Thailand's hippie trail

daniel says:

well u seem to have hit the nail right on its proverbial head, ok i can just about put up with the koh san male hippies but the female ones seem to be intolerable and as for the ageing koh san female hippies i suggest the first thing they buy when they get to koh san road is a mirror to show how stupid they look.
anyway if they were true hippies with any sense of credibility they wouldnt be seen dead in koh san rd, is it me or is it because drugs are so freely avalible in koh san that they might be there. hippies the few i have know in the uk seem ok its just seems when they reach koh san the full moon party etc etc they turn into real assholes with hey man you gotta try this or do that and if you disagree then you must be so uncultered and ignorant, MAN.
MAY THE SEED OF YOUR LOINS BE FRUITFUL IN DE BELLY OF YA WOMAA ETC ETC..

OH NO MY BARELY ADEQUATE PSYCHIC DEFENCES ARE CRUMBLING...MAN, HEY, LIKE DONT PUT ME DOWN OR ANYTHING.
ok i wont,,just dont be a wanker then.

bob says:

you forgot to mention they smell bad ,body odour is worn like a badge of pride.
and washing is still out of fashion

Babydragon says:

Great !!! There the scum of the earth, smelly, shoeless, sleazy,shit soaked, slimy,squatter flies !
Village soi dogs are better than these low lifes !

bangkokram says:

Don't get me started!

savage says:

I'm reporting this sad excuse for a website to the thai ministry of infomation.

You know nothing about thailand, you have been here for short time, and you know even less about travellers epitomic culture

Andy says:

We owe it to the travelling fraternity to keep alive our noble British traditions of juggling; fire-eating; hair-braiding; and scrounging.

Johnny says:

The only thing I've got against them, is that they expect everyone to be exactly like them, in order to get acceptance from them. No different to alot of fucked up belief systems.

ty says:

How come hippies who take drugs goto thailand where you land in prison for ages for taking drugs???

Julian says:

Just in the name of comprehensive research... do these hippie guys seem to have any interest in the Pattaya 'nightlife'? Or are they in a world apart? Maybe, this is who 40+ hippie chicks hook up with, 30+ hippie guys?? We need some insight here.

jimbo says:

"I don't do drugs 'cause hippies do drugs-- and hippies suck!"

Mick from the Isle of Man says:

David, give these people a break. Sure the hippie culture, or whateevr you want to call it died years ago, but at least these people are living in LOS and I never found most of them to bother anybody. Would you prefer they move back to manchester and work in a factory. your post was funny and it is easy to criticize, but what the hell do you wear in bangkok? black socks, running shoes, and abercrombie and fitch shorts? just like the hippies, all caucasians stick out like a sore thumb in LOS too regardless. and just as easily as you criticize other caucasians in LOS, we criticize blokes who throw around the word farang like they know LOS. farang is a thai word to be used by thais. any caucasians using the word lose instant credibility in my book because it is a signal they think they have actually blended into thai society. we laugh when we hear it because only newbies (10 years or less)use the word farang. it is like the white guy in south central la asking for directions by asking, "hey my brother, you know how to get back on the freeway?"

Andy says:

Sorry Mick, but a lot of the Khao San Rd brigade are justifiably despised by expats living here because they expect everywhere to be accommodating and acquiescent to their cheapo druggy lifestyles.
They don't give a shit about local traditions or sensitivities; they just expect a "cheap holiday in other people's misery" to quote a memorable song lyric.

Combover says:

Not sure if they truly qualify as rastafarians. It takes more than a few joints and a deftly neglected barnet I would imagine. They are not hippies either in the true sense of the word.

The terms "trustafarian" or "soapdodger" quite adequately describe these mangy, soulless individuals.

flewbiddy says:

Not sure about the South Central LA analogy - instead I think it would be more akin to "excuse me, but this here honky needs a little help getting back on the freeway".

As for the use of "farang", I'm still not sure if it's necessarily a derogatory term to be used for foreigners (I assume that's why you say it is a word only to be used by Thais?), as some Thais claim it's a neutral reference (although still admitting that "chao dtang chaat" is more polite). Then again, I guess I'm still a relative newbie here given that I'm not even close to 10 years in LOS.

Hippy Hater says:

Have to agree with all your comments, I work in England with one of these sad sacks. We have nicknamed him 'the worlds most selfish anarchist'. He goes on squatters rights marches, but has a mortgage on his own flat and takes money off the government to house one of his trampy mates. Once kicked some people out who moved in while he was on holiday as well.

