Thai tourism has long represented excellent value at both the luxury end and in the budget bracket. Now a new breed of visitor selectively combines elements of flash living with backpacking: the so-called ‘flashpacker’. Such discerning independent travellers would never call themselves that, but it labels a trend in destinations like Thailand that mix high and low with ease.

The flashpacker is a professional in the high-spending 25-45 generation. Many come as couples, others solo or in groups, some gay, some extending a business trip. Often veteran backpackers, they soften the Lonely Planeteer’s quest for authentic adventure with a preference for comfort, convenience and occasional indulgence. Catered to by specialist guides like Time Out, Luxe or Thailand Chic, these open-minded sophisticates have also sparked a renaissance in mid-range hotels and bespoke activities — all emphasising energy, style and cultural sensitivity.

This formula requires locations with both reasonable top-end rates and high standards at the cheapest places, such as Thailand’s superb streetfood and inspired guesthouses like Suk 19 & Spa. This enables discriminating visitors to experience continuous quality whatever their wallet. Even pennywise visitors can afford memorable treats such as dining alfresco atop a skyscraper at Sirocco, aboard the teak river barge Mekhala, or in a Michelin-level gourmet penthouse like D’Sens.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
This new segment dovetails with Thailand’s new emphasis on visitor quality over quantity in arrivals. As defined by Thailand's Minister of Tourism and Sports, Dr Suvit Yodmani, quality tourists are environmentally aware, responsible individuals who take a keen interest in learning about the places and communities they visit. As a result, they tend to stay longer.

That reflects a mainstream adoption of values pioneered by backpackers, who sometimes get misread as being ‘low quality’ in a culture that judges dress as a social indicator. In fact, backpackers are generally well-raised, well-off graduates, who happen to relish dressing-down during their gap year travel or sabbatical from a smart-dressed job. By contrast, flashpackers typically pack both casualwear for active pursuits as well as fashionwear for high-living and nightlife.

Backpackers who feel well treated in places often go back there as professionals, with families, for business, or on further flashpacking escapades.

DESIGNED FOR SPEED
Backpackers spend a high budget gradually over a long period, treating intervening travel as key to the experience. Flashpackers, they say, have less time but more dime. So they skip to an increasing number of regional airports like Krabi, Trat, Samui and Hua Hin, via the burgeoning no-frills airlines — Nok Air, One-2-Go or Air Asia, or the boutique carrier Bangkok Airways. They may however splurge on premium jaunts like the Eastern & Oriental Express train, Oriental Balloon expeditions, or liveaboard diving yachts like Panunee.

Since flashpackers are wired and gadget-laden, even cheaper locations often provide wi-fi internet access or even iPod docks. Invariably their tightly scheduled trips were pre-assembled and booked online.

Trendy urbanite travellers also minimise commutes to sights. In Bangkok’s downtown that means access to mass transit from the posh hotels or boutique beds like Luxx, Rose or Siam at Siam. Staying in the Old Town once meant slumming in dowdy digs until Buddy Lodge started upgrading Khao San Road guesthouses. Now at Aurum, Arun Residence or Old Bangkok Inn, flashpackers sleep chicly amid the ancient communities they explore by day. And connoisseurs of Chinatown’s alleys can finally stay stylishly in situ, thanks to Shanghai Inn.

TREKS APPEAL
A similar surge in designer accommodation now enhances Chiang Mai’s second-city status. Hikers returning to the northern capital from treks among hill-tribe villages or white-water rafting previously put up with rather bland rooms. Now boutique hotels exemplify the neo-Lanna design wave.

Chiang Mai has evolved a restaurant scene to match. Foodies may lunch the local way at khao soi noodle stalls then dine with panache at The House, Baan Suan or Le Grand Lanna. Wised-up trekkers head further north to Chiang Dao, where hill tribe and elephant experiences contrast with the surprisingly refined cuisine at Chiang Dao Nest guesthouse. Hundreds of bends to the northwest, mountain-ringed Pai provides more flashpacker fusion. Joining its renowned quirky hostelries and galleries, swish new resorts will soon to be served by an airstrip.

REFINED RUSTIC
Trekking itself has become more accessible to those with less time but an undiluted thirst for the real thing. Jungle Rafts, floating on a Kanchanaburi river in the West, pioneered the concept of comfy yet conscientious accommodation in remote forests, as did Treetops with treehouses in the Khao Sok National Park to the south, and the northern tribal village residences of Lisu Lodge and Khum Lanna. And in Bangkok’s fringes, the Thai House not only teaches Siamese cooking, but offers a chance to sample canal life in a teak stilt home.

COASTAL CONTRASTS
The ultimate backpacker grail was the ‘undiscovered’ island idyll, as immortalised in the book and film The Beach. An exclusive beach now tends to mean a gated jet-set resort. Many bamboo bungalow operations remain, though no longer on Phuket or increasingly Samui and Krabi. Islands where these extremes co-exist include Lanta and Phi-Phi in the south, Chang and Samet in the east. Flashpackers relish the contrast, chilling with beach dudes at Crusoe-esque huts before treating themselves to a private pool villa.

