Thailand, a backpacker's paradise
Thailand is the favorite destination for backpackers (backpack tourists). Hundreds of thousands of backpackers from Europe and the rest of the world travel to Thailand every year.
The country meets the most important requirements of a backpacker: relatively cheap, easy to travel and safe.
Most backpackers are graduate students who want to see a bit of the world and travel before they start a job. They are low budget travelers, who are mainly looking for cheap accommodations and cheap meals.
Top three Thai destinations for backpackers
Three destinations in Thailand are very popular with backpackers:
- Bangkok (Khao San Road)
- Pai (Mae Hong Son Province)
- Koh Pah Ngan (province of Surat Thani)
Bangkok (Khao San Road)
Khao San Road is perhaps the most famous place in the world for backpacking trips. For many backpackers also the start of their journey through Thailand. It is the place where you can stay cheaply, eat cheaply and meet other backpackers. The latter is not unimportant because backpackers help each other with tips and advices.
Khao San Road is centrally located in Bangkok, close to the Chao Praya River. The well-known neighborhood is centered around Khao San Street. In the area you will find mainly low budget hotels, restaurants and cafes. There are street stalls selling everything from clothing, books, DVDs, jewelery and shoes. Also popular are the hairdressers where you can go for a dreadlock haircut and the henna and tattoo shops.
Also look in the Khao San Road area if you are looking for a budget hotel. It is a safe area and you can already book a reasonable hotel for 300 baht per night.
Pai (or Bpai)
Pai is located in the north of Thailand, about three hours from Chiang Mai. The town of Pai is beautifully situated in a valley and is (or was) the ultimate backpacker destination in Thailand. It is a small town that consists almost entirely of hip cafes, restaurants and low budget accommodations. Pai was therefore the destination for backpackers in Thailand. The impressive mountains and rice fields, the waterfalls and the rainforest ensure that Pai is the destination of many eco trips. Backpackers went there for a week, but sometimes stayed there for a year.
Unfortunately, quite a bit has changed in Pai. Joseph already wrote that in his posting: “Pai is not Pai anymore”. The Thai have decided to make it a more commercial destination. Pai has more and more large resorts for tourists with a large budget. As a result, Pai has lost much of its original charm.
Koh Pahngan (or Koh Pah Ngan)
Every self-respecting backpacker wants to visit Koh Pah Ngan to travel. This island has an irresistible attraction for young people and backpackers due to the world famous 'Full Moon Party'. Koh Pah Ngan is an island in the Gulf of Thailand with beautiful beaches, beach houses and cheap eateries.
Koh Phangan backpackersMost backpackers stay on Koh Pah Ngan for a few weeks, with the Full Moon Party included in the schedule. This monthly event on Haad Rin beach sometimes attracts as many as 30.000 young people. The bars and restaurants stay open all night, everything is dedicated to music and dancing. There are live bands, DJs and fire dancers.
Alcohol and drugs are widely available on the beach. Don't make the mistake of buying or bringing drugs. There are Thai undercover agents who get a 'bonus' if they find drugs. Thailand has the strictest drug laws in the world. Possession or use of drugs can easily get you up to 10 years in prison. Thailand even has the death penalty for drug trafficking. That is a very high price to pay for an evening 'high'. Read our tips on the Full Moon Partyif you go there.
There are several travel agents on Khao San Road where you can book your cheap trip to Koh Pah Ngan.
Perhaps only 10% of the talkers are real talkers, the rest are all wannabe talkers, they all walk around the tourist spots with a Lonely Planet, while looking down on the ordinary tourists.
Give me the suitcase!!!!
@editorial,
Fortunately, your rules have been tightened since December 2010. Fortunately, this John should no longer be allowed to make his oversimplified and generalizing statement or statement. I hope…
That's right, a comment like this wouldn't get past moderation right now.
Think John meant to say that many backpackers look down on other tourists because you often hear them utter a frequently heard cry that they should not have anything from so-called mass tourism, while all of them following the Lonely Planet is in fact no different than that.
Give me the suitcase!
