This topic has been raised indirectly on a couple of Gay Thai boards recently. This article from a Blog ( mainly pretty horrendous and argumentative ) gave me food for thought.

I would previously have given unthinking lip service to the "We are guests in this country and should behave as such" but on reflection I don't think it is true. I think I am more a customer. That does not mean that I should not be respectful of Thai culture or impolite.

"From Paivi & Santeri's Blog
We have been told a few times in travel-related Internet discussion forums that when we travel outside Finland, we are guests. Therefore we must refrain from expressing any opinions on that country or its people unless our view is positive. Criticism and especially trying to right wrongs is not seen as acceptable behaviour of a guest. Are we guests or tourists?
Let us consider a bit more deeply the concept of 'guest'. Traditionally it refers to a person who is invited to a country or a home by a host. How many people have actually been invited to visit a country? Certainly diplomats, visiting governers of other nations, some sportsmen and other celebrities. But what about regular tourists on their one-month holiday?

Licensed tourism
In some countries like Russia tourists need an official invitation. It is usually acquired through a travel agency, and does not require the tourist to know anybody in the hosting country. In most other countries travellers don't even need this. However, there is one group of people in every country who always welcomes tourists above all others: people working in tourism industry. Tourism is a big business as every tourist brings a considerable sum of money into the country.
In general, to deal with a business you do not need any invitation or license. You pay for the services you use or for the products you buy. We do not see how tourism should be different from other businesses. A tourist is a paying customer who should get the best possible service in return of the money spent. If this is not the case, why should the customers just shut up?

Tourism is a big business

Some people deny the commercial side of tourism. According to us, one reason for this lies in nationalism. People attach sentimental meanings to countries, transferring the feelings they have for their own home country to the countries they visit. They feel that in every country there is a nation who owns that country and somehow regulates the tourist influx. Therefore travellers and tourists should be grateful that they have been allowed to enter. Another reason for denying the commercialism is that some people try to cover the fact that they are travelling as tourists. They would like to be something else, to mingle with local people, and be appreciated also otherwise than as mere targets and sources of income for tourism industry.
Nationalists think they show the utmost respect for other nations but in reality they build barriers between themselves and hosts. Hosts are seen as others which leads to an ambiguous attitude. Tourists either belittle themselves assuming the role of a guest who is all the time on his toes and tries to please his host, praising him and the country to the skies and ignoring all the downsides. The other side of the coin is patronizing the host. Us Westeners, when travelling in third world countries, may feel that we are priviledged compared to our hosts. We demonstrate that by paying too much, leaving extravagant tips, and trying to live up to the wealthy reputation. We pretend that we can help the poor buggers, but the poor buggers quite often feel that we promote ourselves and disrespect them. Does condescending behaviour imply respect to you?

Full article : http://paivisanteri.blogspot.com/2007/0 ... rists.html

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