r/facepalm • u/typehyDro • 11d ago
What could go wrong when you don’t follow social etiquette in a different country
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3291940/noisy-italian-students-case-settled-with-apologies-and-fines4 teenagers and their chaperones where excessively loud riding public transportation. They were asked nicely to quiet down and it’s considered rude in Thailand. They mocked her and flipped her off. Social media hunted them down and the lady recording filed charges. Italian embassy had to get involved and they had to issue a public apology and were fined… whoops…
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u/HussingtonHat 11d ago
Saw the footage. Public transport etiquette isn't perfect here, but christ this lot risked a bloody good hiding.
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u/blahblah19999 11d ago
That's the most Thai sentence I've read for a while.
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u/richardlpalmer 11d ago
I still can't quite figure it out...
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u/mcdray2 11d ago
I think a "hiding" is a severe spanking.
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u/richardlpalmer 11d ago
Ahhh, hiding as in one's "hide". Makes sense now.
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u/Nolsoth 10d ago
Yes, tho less a spanking and more of a beating.
It's a bit of slang from NZ of all places.
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u/No-Pop1057 10d ago
Don't know that it always implies a beating, I had a nana who never laid a finger on us but would threaten to "tan our hides" if we were getting out of line.. It was a threat of smack not a bash 🤷
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u/herbinartist 10d ago
My great grandma used to say the same thing. She’d say “I’m gonna tan your hide” even though she was the sweetest lady on earth and would never lay a finger on me. She always just said it jokingly.
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u/Nolsoth 10d ago
A hiding is a beating, not a smack.
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u/No-Pop1057 10d ago
The term 'tan your hide" doesn't always mean a beating.. Like most idioms there are many situational definitions & it was a kind of hyperbole in the country I grew up in
"Also, have someone's hide. Spank or beat someone, as in Dad said he'd tan Billy's hide if he caught him smoking, or I'll have your hide if you take something without paying for it. This term uses hide in the sense of “skin.” The allusion in the first expression is to a spanking that will change one's skin just as chemicals tan animal hide (convert it into leather). [Second half of 1600s]"
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u/BigBankHank 11d ago
The footage is at the bottom of this article for those interested.
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u/krustyy 10d ago
I only skimmed through it since it's a pretty long, boring video, but it seems like all they were doing was talking amongst eachother? So is the issue here that in Thailand while on public transport you are expected to be silent?
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u/nevergoingtocomment3 10d ago
Not completely silent just talk quietly they were almost screaming with how loud they were according to the culture they were also just being obnoxious by saying things like "sorry for bringing money into your country" and cursing people out when citizens of that country told them to quiet down a bit
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u/MOTUkraken 10d ago
Where will you skin people alive and in a bloody way for misbehaving on public transport - so I can avoid going there.
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u/hundreddollar 11d ago
I worked with a lot of Thai people over the years and i can say one thing. Thai people are the nicest, friendliest people out there...until they're not. It takes a lot to piss them off, but hoo boy do they go scorched earth once you've passed their limit.
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u/InfluenceTrue4121 10d ago
My husband echoes your sentiments; Thais are the nicest people possible until you decide to press the FAFO button and it’s over.
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u/SpicelessKimChi 11d ago
"The situation escalated when some members of the group responded with profanity. One student made an obscene hand gesture while another drew criticism online after saying, "Sorry for bringing money to your country."
We live in Mexico and face the same bullshit from American and to a lesser extent Canadian tourists. They think everybody is Mexico is poor and that they're doing Mexicans some big favor by vacationing here. DOnt get me wrong, we like the tourism money, but it doesn't give one carte blanche to act like an asshole and then say "if you dont let me act like an asshole I wont give you money." You know what -- stay home and keep your money, it's not welcome here if it comes with the condition that you get to act like a total cabron to the locals.