I completely agree with John's point of view, I also came here as a backpacker at the time and, to be honest, I stayed famous, not that I only traveled to Thailand, no, I did visit several countries. I certainly don't want to profile myself here as the bacpacker, far from it, but it is true that many of those guys and girls walk around here with an ego of look what I am doing here and you are just a bunch of stupid tourists, while they are doing exactly the same thing. in my opinion, oh woe if you had to hide their book, most of them would still start to be happy, so to speak. Let everyone just do their thing in their own right, as long as you don't bother others with it, it would be a boring world if we all think and act the same and unfortunately my conclusion is that with this globalized world we are heading towards. But not to deviate too much from the subject, yes Thailand is certainly a paradise for backpackers, perhaps the place to be, I can only judge that once I have traveled all over the world with a backpack, I will try that. but I don't think that will work with my Thai beauty.
Backpacking is very different from traveling with a backpack. I totally agree with John!!
Thailand is no longer a true backpacker Valhalla. Take a look at Koh Samui where, although a reggae bar can still be found, the 5-star hotels have sprung up like mushrooms. As a backpacker you obviously don't make much of an 'undiscovered' spot between the Conrad, Le Meridien and the Four Seasons. The same goes for most other coastal areas in Thailand.
I think Cambodia and Myanmar in particular have more to offer for backpackers at the moment.
That's right, much cheaper and much more authentic than Thailand and still a lot to discover. Thailand, on the other hand, I only visited at the time to take a break or if I was sick and then I quickly left for more adventurous places where there was really nothing to do. was to experience. The population in those countries is generally not so spoiled by the money virus outside the tourist places of course. I actually didn't find Thailand that special as a backpacker, full of tourists, too much prostitution and far too commercial for my liking. It was more of a base for me to rest, but to live there it will be better than all the other surrounding countries excepted. Malaysia I think. Thailand is a good country for wealthy Thais and expats to stay and it is also a very nice holiday country for shorter holidays in my opinion.
Well, we also just hike with a backpack, just because it's easy, but I like to have that thing on my back as little as possible, fortunately you have means of transport for that, the packpacker likes to cut back on that..
As for Pai, that environment is great, Pai, is a fake wannabe place. If you don't have the right pants on or don't have a bun in your hair....
Oh it's for the youth who likes it 😛
It has of course all changed a lot in the past thirty years, but there is not much that today's backpackers can do about it. When I first traveled through Thailand for a few months in 1986 when I was 22, there was hardly any contact with family. Calling was very expensive and a letter home took three weeks. Today, many young people have even more contact with mom and dad (via Skype, e-mail) when they travel here than when they are at home.
Traveling through Thailand has become even easier than traveling through the Netherlands, because the infrastructure to the well-known places is so tailored that you can, so to speak, send a child alone in this country. You will be welcomed everywhere - at train stations for example - by touts, and almost everywhere everything is perfectly arranged for our backpackers.
As long as you follow the highlights of Thailand.
And that may be the reason why so few backpackers travel through the Isaan for 4 weeks and so many young people come home and tell their friends that Thailand is the land of Full Moon parties and banana pancakes.
Actually, that's a pity.
It is a pity that the backpackers are so lumped together here. It makes me wonder if the author himself ever backpacked the world.
“They are low budget travelers, who are mainly looking for cheap accommodations and cheap meals.” Especially looking for cheap accommodations and cheap meals is very short-sighted. A backpacker is mainly looking for an experience. Often just graduated and on holiday outside Europe for the first time and probably also on the road unorganized for the first time. A backpacker is looking for experience in travelling, is looking for fellow sufferers and is interested in a different culture. The fact that this goes hand in hand with cheap sleeping and eating is in most cases a logical consequence. The budget is limited and the backpacker wants to be on the road as long as possible for the little money he has.
“Every self-respecting backpacker wants to travel to Koh Pah Ngan.” is another generalization. Not every backpacker wants to go there. Yes, there are those who want to go to Koh Pah Ngan, but there are also many who are horrified at the very idea. You're not going to say that every 'self-respecting entrepreneur' wants to vote for the VVD, are you?
The Lonely Planet is indeed loved. But there are more travel guides and especially with the digital possibilities, the Lonely Planet among backpackers is no longer the bible it once was.