Americans Rated As The Most Annoying Travellers

[hammockwoman]

i can see why americans are considered the most annoying. i generally try to avoid other americans when in thailand, at least the ones who are in "i'm on vacation, and everything in your country should accommodate what i want" mode. americans are often loud and clueless, and totally focused on getting what they want, and it's embarrassing.

i often find the same thing with aussies as well, and with brits and germans sometimes, too, usually with men. these are cultures where being outspoken, and saying what you think, and often demanding what you want, are the cultural norm... and in a country like thailand, that can be totally inappropriate.

there is no "right way" to be -- but being sensitive to where you are, and what is considered polite, and respecting people around you seems like a pretty basic thing. knowing your surroundings encompasses a lot.

i always figure that when i'm traveling, i am an ambassador for my country. of course, when people ask me where i'm from, i say san francisco, since that's sort of a different country than the rest of the u.s. ;^)

[dumspero]

I'm an American. Not especially proud of it, but not ashamed of it either. All countries have their good and bad, and I don't believe any country can claim the overall moral high ground over another, at least for the most part.

So I have no problem when some, say Swiss fellow, bashes this or that thing that the US government is doing. Usually I agree, and sometimes I don't. But I do have a problem when it's never their country's turn. For example, bash the US for the Iraq war--fair enough. But bash Switzerland, for example, for letting the Jews burn while profiting on the side--and that should also be fair enough.

We're all in this together, none of us are better than others, and none of us are lower than others, at least as a starting point.

On a lighter note, I am in fact one of the fat, hard drinking Americans who goes to Thailand on vacation and who will wear shorts and t-shirts the whole time. Long pants and cell phones are for 'players' and people working, as far as I'm concerned. Good God, I just hope they're stocking up on Beer Chang in Sisaket. None of that Beer Lao, run with the crowd stuff, for this one.

Cheers.

p.s. Guess I've sort of proven the whole annoying thing, huh?

[garyh]

I think the most appropriate is that Americans are the most envied. And with good reason...

If usa is so great and people should be envious then why are you in Thailand?

[GungaDin]

Fun topic... missed it a year ago.

[rabcbroon]

I have never met anyone normal who would not admit to finding Americans annoying. Sorry - but it is just a fact!

Edited November 26, 2009 by rabcbroon

[dumball]

'garyh' date='2008-12-20 11:32:32' post='2418453']='chinthee' post='2402454' date='2008-12-13 11:10:03']I think the most appropriate is that Americans are the most envied. And with good reason...

If usa is so great and people should be envious then why are you in Thailand?

Most likely because they want to be and because they can afford to go where they wish .

[lannarebirth]

Interesting poll. I think I might have voted the Chinese #1, but it's neither here nor there. Interesting fact; in my 20 year career as merchant marine officer I encountered 255 stowaways attempting to make passage to America. I never encountered even one outbound.

[Birdman]

Most likely because they want to be and because they can afford to go where they wish .

I would say that travelling in many parts of the world being from Switzerland or Denmark for instance would be advantageous.

[salty]

Interesting. I see Paddy does not feature but I would not be rushing to meet any of my fellow countrymen when I am in Thailand.

Edited November 27, 2009 by salty

[Jingthing]

We elected Obama. Y'all MUST love us now.

Next ...

[endure]

Interesting poll. I think I might have voted the Chinese #1, but it's neither here nor there. Interesting fact; in my 20 year career as merchant marine officer I encountered 255 stowaways attempting to make passage to America. I never encountered even one outbound.

Having visited both the US and the USSR while in the Merchant the INS always searched the ship when we arrived looking for stowaways who wanted to land in the US whereas the KGB Border Guards always searched the ship just before we left looking for stowaways who wanted to leave the USSR.

[mauiguy90]

Interesting post, since there were many recent headlines about the French being the worst tourists:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8...l?xid=rss-world

Funny how easily everyone is willing to jump on the Americans. To see for yourself, just google "worst tourists", or "worst tourists in the world" and see what the results are!

However, I'm sure there is a poll for everyone's purposes and perhaps biases...

Edited November 27, 2009 by mauiguy90

[GungaDin]

Reading these posts, I'm reminded of the old chestnut.....

Q. Why do Yanks talk so loud(ly)?

A. So that they can be heard above their clothes...

I haven't seen a pair of loud, check, trousers in years, have they been discontinued in the USA?

[Naam]

Arabs, Indians, Chinese, French, Germans prob top 5.

paramount annoyers are Americans who pose as Brits.

[Spaniel]

Arabs, Indians, Chinese, French, Germans prob top 5.

paramount annoyers are Americans who pose as Brits.

Naam,

I always enjoy reading your post but I'm courious about this one. Why would an American pose as a Brit?

[Mrjlh]

We Americans need not to worry too much about this poll. In a couple of months a new poll will come out. Maybe next time the Canadians will get a shot at being number one...or maybe the Aussies...or even the Chinese. Who knows? Polls are about as accurate as a Sundial is in measuring minutes.

[Jingthing]

Arabs, Indians, Chinese, French, Germans prob top 5.

paramount annoyers are Americans who pose as Brits.

Naam,

I always enjoy reading your post but I'm courious about this one. Why would an American pose as a Brit?

