Thailand has been developing regions by selling travel experiences, girlfriend experiences and retirement to paradise to foreigners since before "digital nomads" were a thing, and there's no shortage of gentrified cafes and bars aimed squarely at Thais in areas Western bloggers and YouTubers don't venture. As more authentic an experience as it might have been when Ko Samui was an unspoilt island where you might be able to use your broken Thai to persuade a local fisherman to rent his hut to you, ultimately the Thais would rather not continue to be poor. And of all the problems with tourism in Thailand, digital nomads paying 250 baht for a flat white and veggieburger in some restored old building with neo-hippy decor in the tourist showpiece part of Chiang Mai has got to be very close to the bottom.