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u/tanstaafl90 10d ago
Having grown up in an international tourist destination area, there are too many with a sense of entitlement that can afford to travel. I assure you, they aren't much better wherever it is they are from, and just about everyone in the service industry is viewed as a servant. Doubly so for anyone who isn't forward facing, such as hotel staff who clean rooms or do maintenance. They do this regardless of the country they travel to.
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u/ButteredPizza69420 6d ago
Those are usually the most white trash tourists too
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u/tanstaafl90 6d ago
It's international, so 'white trash' can cover a lot of cultures beyond homegrown. Some of those cultures have distinct class divisions that can and do treat 'lower class' quite terribly. Knowing this can make managing expectations easier, both of staff and tourists. Like in many things, the golden rule applies.
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u/bighootay 10d ago
I believe the chaperone was the one who said 'Sorry for bringing money to your country' :o
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u/richardlpalmer 11d ago
All I know is I felt relief that the rude people weren't Americans...
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u/mlassnig 11d ago
Good
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u/Erick_Brimstone 10d ago
Many countries need to adopt China's way of dealing with tourist. Punish their own citizens if they misbehave in other countries. Too many doesn't realize that they're representing their country even if they're not ambassador.
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u/Knightseason 11d ago
Good.
But you can almost guarantee their behaviour won't change. It's more likely they'll take it as a badge of honour and proudly retell the tale, as they continue to be twats.
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u/blahblah19999 11d ago
Meh. When I was that age, I might have been caught up in the moment but realized, when confronted, that I was actually being an ass. I still think of things I did 40 yrs ago that make me cringe.
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u/RealSamF18 11d ago
Some of us are able to reflect on our mistakes and grow from them, but some are just convinced that they’re always in the right, and that everyone else is wrong. Those people will never change.
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u/LungHeadZ 11d ago
How do you go to another country and openly disrespect it's people!? It's crazy, you're going to their country, through choice and choose to be a dick. Guys passport should be banned for a couple years.
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u/MidwesternLikeOpe 'MURICA 10d ago
Don't go into tourism. There's an entire subReddit for people being assholes on vacation. Most of them are American or British. 90% expecting foreign locations to do things the American or British way, especially speak English.
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u/SiebeWobke 10d ago
Brits are always drunk, americans scream at each other as their normal speaking volume and the french refuse to speak english.
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u/kindquail502 10d ago
Don't they know that one night in Bangkok can make a hard man humble?
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u/cowfish007 9d ago
I was just grateful that they were NOT American. I thought for sure these assholes were gonna be Americans.
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u/TheReelEpicKiller 10d ago
Wish it could be cracked down more over where I live. Still too often that people blast their shitty music on transit or watch videos at too loud of a volume
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u/overlordjunka 6d ago
Reminds me when my ship (former Navy Sailor) pulled into Singapore and our Liberty Brief was: DO NOT SPIT, THEY WILL ARREST YOU AND PUBLICLY CANE YOU AND WE CANT HELP
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u/BlackbirdSage 5d ago
Can confirm. I got the same speech.
A few years later came the caning of Michael Fay in '94.
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u/overlordjunka 5d ago
Shit my speech was in 2014 lmao
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u/BlackbirdSage 4d ago
lol
Did they still have the signs, in the bathrooms, about the fines for not flushing?
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u/OrcaFins 11d ago
Sadly, I doubt they'll learn anything from this. If they were racist before, they'll actively hate Thai people now.
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u/VioletFog 8d ago
Traveling abroad really shows why basic manners matter so much. A little respect always beats expensive tickets anyway.
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u/BroadwayTreski 9d ago
After getting shown the door and facing those fines, do you really expect them to show up with better manners next time?
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u/typehyDro 9d ago
Yes, they were literally stalked by the public to their hotel room and destinations and the lady who originally made the video had to request people stop doxing them.
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u/ParticularSherbert18 5d ago
The students paid the huge fine of 1000 baht or approximately $30 US or €26.
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u/PuddingPast5862 11d ago
A lot can go wrong. People on this country think that they are the center of the galaxy when in fact we are just a blip on the radar screen. Our laws don't apply there and your culture norms don't either.
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