He also protested at the recent weapons fare in London, then just went out paintballing with his mates and regailed us with tales of how great a soldier he would have been.

Boycotts Nestle and McDonalds, also Pret A Manger (because the are owned by McDonalds) but then asked someone to pick him a sandwich from there, reasoning being that he could still have something if someone else bought it for him ?

He has about 20 piercings and tattoo's, smells of piss (actually berated a person in the office for having a shower every day) and this is getting really smelly due to the hot weather at the moment.

His parents are very rich and so are all of his mates families, bunch of hippocrite losers the lot of them.

But I can understand why they call themselves 'Swampy' and 'Moonbeam' when their real names are Tarquin and Fionella

Mick from the Isle of Man says:

Agree Flewbiddy. Lets face it, use of the word farang by a caucasian is as ridiculous as a bunch of uk mongers in cartagena calling each other gringos.

daniel says:

dear SAVAGE i have been in thailand for two years and travelled all over but i dont judge people by what they look like i judge people from experience but i usually give everyone the benefit of my doubt but my experience tells me that the koh san road hippie is a very bad vibe...man, as is the nana plaza chav,etc etc.
i dont mean to sound ignorant but if you dont learn from your experiences then maybe you will not learn at all.

anyway i must go to sleep now..."oh shit i cant everyone knows sleep gives you cancer.....hehe

bangkokram says:

Hippy Hater, you are so right!

Before leaving the UK, I lived near a large University Campus. I really hope that these kids aren't the cream of the crop and will one day run the country.

The smell was something else. My local as always been a busy Pub, the only people who got seats where the Hippy Students, they smelt so bad that people gave them a wide birth.

At least once a week I would have a flyer on my car informing me of the world according to Hippies, Save the Whale, Save the Dolphin, Save the Planet, Legalise Drugs and Stop the War.

I used too see the same type down Khao San Rd, "Used too" meaning I can't stand the place, you say in the next post that is changing, I hope so, there are some fine Restaurants and Bars down Khaosan, but whilst the Hippy/Backpackers charge around being right on with the world you can count me out.

nigel h. says:

re: older farang hippie chicks,not getting any romance.

actually i know quite a few thai guys, who are regularly shagging these 30+ yrs of age farang girls. these thai guys are not gigolos either. for they tell me that they never get any money, and rarely get any presents, from these farang women for the shag. they say they do it mainly for the sex.

well, at least these women are getting shagged on a regular basis. which is what we're all looking for.

philH says:

OK Flewbiddy and Mick, the use of farang by caucasians is ridiculous but it is a simple way of referring to a non-Thai.

Caucasian is reasonable but omits people of Afro/Caribbean/Indian extraction. You got any suggestions on an alternative to farang?

babydragon says:

I agree with Bangkokram Walk down Khaosan Road (if youre Game !)and you can see How Thai Immigration just lets any type of person into The Kingdom.
The Road is full of cheapo thrills and drugs....Even some Thais prefer to stay away from that Soi .

babydragon says:

Interesting to see what some of the Long term expats here in LOS think about the increasing number of Hippies hanging out here....?

Mick from the Isle of Man says:

philh, feel free to throw around the word farang like every other smug harry, dick, and tom who has just arrived in thailand. I know using the word farang makes you feel somehow connected, knowledgeable, and superior. Hell, i used to use the word until a fellow foreigner took a bar of soap and washed it out of my lexicon. Now i just call him a yank.

philH says:

Didn't expect an answer Mick, good thing too as you didn't give one.

It's very easy to knock things down isn't it? Not so easy to put things up in their place though.

I'll just put it down to the fact that there has been way too much in-breeding on the IoM.

Andy says:

Ackshully the term "farang" is quite handy to use in social conversation if you're not sure of a person's nationality.
"I just watched this old farang guy get knocked down by a bus" for example.
Convenient, as you'd probably never know his country of origin seeing as how he's probably dead now...

Who the hell uses the term "caucasian" these days, anyhow? ;-)

Jaques says:

How about plain old "white", as opposed to "farang". Farang is a Thai word used by Thai people, and often not in a nice way. You won't catch Indian or Arab people using the word "kehk" to refer to themselves. Although admittedly I might use the word farang sometimes, as in "....that stupid fuckwit farang cunt...", or something similar.

