Expats, Backpackers, Tourist, oh my!

I have decided there are several types of foreigners in Thailand. You have expats, the foreigner who is here for work. Expats have homes and sometimes families, but because they are here for work they are clean and have a purpose. They understand and generally are more respectful to the natives.Then you have backpackers. There is some Thai word for them which I think in Thai means bird shit because apparently that is what they look like. There are those backpackers that do not bathe, wear Birkenstocks and keens, smoke, have dreads and long beards, and wear very hippy, loose clothing. This is not all backpackers, but I am accurately describing the 5 people sitting across from me at the guesthouse or hostel I am at right now. There are also clean backpackers who are traveling around the world before they settle down into jobs. They are respectful, adventurous, and interested in the culture. Then you have the Ashram crew – the people who are hear for a month to practice yoga , meditation, and live out in a temple. Finally, you have the tourist who is just in Thailand for a week. They are decently dressed, have canon cameras, and are here to see the sights and enjoy the great shopping.

This weekend is my first experience with the backpacking crew. Five other Fulbrights and myself are staying in a cute, clean, little quest house/ dormitory/hostel and splitting a 6 person room with a bathroom. For about $3 dollars a night it is amazing! In the lobby is a great meeting area to discuss the previous travelers of the other guest and hear their story.

I was dropped off this morning my one of my teacher’s cousins and his girlfriend. They were coming to the city to spend the weekend studying at the local university. It is so different being so connected to a community and then coming to the backpacking community who are live a nomadic, unconnected life. I really feel like I have connections in my community, and I further realized this 15 minutes after I was dropped off- My Thai ride called to make sure I was safe and had met my friends.

It is so strange because in my community I am so conscience about what I wear and how I dress because I do not want to disrupt or offend any local values. The backpacking community, however, wears skimpy dresses and short shorts. This atmosphere is kind of nice because it offers a few days to be more of myself. I am not wearing skimpy clothes, but I do feel more comfortable to wear shorts or skirts that come above my knee, and I feel more comfortable wearing sunglasses because among westerners this is not a sign of flaunting wealth.

The backpacking community only offered another fold in confusion of my identity here in Thailand. I am not a tourist, I am not a local, and I am not a backpacker, but I do have many friends and a community I am attached to. I don’t have any answers, but I have gained a lot of sympathy for those who travel/move to another country for extended periods of time. Often it feels like I have left Earth and landed on Mars, and the voyage is rather humorous.