EDITORIAL
Will Thais make a SPLASH ABROAD over Songkran?

EXODUS OF HOLIDAYMAKERS TO JAPAN HAS TRIGGERED FEARS OF MORE MISBEHAVIOUR BY THAI TOURISTS

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's biggest holidays are getting to be interesting. While an influx of tourists will visit the Kingdom over the Songkran festival, around 500,000 Thais are expected to spend the long break in Japan.

Waivers on entry visas as well as a stronger baht have encouraged a Thai exodus over Songkran. But the number heading for Japan has triggered concerns about tourist behaviour, following complaints made on the social media.

Last November, the Thai Embassy in Tokyo released a guide to manners for Thai tourists after a spate of incidents brought mounting criticism of their behaviour. Some of the miscreants had no clue why their actions were deemed unsuitable by Japanese, who take politeness very seriously, especially in the public sphere. The "do's and don'ts" guide helped create awareness among Thais, but complaints over fresh offences continued to flow on the social media.

The latest incident has gone viral, helped by the fact that the "perpetrators" were young actors from a hit TV series. The teenagers danced down the aisle of a train as Japanese passengers sat frowning at the disturbance. Their actions would never have surfaced but for the fact that one of the actors took a video and uploaded it to the social media. The result is that group are now being bombarded with criticism for disrespecting the social norms of their hosts.

Thai social media users have been quick to criticise their compatriots' wayward behaviour, fearing it would tarnish Japanese people's image of all Thai tourists and create an atmosphere in which they were no longer welcomed.

In truth the offending Thai visitors should know better. After all,

we have been complaining about the behaviour of Chinese tourists in Thailand for some time. Their ignorance of the local culture has spawned incidents that have made the news, been circulated on the social networks and become hot topics of discussion. In one much-talked-about case, they were even banned from using the toilets at a famous temple in the North after one party of Chinese visitors allegedly left them in a terrible state.

Like Chinese tourists in Thailand, Thai visitors to Japan enjoy the freedom to explore the world. They are afforded that right, in part, because they generate much-appreciated revenue for local tourism. But with that right comes an obligation to respect and observe local norms. The obligation must also be borne by those in the tourist industry, who are the main beneficiaries of visitor spending. Tour guides must provide guidelines and supervise tourists so as to avoid causing annoyance to local people.

The tourist trade is not limited to hospitality, the transportation sector and visitor attractions. Tourism is also about the interaction of visitors and host communities. Whether on a big or a small scale, tourism can have major impacts on host communities both during the time that visitors stay and afterwards. These impacts can seldom be avoided altogether, but they can be minimised with responsible tourism.

In the era of social media, news of tourist misbehaviour can spread across a host nation in minutes through the Internet. Failing to observe the rules of that country will gradually create misunderstanding among its populace. Left unchecked, the tension is likely to grow, eventually hurting tourists, their hosts and the industry on which both depend.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Will-Thais-make-a-SPLASH-ABROAD-over-Songkran-30257609.html


-- The Nation 2015-04-08

Thais have no consciousness or awareness of other cultures. Nor do they care what others think.

Thais have no consciousness or awareness of other cultures. Nor do they care what others think.

But you MUST respect ours.

How they can compare shitting on a golden toilet and carving names into an ancient statue with dancing on a train. Seems that people are getting to critical about simple pleasures and comparing them to outright acts of disrespect.

As a tourist one should be cautious what they do but what kind of holiday would it he of you are prohibited to enjoy yourself? There is also the reasoning that by accepting a tourist from another country they mist be willing to accept that these tourists have a culture of their own which is done without thought or planning. They must be willing to overlook some things (albeit undestructive things) that people do with their own knowledge that these tourist do it unwittingly and not out of a luck of respect.

If a country accepts tourists they must also accept some abnormalities that they are not used to seeing.

Settle back viewers for another Thai bashing. Never bores, does it? We will no doubt hear from the people who love to say Thai people have no respect for others cultures. Anyway, would love to post more but am off to Pattaya for some fish and chips, pint of Larger then off to a go go bar. I'm all for keeping it Thai (although not in my falang enclave near the golf course of course)

Wow, 1% of the Thai population leaves for Japan during Songkran, and this probably because only 1% can afford it.

Makes it obvious how much the Thais like there own traditional festival.

It's quite funny that Thais complain about rude Chinese tourists in Thailand. Only Chinese Thais can afford to travel to Japan where the Japanese just see them as another load of obnoxious Chinese shouting into their phones on quiet places, jumping queues, littering etc. Thay are not going to distinguish between different brands of obnoxious Chinese. A chink's a chink to them and they probably regret that fathers didn't bayonet more of them in Chungking and elsewhere.

Edited April 8, 201511 yr by Dogmatix

400k chinese expected to visit Thailand during songkran while 500K Thai travel to Japan during the same time frame. This is as per publicized projections of TAT and other Thai groups trying to justify their positions, budget, etc. These same groups are stressing their quest to lure quality tourists to support the national quest for a larger inflow of foreign currency aned seem unable to even entice their own people to holiday in the LOS.

I doubt Thailand would see a positive flow of cash when/if these 2 groups expendtures could be compared but just keep hammering on the quality tourists you are chaseing to help solve the countries economic problems as well as finance the 4+% salary increase that you so richly deserve.???????

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Thais have no consciousness or awareness of other cultures. Nor do they care what others think.

But you MUST respect ours.

Sounds like a Middle East philosophy

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Thais have no consciousness or awareness of other cultures. Nor do they care what others think.

But you MUST respect ours.

Sounds like a Middle East philosophy