Wiseone says:

Come-on people, we should be fighting terorists rather then picking up on peacful freaks who introduced us to FREE LOVE, JOINTS,some other great shit.
If you were not bunch of weirdos you would know that there is nothing better then down time with a couple of young hippie chics...

Andy says:

"Terorists" don't whine about getting busted for smoking drugs by Thai cops for 13 fucking hours when sat behind me on a plane.
They just blow it up.... A lot less painful.

China says:

I've been an expat in China for several years now (and visited Thailand many times) and this discussion of 'farang' is interesting.

The equivalent term here is 'laowai,' and has what I guess are similar connotations: previously more on the derogatory side, it has become more of a neutral moniker. Although it seems silly to me for a non-Chinese to use it, who the hell cares? We generally call non-Chinese 'foreigners.' Interesting that the only alternatives here seem to be 'caucasian.'

breakshead says:

How come these so called hippies always say they are non conformist and out of the system. They have there own uniform of shite fishermans pants and wank Indian art tops. As for the fucking fire "shows" on the beaches of Koh Phangan. Fuck me i need a bucket of LSD to enjoy that shit.

Mow Ling says:

I had the misfortune to run into one of these plastic hippies whilst looking for some late night drinking on Koh Phangan.

Against my better judgement, I joined a table of "travellers" with my Thai GF.

I had to endure a load of crap about "the real Thailand". They missed the point that Thais don't want to live in the dark ages just to create some kind of authentic theme park for tourists to visit. Thais actually want aircon, mobiles, McDonalds (yuk) and MTV.

One of them was harping on about Reggae (god I hate Reggae!) and about how Brixton was the centre of the Reggae world, outside Jamaica. He said his dream was to visit Brixton!!

I did ask him why the hell he'd want to go to a shithole S.London borough when he could go to Jamaica but judging by the way he looked at me, I'd obviously missed something!

And don't even get me started about the bigoted bitch he was "travelling" with. I think the poor love thought I was oppressing my TG and she had to save her. She obviously doesn't know much about Thai Girls!

waxhead says:

For some reason, the hippies strike me as a complete bunch of deadbeat losers.

Their music sucks.

Their fashion sense sucks.

They stink.

They either have no money, or they have money but are pretending they have no money; either way they are strounging tramps

For whatever reason, I always assume that regular drivel poster Dana is one of these characters based on his no use of deodorant...perhaps that is why he has not replied in this thread?!

Telemachus says:

I hate hippies!

Pants Elk says:

Whoah.

"Hippies"?

The Death Of Hippie was a Haight ceremony in 1967, and anybody using the term should understand it refers to a phenomenon that lasted a very short period of time, and was subsequently kept alive (tubes up the nose) by the media, and younger generations adopting whatever cultural signifiers they found attractive from the hippie lifestyle (such as it ever was).
What is it with "white rastafarians", anyway? Do they think that black guys will, like, *respect* them? Or do they just agree with Rastafarian codes of behaviour (drug-induced stupor, subjugation of women, Hailie Selassie arriving in black starliner to take them back to Ethiopia, etc).
I just wish there was another term for this group of people; "hippies" is actually as appropriate as "teddy boys" or "beatniks".
Anybody know how they term themselves?

John says:

They STANK!! and I hate'em!!!! hahaha

MrClis says:

Pants Elk commented, and I quote:

"I just wish there was another term for this group of people; "hippies" is actually as appropriate as "teddy boys" or "beatniks".
Anybody know how they term themselves?"

They tend to refer to themselves as 'travellers' or 'members of the traveller community' although what the distinction is between a traveller and a vacationer escapes me, apart from the fact that holidaymakers tend to spend more money, have nicer hotel rooms and don't smell quite so badly of geriatric pork farmers on a hot day.

I hate the bastards (hippies that is, not pork farmers, some of whom are jolly nice people) with their bangles and beads, their stupid little beards, their dirty hair, cheap ethnic raggedy-arsed clothing and their silly little drums; they're like the Hari friggin' Krishnas minus the soap and good works..

