Tourists Make Whining An Art Form

[GungaDin]

Tourists make whining an art form

By: Roger Crutchley

Published: 17/05/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: News

Most tourists who travel abroad accept there will be occasional setbacks when things do not turn out quite the way they had hoped. But they usually carry on regardless without making too much of a fuss. However, there are some who seem determined to find fault no matter what.

The Daily Telegraph in London recently compiled a list of the most ridiculous complaints by predominantly British tourists as received by leading travel firm Thomas Cook and the Association of British Travel Agents. After reading them you get the feeling that some people should never be let out of their own country, let alone given a passport.

One of the most entertaining complaints came from a couple who were unhappy that the beach was "too sandy". Obviously they weren't holidaying in Brighton. Another happy family moaned that in the brochure the beach was yellow but in reality the sand was white and they demanded an explanation. Someone else was annoyed that the sand was "too hot" and expressed dismay they weren't warned about it.

In fact the beaches have a lot to answer for amongst disgruntled British tourists. One lady claimed her holiday was ruined because her husband spent the whole time ogling topless young ladies parading along the beach.

Even the sea comes in for criticism. In one of the more bizarre complaints, a mother wrote: "No one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled." Well, if they don't like the sea they can always go to a water park where they will not be troubled by annoying fish. But even this doesn't always turn out right. One family whined "we went to the water park but no one told us to bring swimming costumes or towels."

Not to everyone's taste

Food can be a problem too. An irate gentleman at a Novotel in Australia was most upset that the soup was "too thick." It turned out he had mistaken the gravy dish for the soup. Another irate lady in Spain grumbled that the local shop had "no proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts." And what can you say about the tourist in Goa, India who complained: "I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry."

Then of course there are problems with the locals, especially in Spain. One irate tourist whined: "There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist is Spanish. The food is Spanish." Goodness, what the tourists have to put up with these days. Another tourist demanded that the traditional Spanish siesta be banned because they couldn't find any shops open in the afternoon.

Then there was the distraught couple who bought Ray-Ban sunglasses for US$3.50 (120 baht) and were disgusted to discover later that they were fake. It would never happen in Thailand, of course.

What a whopper

Some of the complaints were too ridiculous for words and could well have been tongue-in-cheek. Hopefully this was the case of the fellow on his honeymoon at an African game lodge who complained that he saw a male elephant that was "visibly aroused" and it made him feel "inadequate" with the result that it totally spoilt the remainder of his honeymoon.

Not everyone can adapt to the tropics. One of the complaints was from a fellow who was bitten by a mosquito. He whined "no one said they bite." This reminds me of a letter to the Bangkok Post many years ago from an irate English tourist. He wrote that he had been bitten by mosquitoes in his beach-side hut and that something should be done about it forthwith. It was suggested that in future he take his holidays in a beachside hut in Blackpool.

Questions you simply can't answer

Tourist boards also contributed to the survey by citing daft questions asked by visitors seeking information about their trips. It would be nice to think that many of these queries came from children, but alas, one suspects not. I suppose "are there any lakes in the Lake District?" could be a valid question in these days of global warming. However, how can you answer someone who seriously asks: "Why did they build Windsor Castle on the flight path to Heathrow?" Errr...

Scottish readers may be amused that one enquiry was: "Is Edinburgh in Glasgow?" while also in Scotland locals were puzzled when a lady visiting the Orkney islands asked which bus she should take for the Shetlands.

Then there was the fellow who asked if the Grand Canyon was "man-made".

Sleeping on the job

Following up on last week's column about bank heists, a colleague pointed out there were a couple of newsworthy tales I had overlooked.

There was a splendid case when the thief who broke into a Bangkok bank overnight, took the money and then, feeling a little weary after his exertions, decided to take a nap. He was still asleep cuddling the stolen loot when the staff arrived for work in the morning and was promptly arrested.

Than there was this intriguing paragraph in the Post from the 2007 Siam Commercial Bank armoured pick-up robbery: "One of the car's tyres was hit by bullets fired by Pol Snr Sgt-Maj Denchai Innok, who was stationed inside the SCB branch.

The robbers changed the tyre before driving it away," said Pol Maj-Gen Amnuay. It seems the policeman in the bank, although a commendable marksman, was not exactly into hot pursuit.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/16827/tou...ing-an-art-form

[harrry]

My whine is you're way out of date. This article was a thread a few weeks ago.

[GungaDin]

^^^ ^^^^ Bugger! & I did a search for the title. Oh well.....

So much for the Google search box!

[longstebe]

I'm whining about how long that took to read. The fact is, we love a good moan. Whats the problem.

[sbk]

Actually, it wasn't Crutchley's take on the article, it was the article itself

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Beaches-Sand...ds-t257469.html

[thaimate]

why are people always complaining on Thai Visa?