Digital Nomads Living on the Margins by Beverly Yuen Thompson

Author:Beverly Yuen Thompson [Thompson, Beverly Yuen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800715462
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Published: 2021-06-11T00:00:00+00:00

Relations With Local Residents

Jason is Gemma’s partner; she is quoted above. They are one of the few couples traveling together. They also got their start in Chiang Mai, but they are currently spending more time in Las Palmas, Spain, a traditional tourist location for British tourists, as they both are. Both of them mention price differentials for British and Thai people. Gemma mentions it as a barrier between Westerners and locals. Jason downplays the impact digital nomads have on the Thai economy:

From what I’ve heard, prices are slowly rising in Thailand, but not to a great degree. To me, it seems like there are a lot of people doing this. We go out and meet people, work in the spaces where they work. So, it’s like, “There is a ton of people.” But, certainly, in the south of Spain, digital nomads aren’t even a drop in the ocean in terms of tourism. In Chiang Mai, I think the impact is relatively small. A lot of nomads live quite cheaply; so, they aren’t necessarily spending as much as a tourist. I never earned my money in a country I’m staying in, so, essentially, my being there is a plus for them. Everything is money coming from outside Thailand, for example, and being spent in Thailand.

Here Jason is making a distinction between digital nomads and tourists and then downplaying the impact digital nomads have on the rising prices, while at the same time stating that they are contributing in consumer spending, providing income for the country. Indeed, tourism is nearly 12% of the economy with a record-breaking 35 million tourists in 2017 alone (Thakral & Sriring, 2018). For years, the tourism industry has been attracting explosive growth – only to be absolutely shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Other sectors are not facing such high growth, placing even more importance upon tourism nationally. Basically, nomads want to take credit for contributing to the economy through consumption and yet avoid paying taxes nor admitting to their place in rising housing costs that disproportionately impacts local Thai people. They point to the friendly smiles of the locals and how they have warm conversations with them in their favorite restaurants, and yet spend most of their time behind the paywall of the coworking spaces. Nomad Anna wrestles with the behavior of tourists and, yet, tried to position herself in a different category:

Most nomads have traveled to places where their money goes further. There are going to be certain things that you don’t experience because you have plenty of money in this context. You’re working, so you have limited time to engage with the culture. But it’s good to learn a little bit of the language, to respect cultural tradition. Like I’ve seen people be really disrespectful, like wearing shorts to temples in town. Or getting angry because a local Indonesian wouldn’t let them into a temple when they are wearing booty shorts. How would you feel if someone came to your church and did that? You’d be really pissed off, like don’t do it.

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