THAI ROAD BACKPACKERS LOSE THEIR SCRUFFY IMAGE.(MAIN)

Byline: DENIS D. GRAY Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Where have all the gritty backpackers gone, those shoestring vagabonds from the West with soiled, baggy garb who believed diarrhea and body odor were badges of a true traveler communing with the locals?

On Bangkok's Khao San Road, one of the world's densest concentrations of young travelers, the scruffy backpacker seems on the road to extinction, the stuff of nostalgia and Hollywood movies.

The youthful brigades still struggle under overstuffed backpacks, clutch their Lonely Planet guides, scour for bargains and fuel up on muesli, banana pancakes and hummus. But they're a different breed.

``The image of the backpacker is of someone laying around on a beach getting …