The way to respond to this is to do the same thing they do but just more of it. This can initially be a difficult concept as it's the exact opposite of how a polite person would react in such a situation, i.e. move away, as you did. Unfortunately, as you have discovered, you can never move away enough as it only invites more of the same behavior.

You can be polite when people around you are likely to reciprocate but in "some parts of the world" where this concept hasn't really taken in, simply bump into these people the way they bump into you, just harder, and then rinse, repeat, and eventually it will be them moving away from you. If you want to attain real mastery in the subject, you should also learn to (i) use objects as obstacles to create a buffer zone between you and other people, and (ii) take up much more space than you initally need so that you can release some of it later if you really have to, and still keep more than enough to yourself. The real perfection comes with the strategic use of a backpack (no matter how crowded it is, never take it off). Most importantly though, you just have to temporarily unlearn responding politely to people pushing you.

An important disclaimer though is to always have plausible deniability. For starters, it is always a mistake to maintain eye contact. Whatever you do, make it look as if it happens accidentally. On the positive side, this really makes you appreciate all the politeness you might have hitherto taken for granted when you go back home. Meanwhile though, good luck in the jungle!

nothing wrong with pointing that out

When such kind of smarta$$ comes to a crowded bus (example - singapore-johor causeway bus - if you have been once on it, you'll understand) and stands next to me, I tap on his (it is always a male) shoulder and politely but firmly tell: 'please put your backpack on floor, thank you'. Almost all of them do it with saying 'sorry'. Only once an a-hole pretended that he did not understand English and when his backpack hit my face second time, I squeezed his shoulder saying: 'Your backpack. On floor. Now!' I did not need to repeat third times.

At Singapore MRT and Tokyo Metro you will see signs - 'backpacks on floor'- that's especially for those challenged ones. Fortunately, most of people do have courtesy.

I weight 200lbs, so an "accidental" step backwards on to their foot normally makes my point very clear.

That's the spirit!

I mentioned up thread that I "accidentally" do the same. The only downside is the crowding is often replaced by crying.

I hate public transport crowds. Always some pervert standing too close.

As someone wisely stated "The major drawback to public transportation is the public.".

Seems like you've been on the Tokyo subway before.

Yeah, I'm always amused at people who apparently grew up in the Midwest, where space is cheap and abundant, and have since moved elsehwere-- whether to overseas countries with different traditions of personal space or merely to crowded coastal US cities. Picture this simple situation: You're in a fast food type restaurant. The door is 10 feet back from the counter. One customer is ordering at the counter. The next customer queues up eight feet back to give the first customer "room". Then two more customers walk enter. Now we're all standing on top of each other at the back of the waiting area, with space for at least four people in an orderly queue going unused in front of us. All because some clown is afraid of "crowding". Step forward or get out of the way.

I'm a bloke and I also wonder about the motives of people pressed up against me! There are lots of perverts around who relish large crowds to fulfil their deviant urges.

How many EQMs before you get your own country?

In London I suspect it's less cultures changing, and more other less polite cultures crowding out the earlier one.

I just ask them if they're standing in line to order. If not, they usually move away. If yes, they usually move closer to the counter which is the desired outcome. If yes, but they don't move, I say something like, "Oh, I see. It didn't look like you were in line, but I didn't want to be rude and just step up to the counter in front of you." That gets them moving.

In Britain I've always been amazed that no matter how much space there is around me the person who walks past will always bump into me. There's a clustering thing that goes on here.

wg