I remember doing the India thing with a past girlfriend during a past life.
Our six-month holiday, for such it was, led us to Om Beach, a picture-postcard destination near the village of Gokarna in deepest Karnataka. Reknown for its seclusion, cheap drugs and absolute beauty we, like Vincent Di-Whatever in the movie, The Beach, were drawn to this delighful, tranquil place.
We rented a beautiful grass hut near the edge of the water with no facilities whatsover. We slept on woven mattresses, dined on dal and rice and marvelled at the workings of god however, the place was infested with hippies chanting their doggrell of ganja, peace, communal living and free, if rather distastful, sex.
I can still remember the putrid liver-faced rage of the Scandinavian hippy violently screaming at me for refusing to give him the bucket of water we had just drawn from the communal well for our own use.
Hippyism is sadly contagous, however.
Our descent into hippydom was, thankfully, curtailed by a rather wise old Indian man who we watched bathe his elephant in a river.
Stopping for a moment to watch us in return he asked us why we, who were obviously wealthy enough to travel half the world to watch him bathe an elephant, were wearing such bad clothing.
That did the trick, right enough.
Yes, siree, Bob.
But to get to my point.
I hate the word 'Farrang' and will not tolerate it from the people with whom I interact everyday. I have a name; use it, or, if you so choose, use the Thai social terms that are so easily expressed whether it be Pi, Lung or, on a really good night out, Bah.
Use of the word, 'farrang' by members of my social group drives me to an inchoherent rage and I have been known to dismiss members of staff for frequent use.
Farrang is a pejorative term that, like nigger, wog or spic, should be relegated to the confines of history and the language of workingmen's club comedians. There are perfectly acceptable substitutes such as 'Westerner' or even 'Khon Dang Chat' that can be used instead without causing offence and most educated Thais of my aquaintance steer away from the word in mixed company (although all use it amongst themselves).
I also hate 'You'.
I don't mind so much the 'Hey you fallang' merchants who are almost invariably motorcye drivers. What the hell do they know about anything anyway? They spend their days doing the bag-soi run for 5 baht a pop and their nights drinking Acha beer at 20 baht a bottle.
It's the shop girls, garage workers and low-level clerks who can't even be bothered to exhibit basic politness during a business transaction that really piss me off.
The Thais are good at that.
I once watched a Thai policeman repeadly call an attractive female co-worker of mine 'Noo' even though she had several times asked him to refer to her as Khun Kru. This power play rendered her, eventualy, absolutely silent as, unable to deal with the situation, she quietly made him invisible.
(On a related matter: have you noticed that Muslim extremists are now reffered to in the Media as 'Islamists' rather than Muslims...ain't language a wonderful thing?)
Now, I must admit that sometimes, just sometimes, I too use the word 'fallang' ('L' sound not 'R' sound to inject just a little more bile into the word).
I am still, unfortunately, a newbie here in Thailand being one year shy of the ten year watershed mentioned above. As a newbie my opinions must be regarded as unformed and innocent but when I call a Westerner a fallang then, by implication, I mean a sweaty, badly dressed, drunken fool who is about to do something stupid, ill-mannered and offensive.
I mean someone with no more credibility than the retarded Issarn dwarf who sells squid-on-a-stick from a bicycle outside my house on a weekday evening and with no more right to respect than the ulcerated, bescabbed soi-dogs that infest the lower numbered, litter-strewn sois of Sukhamvit.
I mean an untermench, a non-person, a poor laughable sad-arsed bastard that children point at in the street.
Gosh
I use the word farrang just like the Thais do.
Guess I'm not such a newbie after all.

Tongue-tied Danny says:

I'd like to congratulate MrClis on being the smuggest twat who has been shat into creation.

MrClis says:

Danny,
Aye thank you.
Are you a fallang by any chance?

Andy says:

Oh dear! The "I hate being called a falang" mincers are back!

Go to the beauty salon and get a manicure, presh! It will really make you feel better about yourself. Honest.

I couldn't give a rat's chuff what some Thai calls me, especially when I'm still "on the clock".

Jaez says:

Hi everybody. I am Jeaz, I live near Kaosan road for almost 2 year and I love that place. I love the people there and if you things that life is to getting paid sex from little girls that can be your nephew well, I prefer to smell and stay here. People should be judged for what they do and not for what they look like

jollyboy says:

I think the khoa san road hippies are fantastic, I mean us ex skinheads have got to have someone to boot up the arse now and then, there also great to use as an example when your Thai GF/wife is having a tantrum, all you've got to do is point at one of them and say " what do you want me to look like that scruffy wanker over there", you get an instant hug and a smile straight away.you see the great unwashed really do have a purpose in Thailand.