your trip. If you want to stay longer,, study teach or work.
Final note, Thailand is however a victim of its own success. A booming pre-junta decade of economic growth lines the pockets of many many family offices. Many others cashed in land they had for decades, for absolutely fortunes (think PhuKet and places), and there has been trickle down. Thais want the high life, they are civilised and want a progressive, modern country. Industry is now huge - yet the whole world thinks it is still a quaint, poor little country begging for our $5 tips. Yes it was a lot more fun for us farang when it was .... these days it’s time to help Thailand continue on a strong path. They do have a lot to deal with in fact, being dragged face first into our full on consumer and capitalist world ....
it will be fun to see what the government does by closing Phi Phi. The government was largely responsible for its demise. I was there when the Tsunami hit (in 2004 btw, but that is just a typo)... and ok i will stand with you a bit as far as backpackers could apply for their 3 month visa blah blah blah, but honestly brother (or sister) that is not how backpackers operate... backpacking as a general rule is about turning up with ZERO plan, and just doing whatever and while we can sit here in our ivory castles and say that "well of course they should have pre-applied and paid for their visas" that is not what the entire objective of backpacking over here was ever about. Backpacking, in its very essence is not knowing where you are going to be tomorrow... you might meet some people and decide to totally change your plans - even country - because you got on with them.
Maybe that is not the way that it is now, but it was that way when i was in my 20's circa the 90's. what has changed since then?
I'd agree mostly, some things never changed since 90's apart from perhaps attitudes - but i remember backpacking used to be a gap year endeavor, not a lifestyle unless you were a hippy or dropout. Some came here and made business or careers, or were REAL teachers (not TEFL BS fakes), later came the criminals, then the bigger money to build the resorts, then the chains, until they'd changed quite a lot for the backpackers. Where once a beach was lined with huts for hundreds of baht a week, are now a thousand concrete A/C bungalows on a 2km strip of ruined natural shoreline, sold in 4 or 5 star package holidays worldwide ...Added to which: exchange rates are nothing like they used to be, and the place itself an economic tiger that isn't as cheap as it once was. Furthermore, not just Thailand but around the world generally - things are more restrictive than the wonderful decades pre Y2K where we really could roam about SEA through porous borders without a care in the world ... sad to say the world has changed, drastically and in past few years especially freedom wise. but I think other places and opportunities open up ....i think we forget of other horrors and sh1t times that were existing also in the region. The list of things that have changed is a long one ....
very good follow-up. Once these bio-metric (is that not one word? spellchecker doesn't think so) systems get installed globally, such as the ones i just encountered in Australia, i think travel will become even more restricted.
I guess age is taking its hold on me and as time goes by I become more of a "back in my day" type person :) The good news is that the people that are gap yearing it now, don't know how much easier it was and are probably more capable of simply taking it in stride.
I'm with you on the 'back in the day' part, and sometimes guilty of being in love with the past more than the present just a little ...
Yeah, I saw fake teaching certificates, or heard about them, and fake visas, etc, in Vietnam, and I just got back to America last year, and I'm not too sure if any of the visas or anything else I had were ever fake or not but I'm hoping I was not involved in illegal stuff but I can see that prohibition does not work and has not worked, when you force things onto black markets, be it drugs, beer, sex, the dark webs, and maybe even tourism or whatever.
you never had a fake visa. the days of the fake certs that you witnessed being sold are behind us now. I think the only one of them that would actually work anymore would be a international driving permit.
Everyone seema to be after Chinese Tourists these days. From Thailand to Russia, even the US. Money talks more than anything, so am guessing the discrimination against backpackers will continue
Thank you for the information.
My wife is from Nepal. Last year we stopped in Thailand on the way to visitor family. We fell in love and have plans to go back next year. Our plans were to spend one month in Nepal and one month in Thailand.
Is there anything preventing us from booking three or four hotels at different destinations and then checking out early or changing hotels?
Or booking a place cheap enough for the entire month and letting them know that we'll be in and out.
Even though we have a place to stay. Usually when we go the Nepal, we get a cheap hotel for about $5.00 a day. About 150 a month. This way we have a place to store stuff and have a quiet place to get away from the family. Maybe this is an option.
Thanks again for this information. We were just about to start planning the trip.
i would say that unless you already have a bunch of stamps to thailand that you may not be asked. If you had a booking already for just a night or two you are unlikely to be turned away. Make sure that you check first about your wife because Nepal might be on a list of countries that need to apply for a visa before coming. I'm not sure about this though.
You are right @gooddream I also think it boils down to money but I also think Thailand as a sovereign nation has a right and responsibility to regulate it's tourism industry just like many other leading destinations in the world.
But considering the fact that backpackers have been traveling in large numbers to Thailand over the years past, I think it would be insensitive to literally "kick them out" by introducing unreasonable requirements. This is something the authorities must manage as a process rather than an event.
This could be by way of introducing some kind of a well thought through campaign aimed at educating all concerned parties.
However the truth is that many leading destinations are now pursuing sustainable tourism practices through new marketing strategies.
This is because the conservation of Thailand's and our fragile earth's resources is ultimately more important in the long run.
Great,
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cant hear tho
Tourists should be welcomed as it is beneficial for any country's government.
And if you have money then there is no issue you can move anywhere in the world.
Woooow.
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