That's a new concept to me also. Many of us sometimes pose as Canadians for various reasons. For example, at Iranian restaurants ... Maple Leaf? More like Fakele Leaf. Its easy for us to fake Canuckosity, but going all Brit would be a big stretch, and why bother anyway (especially since the era of the poodle)?

Edited November 28, 2009 by Jingthing

[tutsiwarrior]

well...when I was livin' in the UK my US accent was always taken as irish specially in little shithole places where they don't see many yank tourists. I'd say 'I'm from California...' which was always met with a sneer and 'yeah, right...'

yeah...in many situations I'd try to pass meself off as canadian to distance meself from US foreign policy abuses...but sometimes all it takes is to be a westerner and then you are the devil...

[mickylonster]

well...when I was livin' in the UK my US accent was always taken as irish specially in little shithole places where they don't see many yank tourists. I'd say 'I'm from California...' which was always met with a sneer and 'yeah, right...'

yeah...in many situations I'd try to pass meself off as canadian to distance meself from US foreign policy abuses...but sometimes all it takes is to be a westerner and then you are the devil...

I read a quote some time ago , which said " Americans are like snowflakes , individually beautiful , but collectivly a pain in the ass " !! unquote

[salty]

well...when I was livin' in the UK my US accent was always taken as irish specially in little shithole places where they don't see many yank tourists. I'd say 'I'm from California...' which was always met with a sneer and 'yeah, right...'

yeah...in many situations I'd try to pass meself off as canadian to distance meself from US foreign policy abuses...but sometimes all it takes is to be a westerner and then you are the devil...

Top of the morning to you.

[moe666]

It doesn't matter were they are from unexperienced travellers are always the worst.

[ClaireAnne]

The list looks right, I am American and often find Americans the most annoying. However, consider the list has a built in population bias. For example, the REAL most annoying nationality may be Fijians but because there aren't many of them traveling, they never make the list.

Those dam_n Fijian!!

[Birdman]

Most likely because they want to be and because they can afford to go where they wish .

I would say that travelling in many parts of the world being from Switzerland or Denmark for instance would be advantageous.

Things change quick nowadys.

[bifftastic]

Biased???? (e.g. from London print)

My top annoyance is while seated in an aisle seat (airplane) and boarding early (due to Mileage membership) I tend to get whacked in the face too many times by either the 'inconsiderate' and 'unaware' person with the over-sized backpack or the little old lady that's carrying the kitchen sink in her extra large purse.

so how many times is too many? I mean, do you like to get whacked in the face maybe once or twice, but three times is just wrong?

I agree that wearing a backpack somehow seems to diminish people's spatial awareness which is very annoying!

Top annoyance, for me, would be on an overnight flight when everyone is trying to sleep, a group of people talking loudly. Generally, a disregard for other people annoys me whatever the situation but when you're tightly packed in a tube with people you don't know, something is bound to p1ss you off right?

Edited December 1, 2009 by bifftastic

[bifftastic]

paramount annoyers are Americans who pose as Brits.

Naam,

I always enjoy reading your post but I'm curious about this one. Why would an American pose as a Brit?

and how would they manage to pull that off??

[MrFrank]

I'd like to jump to the defense of American travellers.

I think that the (apparently) well kept secret of The USA is how incredibly quiet and polite it generally is. Professionally, I've spent a lot of time in California and somewhat less in New York and Chicago. Plus I've spent a fair amount of time transiting through various US airports en route elsewhere. At first I was surprised at the level of quiet politeness but I came to take it for granted. I was also (and I remain) impressed by, and envious of, the American approach to queueing which, even in the least likely places is orderly and rigourously fair.

Outside of the US I usually find American tourists to be polite and considerate. There are exceptions of course and I'm not including the "special" Sukhumvit types in this generalization.

One point of misunderstanding between American tourists and a lot of the rest of the world seems to be that they (American tourists) are accustomed to being able to engage anyone who happens to be near them in casual conversation (which I regard as a healthy and enjoyable thing) but this is often misinterpreted in other countries and sometimes leads to awkwardness.

As to who are the most annoying travellers; I think most peoples really honest answer would be "everyone on the plane who's not me or my family".

To quote a famouse French person: "hel_l is other people".

[koheesti]

So, when deciding who are the rudest and most annoying travelers, which set of societal norms and customs are being used?????

Just another American bashing article fitting someone's agenda to vent their jealousy of Americans and their society.

Get over it.

Regards,

Martian

The poll was conducted by Travelmole.com. From their site:

TravelMole is the most highly acclaimed and largest global online community for the Travel and Tourism Industry with over 450,000 registered newswire subscribers - travel and tourism professionals worldwide (133k Europe/Russia; 241k N. America; 23k Asia/Pacific, and 59k in other countries).

The TravelMole.com web site registers 8.5 million hits each month (3.1m Europe/Russia; 4.4m N. America; 0.9m Asia/Pacific).

So considering that the largest number of subscribers, and largest number of visitors come from North America, hmmmmmm, who do you think would most likely have been the largest contributors to that poll ? South Africans ? Fijians ? Americans ? Estonians ? Bhutanese ?

It's an INTERNET POLL? Geez.

[cdnvic]

It's an INTERNET POLL? Geez.

...and an old, out of date one.