PARTY PRIORITY
Koh Pha-ngan not only serves both markets, but adds a factor crucial to lifestyle-oriented tourists: nightlife. The island’s celebrated Full Moon Parties virtually invented the idea of people travelling specifically to party. Nightlife tourism’s gone beyond hippies spaced-out on the beach. Globalised young professionals often select cities by the quality of their bars and clubs. Despite a social order crackdown, Bangkok retained its after-dark frisson. Venues like Bed Supperclub, Q Bar and Club Culture programme globally famous DJs as well as homespun talent. Where ramshackle bar beers once set the tone, now hip bars with mixologist waiters feature in backpacker handbooks like the Rough Guide.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Another inheritance from the backpacker ethos is a sense of responsibility, especially ‘fair trade’. Flashpackers tend to favour community operators and independent hotels over corporate chains. That spurs an incentive for diversity rather than generic brands. Jungle Rafts supports a marginalised Mon settlement. Phra Nakorn Norn Len interprets the shophouse lifestyle and encourages guests to buy rather than bypass neighbourhood services like meals and laundry. The individually-created interiors at Reflections’ Rooms provide international exposure for emerging Thai artists. Increasingly, affluent young tourists devote part of their upmarket holiday to labour on voluntourism projects. Today’s packers might be flash, but they are still fair.

LIFESTYLE IN YOUR LUGGAGE
To recover from an arduous trek, dive or shopping marathon, these active explorers may reward themselves at a sumptuous hotel spa. Alternatively, those splashing out on an opulent hotel room can stretch their baht with a cheaper treatment at one of the independent spas thronging every tourist locale. That’s the beauty of flashpacking — choosing to skimp or splurge according to taste. It is tailoring Thailand to your lifestyle.

		Nok Air Web site: www.nokair.com
		Air Asia Web site: www.airasia.com
		One-2-Go Web site: www.fly12go.com

		Bangkok Airways Web site: www.bangkokair.com

In Bangkok
A selection of Bangkok’s boutique hotel boom

		Aurum Plush, comfy boutique hotel on the Tha Tien community riverside Web site: www.aurum-bangkok.com
		Arun Residence Another riverside retreat at Tha Tien, with a retro-shophouse ambiance Web site: www.arunresidence.com
		Luxx Minimalist décor on an intimate scale in a downtown sidestreet Web site: www.staywithluxx.com
		Old Bangkok Inn Subtle homage to shophouse heritage between Golden Mount and Banglamphu Web site: www.oldbangkokinn.com
		Reflections Rooms Now moved from Ari to Saphan Khwai, this kitsch art hotel has now opened up two untouristed BTS-fed neighbourhoods near Chatuchak Weekend Market, where simple stalls sell designer wares for a song. Web site: www.reflections-thai.com
		Rose Retro refit – plus a sublime Thai house restaurant – at a hotel right in the nightlife hub
		Shanghai Inn Dazzling details and hues in this Chinoiserie-themed Chinatown inn Web site: www.shanghai-inn.com
		Siam at Siam This new tower in the shopping district showcases contemporary Thai style. Web site: www.siamatsiam.com
		The Thai House Teaches Siamese cooking but offers a chance to sample canal life in a teak stilt home on Bangkok’s fringes. Web site: www.thaihouse.com

		Bann Tazala Unwind amid a neo-Lanna vernacular atmosphere Web site: www.banntazala.com
		Chedi Swish, understated luxe with the A-list by the Ping River Web site: www.ghmhotels.com/hotels/hotel_home.asp?hotelid=15&section=home
		D2 Pop-themed pampering right beside the Chiang Mai night market Web site: www.thai-tour.com
		Lisu Lodge & Khum Lanna In the wilds outside Chiang Mai town, these rustic lodges run by the same company offer comfortable experience of different northern tribal villages. Web site: www.asian-oasis.com/lisu.html
		Mandarin Oriental Dhara Devi A Lanna heritage fantasia in shaded grounds for an opulent retreat. Web site: www.mandarinoriental.com/chiangmai/
		Rachamankha& Tamarind Village Recapture the sense of the bygone city with these walled incarnations of old residences. Great value considering their exquisite detail. Web site: www.rachamankha.com, www.tamarindvillage.com

Refined Rustic
Lavishness has entered the wilder landscapes of Thailand

		Anantara Resort Golden Triangle or The Four Seasons Tented Camp, Golden Triangle In Chiang Rai, train as an elephant mahout while luxuriating at these top of the line resorts at the Golden Triangle. Web site: goldentriangle.anantara.com, www.fourseasons.com/goldentriangle
		Jungle Rafts In Kanchanaburi. No electricity but plenty of charm and personal attention at this elaborate rafthouse attached to a Mon village in a gorge. Web site: www.riverkwaifloatel.com
		Kirimaya In Khao Yai, maintain sophisticated style at this elegant resort amid between jungle treks and rounds of golf. Web site: www.kirimaya.com/resort
		Treetops In Khao Sok National Park, Surat Thani, stay in high-end treehouses at this pioneering riverside resort in the rainforest. Web site: www.treetopsriverhuts.com
		Village Farm In Khao Yai, base your national park safaris and wine tasting tours out of a select vineyard residence. Web site: www.villagefarm.co.th

Coastal Contrasts. Island Idyll.

		Costa Lanta On Koh Lanta. Sleek minimalist villas suit the laid back island lifestyle Web site: www.costalanta.com
		Zeavola On Koh Phi Phi. Thoughtfully constructed timber bungalows keep a naturalistic feel to this upscale resort Web site: www.zeavola.com
		Boutique Resort On Koh Chang. Quaintly thatched villas mark this resort as one of the forested isle’s simpatico places to stay Web site: www.boutiqueresortandhealthspa.com
		Paradee On Koh Samet. Adobe-style bungalows add a distinctive feature to this upwardly-mobile island's otherwise happy-go-lucky guesthouses Web site: www.samedresorts.com/resort/paradee.htm

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