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‘You can never cross the same river twice’: climbers’ embodied quests for ‘original adventure’ in southern Thailand

Bott, Esther

‘You can never cross the same river twice’: climbers’ embodied quests for ‘original adventure’ in southern Thailand Thumbnail


Authors

ESTHER BOTT esther.bott@nottingham.ac.uk
Associate Professor



Abstract

This article presents ethnographic research into individual narratives of adventure in a small, undeveloped bay called Ton Sai in southern Thailand’s Krabi Province. Ton Sai is extremely popular with Western rock climbers and increasingly with other adventure seekers and backpackers questing for ‘authentic’ Thailand, yet is subject to almost no representation in the commercial sense. It is an example of a destination that is not on the corporate ‘radar’, yet, as will be seen, is famed, desired and produced by ‘niche’ tourists seeking very specifically valued tropical adventures. This research aims to interrogate how such a destination becomes, and remains, valued as adventurous by climbers and therefore shed some light on individual, subjective production of adventure in specific Developing World contexts. Drawing on original interview and other ethnographic data collected during winter 2012/2013, this article argues that even when third-party commercial mediators are absent, the powers of quest for authenticity and adventure are powerful enough to turn the wheels of mediation themselves. In the ‘elite circles’ in which this group manoeuvres, notions of ideal adventure space run deep and are reproduced discursively and through embodied performances in an exoticised environment that is valued for its ‘primitive timelessness’. The implications of this for locals are explored.

Citation

Bott, E. (2015). ‘You can never cross the same river twice’: climbers’ embodied quests for ‘original adventure’ in southern Thailand. Tourist Studies, 15(1), https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797614550959

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 1, 2014
Online Publication Date Sep 18, 2014
Publication Date Apr 1, 2015
Deposit Date Mar 2, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Tourist Studies
Print ISSN 1468-7976
Electronic ISSN 1741-3206
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Issue 1
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797614550959
Keywords adventure; climbing tourism; distinction; subjectivity; the ‘primitive’
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/745739
Publisher URL http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1468797614550959

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