The Thammasat University Libraries have acquired a new book about an important aspect of the tourist economy of Thailand. Backpacker Tourism and Economic Development was written by Dr. Mark Hampton, a Reader in Tourism Management at Kent Business School, UK. Dr. Hampton, who is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS), has served as visiting professor of tourism at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The TU Libraries own other books on this subject affecting the Kingdom’s economy. Dr. Hampton’s study examines the widespread growth of backpacker tourism and its impact on local communities, especially in South-East and South Asia. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and India are examined, along with other countries. Students and ajarns interested in tourism and development studies will be interested in Dr. Hampton’s advice that while backpacker tourism can be a positive form of development, it must be attentively controlled  by national tourism authorities, with input from local officials. Dr. Hampton defines backpacking tourism as both economic and cultural, making it complex to understand. While fifty years ago, backpacking was mainly popular among hippies traveling to what were called the three K’s, or Kabul, Kathmandu, and Kuta, there are far more travelers now eager to explore other areas as well. The author refers to what is known as the Banana Pancake Trail, places in Southeast Asia that attract backpackers. In Thailand, these include Khao San Road in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pai, Kanchanaburi, Krabi, Phuket, Ko Tao, Ko Pha Ngan, Ko Phi Phi, Koh Lipe, and Koh Chang. According to one Indonesian source, the banana pancake became popular as an alternative for tourists to breakfast dishes with chili.

Dr. Hampton observes that backpacking has worked well for Thailand’s national economy, because unlike other countries, money is spent by tourists in the Kingdom on items that are made in Thailand. If goods are purchased in the Kingdom which would need to be imported to satisfy tourist demand, that would cause the money involved to leave the nation, and less ultimate benefit for the Kingdom. Here also, money spent at hotels or restaurants by backpackers tends to directly benefit villages in Thailand than when it is spent by other kinds of tourists, usually those with higher budgets who spend more. Backpackers tend to stay from twice to four times as long as usual tourists who rent hotel rooms. During this time, the money they spend goes to local vendors. Even if backpackers spend less on places to stay and things to eat than higher-budget tourists do, they tend to spend more on events such as parties and adventure activities. This money tends not to go directly to overseas investors, for example, who would likely profit more from conventional hotels. Instead, small local businesses profit. Because backpackers expect fewer services for the low amount of money they spend, they are easier to deal with in some ways than high-spending, more demanding international tourists. Local owners and businesses can fulfill their needs more easily. Backpackers do not require many staff to take care of them, the way hotel guests may. This means family businesses can take care of them, without hiring many extra employees. In cities, small businesses tend to remain Thai-owned and operated, possibly because hotels, when not filled by tourists, cam also be marketed to Thai students, for example. By contrast, backpacker tourism locations on islands and beaches are often taken over by overseas investors. Prices get higher and local people do not benefit as much from the crowds of tourists who arrive. When investment is from overseas, imported foods and other higher-priced items also do not help the local economy, compared to when local products are sold.

How long should they stay?

A major question is whether backpackers should be encouraged to stay longer and longer in Thailand on relatively low-budget stays, or if it is better for the Kingdom is tourists stay for shorter times but spend more money. If the latter choice is preferred by tourism authorities, this might mean shortening the current tourist visas granted to incoming travelers. Naturally, there are also negative aspects to backpacking tourism, as anyone who has seen Freak Street in Kathmandu or Khao San Road is aware of. There is also the issue of parties on beaches which include the consumption of illegal drugs. One useful conclusion by Dr. Hampton is that backpacker tourism remains as it is, rather than developing into more expensive kinds of tourism. While backpackers today have more money to spend than they did a half-century ago, there is still the phenomenon, which worries some observers, of seeing people who look as if they were homeless in their own countries, staying for extended times in Thailand because prices are relatively cheaper than in their homelands. Backpacking should be controlled, Dr. Hampton concludes, but not discouraged because it definitely helps local communities more than other kinds of tourism. Nowadays there are even separate categories for backpackers, including flashpackers and greypackers. Flashpackers are somewhat older than student-age backpackers, and generally have more money than them. They may also bring along on their travels lots of electronic equipment, although students from Western countries tend to do that as well these days. Greypackers are even older, sometimes past retirement age, but they are strong enough to carry around backpacks with their belongings in them. These and other categories of backpackers, also including family-packers, have different goals for their travels.

Thailand and backpacking.

As The Nation reported in April:

Thailand is unquestionably the classic budget-travel destination in Southeast Asia, and has been for more than 30 years. “Mass tourism does dominate many places, but there are still islands and beaches to discover,” says one German travel blogger and Southeast Asia specialist, Stefan Diener.

In August, an editorial in The Nation argued:

We need to keep the tourists coming…Tourism is a major revenue-earner, accounting for 10 per cent of Thailand’s gross domestic product and being one of the few bright spots in a struggling economy at a time when a global economic recovery is not yet in sight. The sector generated revenue of Bt1.44 trillion last year with 29.8 million arrivals. It expects to earn Bt1.56 trillion from the international tourist trade this year. In Southeast Asia only Malaysia comes close to Thailand’s achievement, with 25.7 million arrivals last year, but the number marked a decline over 2014. Singapore had 12 million and Indonesia 10.4 million. The Thai government is now attempting to restore foreign confidence and woo visitors back – pledging increased security measures, promotional campaigns and major music and food festivals. Every citizen can lend a hand in this effort to keep the tourists coming. People involved in the tourism industry should cater to the visitors with a “service mentality”, the hallmark of good hospitality, and put an end to bad habits that turn them off – practices such as double-pricing and overpricing. Tourism is the backbone of the Thai economy, of immense help at a time when other revenue-earners, like exports, are not doing well. But taking money from tourist pockets should not be the main goal in drawing millions of foreigners to Thailand. Residents of the Kingdom, including those outside the tourism sector, should act as good hosts when dealing with the visitors from faraway lands. We have a global reputation for hospitality, with travelers invariably reporting that it is the local people who keep them coming back again and again. Some are simply impressed by friendly smiles. As the backpacker website Passplanet.com puts it, “The Thai people are very friendly and helpful! The Land of Smiles still follows as a whole its reputation. As for the sincerity of their smiles, well, who cares? It makes you feel good, and this is what matters.”… It is mutually rewarding for visitors from other countries and local residents to develop good bonds as fellow human beings. And it is these harmonious people-to-people ties that will bring the visitors back again and again.

In January, it was noted that a rise in solo travelers was expected to boost the hostel business by 10 percent this year in Thailand:

More than 2,000 hostels are in the market, accounting for 12 per cent of total accommodations. In Bangkok alone, the number of hostels doubled to 400 last year. The capital cost of a hostel is much lower than big hotels, while owners can run their properties using their own strategies and business plans….The definition of a hostel is ambiguous, so the government should clarify what the term means and promote it as a category of accommodation to help boost tourism.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).