The distinction can be snobbery but it can be also a recognition of completely different styles of travelling. Can we say those who stay in 5 star resorts at Ko Samui are no different to those who stayed in wooden bungalows ?

I think distinctions in styles of traveling are expressed in different ways, for example luxury travel, low-budget travel, cruise, backpacking (which can mean a hiker in mountains with backpack, or tourist with backpack who goes around different places, often not spending a lot of time actually wearing the backpack), flashpacking, camping, glamping, all-inclusive, group tour...
But all those people are tourists. Or travelers. Same thing.

They are the same thing in a literal sense , however more labels such as glamping and flashpackers may just confuse the issue further. Flashpacker can also mean those who want their cake and eat it too and flashpacker enclaves usually morph soon into upmarket enclaves.
Perhaps those who travel for longer on lower budget and don't have itineraries and stay in basic accommodation and dislike beaches with development and resorts could be described as traditional style budget travelers . They are under threat and lost a lot of their former range. They deserve our sympathy.

THAILAND - Koh Phangan. For Thong Nai Pan Noi beach the writer says the luxury resorts that dominate the beachfront will be a plus for some. But for the sake of balance perhaps it should also be mentioned that it was basically a bungalow budget travellers beach for almost 20 years and the way the resorts have taken over the ......

CORRECTION , I have just seen the 2018 Thailand edition and it no longer makes that comment about the newer beach side resorts. But it still doesn't give any details on remaining budget options for Thong nai Pan Yai and Thong Nai Pan Noi.

If you are spending large sum flying from farangland to Thailand, why pay for sh**y 200THB room? Save enough and come back later, you don't want to end up like retired hotel jumper in Pattaya.

It doesn't always cost a large sum to fly to Farangland. If everyone brings more money and pays higher prices that causes gentrification and pushes up the value of land and the ordinary small time guesthouse owners and restaurant operators get pushed out and the feel of a place becomes very commercialized. On islands such as Ko Samui it leads to over development.
If someone is on longer trip they need to budget and in any case they may regard the room as just a place to sleep and don't care that it is a basic or downmarket. On Ko Samui in the old days nobody cared that the bungalows were basic or that there was no electricity or no attached bathrooms.

Well, i dont think it has to be an island per se. Krabi town is a getway to many intetesting places near by...
Ao nang/railea, phang nga, ko phiphi, ko lanta (its a fave on this forum, it seems), ko lanta noi, ko yao, phuket etc...

On the gulf side, it simpler...ko tao for diving, ko samui for resorts, upscale nightlife, and ko phanngan has a bit of everything...from full moon parties (hadd rin), to yoga retreats, to reika lessons, to quiet sunsets...all sorta in a nutshell, of course.

I dont think it matters all that much. Goto krabi town and go from there to find your own bliss. Some like some partying, fmp is an experience...if you dont end up liking it, atleast you can say you've been:) i think what matters might be your budget and how much development you and your friends actually like...

Early November is usually the most risk for rain and rough seas at Ko Phangan . Underthehill some people don't mind not having anything to do at Ko Phangan.

As well as Liitle Ko Chang you may be able to get that type of bungalows at nearby Ko Payam (Phayam) on the more secluded coves as mentioned above. You can also try Long Beach on the big Ko Chang , Trat province. On Ko Phangan try some of the coves around Than Sadet. On Ko Kood island at Klongchao if you stay back from the beach there are some cheaper guesthouses. Perhaps south end of Ko Lanta could be option.
You may be able to find for less than 10 $ a nite on some of these islands if the bungalow is further back from the beach and doesn't have attached bathroom. Trying to find unspoiled paradise island away from the crowds with cheap bungalows is a bit of a pipe dream increasingly , you will have to compromise and settle for whats left.

Okay makes sense :D

Thanks for the link to the guide. Quite sad to hear that the island changed so much.

I don't know exactly when I'm going to Ko Phangan, but some tips would still be great!
I'll send you a message then.

What guidebook do you have?

What is your budget per night for lodging?

Places to eat? This is impossible to answer.

I told you what to focus on, which is the caribe side, what else can I say?

Places to stay-
Arenal- Campo Verde
https://www.hotelcampoverde.com/

Sarapiqui-

Try ti stay in lodge in park 1 night, then have access to all trails, and a tour, all meals included.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g309260-d2537234-Reviews-La_Selva_Biological_Station-Sarapiqui_Province_of_Heredia.html

Outside park this Lodge is run by one the top conservationist in the country with a focus on saving old forest habitat for Macaw breeding. They have a treehouse room :)
https://www.andreacristina.org/

Tortuguero- Stay in the village, all connected via foot paths, everyone knows everyone, there is a childrens music school and a great playground and soccer pitch too.

Miss Miriam II is fine, but check Booking.com

Cahuita- The Alby Lodge, old school thatched roof bungelows next to park entrance. Walk into town to eat.
http://www.albylodge.com/Home_Java_Version/Englisch/englisch.html

Beaches south of Pt Viejo better to stay, like Playa Cochles and rent bicycles, or take the hourly bus or taxi/Uber.
Use Booking.com/AirBNB.

Rental Cars I like Alamo, but all the major agencies are fine overall.

Have you read back on the Costa Rica branch, and all the info on Caribe side, and Arenal, Sarapiqui, Tortuguero, Cahuita and the Pt Viejo caribe side?

I think if you're looking down your nose at what you perceive to be a "mere tourist" it says more about you than anyone else. Why would you think everyone should travel like you ? (you being anyone)

Many times its not to look down the nose but to differentiate the different styles of travelling but there has always been some element of snobbery. More often negative things about tourists are expressed out of sense of frustration when the mainstream brigade march into what was once a budget traveller's paradise and cause hotels and resorts to built all the over the place. The small time local business owners get forced out to by rents and land prices too.
In the case of Thailand many travellers accepted that Ko Samui and Phuket's beaches being taken over by mainstream and upmarket tourists but now all the best beaches on Ko Phangan have also been taken over by the mainstream masses as well. The traditional style traveller's have lost their habitat. Similar thing has happened at Goa.

What you describe I think has more to do with wealth in the world. And the mainstream getting wealthier. In the past, only the young adults of rich families were able to travel the world as a way of educating themselves, and later on more people got wealthy and also started traveling to other continents, but the working class could not afford that yet... but now a lot more people, including factory workers from wealthy countries and such, are also able to afford international plane tickets and also started going to those places. And not only has general wealth grown and prices for traveling dropped dramatically, the world population has also grown dramatically, so that gives an extra spin on the overtourism effect.

It's not just the hippies / low budget travelers only, who discovered places first, which are now overrun and "taken over" by the mainstream hordes. Many places were popular with the elite first, and now with us, the lowly folk. ;-)