Yellowstone tourist video prompts fierce Thai social media witch-hunt

[maxcorrigan]

4 hours ago, Thechook said:

 Pongsuk said: “He admitted feeling angry, and failed to find the proper words to request that the "foreigner" delete the clip.”

 

Um Pongsuk, you were the foreigner not the American in America.  It's like in Australia where I and others are still referred to as Farangs by thais living there.

UK the same we're still Farangs in our own country, according to resident Thais, point out that they are foreigners falls on deaf ears, quite amusing! 

[Toscano]

I don't know what all the fuss is about .  If people visit another country they must have some knowledge of the language to be able to read warning or danger signs .

I would guess the ground where they were walking might be at risk of collapse so near the thermal pool .

I believe it was at Yellowstone National Park that a man recently jumped to his certain death into a thermal pool .

[Toscano]

1 minute ago, maxcorrigan said:

UK the same we're still Farangs in our own country, according to resident Thais, point out that they are foreigners falls on deaf ears, quite amusing! 

We mustn't forget that we falangs are IDIOTS too , Thais know everything and we know nothing ! Lol !!!

[maxcorrigan]

2 minutes ago, Toscano said:

We mustn't forget that we falangs are IDIOTS too , Thais know everything and we know nothing ! Lol !!!

True, i forgot that angle!

[3421abc]

Maybe they feel they could get VIP excess and step all over the place since they paid 10x the ticket price. Oh sorry I got confused only foreigners pay 10x in thailand

[animatic]

If westerners did that to a Thai park with a sign language legible warning,

then the howling would be massive and nation wide. This was both stupid, 

and VERY dangerous, just glad they weren't scalded to death for their efforts.

 

[Puccini]

9 minutes ago, Morakot said:

 

What's this all about?

 

Could we please have a proper journalistic summary, rather than relaying some undigested social media nonsense.

 

Wrong address. In the OP, click on the link to the source of the news article at the bottom of the post and on the the new page that opens, scroll down to the end and click on "Contact"

[Maestro]

13 minutes ago, Toscano said:

I believe it was at Yellowstone National Park that a man recently jumped to his certain death into a thermal pool .

 

It was, in November last year. I remember reading that, too.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tourists-boiling-hot-spring-death-sobering-reminder-of-park-rules-yellowstone/

[spidermike007]

It appears this is just another example of people not willing to take responsibility for their actions. Well, we only went there because other people did. That does not mean anything. Man up. Look within. Apologize. Do the right thing. Stop being such babies. It is ultimately about saving face. And do you know what I think about the practice of face?

 

Face is no doubt, the greatest form of weakness, a human can engage in. Many will say it is societal, cultural, etc. No matter. It is the absolute and complete lack of the ability to introspect, and look within for the source of any problem, shortcoming, conflict, or issue. It is the polar opposite of spirituality, and therefore an absolute scourge on Buddha, and all of the precepts he taught. By practicing face, you are denying your spiritual heritage. You are refusing to man up. To take responsibility for your actions. If a man or a woman cannot, and will not take responsibility for their actions, the problems they create, the mistakes they make, and the issues they involve themselves in, what are they? Are they still an adult? Are they a complete individual, if they allow themselves to be limited by such infinitely small social convention? 

 

Who cares what people think of you? For those of us with high self esteem, it just does not matter. Sure, close friends and family. But strangers on the street? Who gives a rat's butt about this? It means nothing what they think, nor what they say about you. They count for nothing. They are just people, and people you do not know, nor will ever see again. Face is rife with self doubt, and by subscribing to this weakness, and man or woman is made a far lesser person. For those of us with high self esteem, we know who we are. What others think, what society thinks, what a guy or gal thinks, means less than zero.

 

Real men or women, simply own a situation, and take responsibility for their errors or mistakes. Small men, social deviants, or emotional adolescents deflect, obfuscate, attempt to confuse, and do everything in their power to deny that they made a mistake, or that they are responsible in any way, or on any level. They make up narratives about fake news, or alternative facts. Anything to avoid looking within, for the source of the problem. Anything.

 

And as far as the allegations of racism goes, that is pure, unadulterated deflection. If we commit crimes here we are often singled out. So, when a Thai travels to a foreign nation, he or she must realize it is incumbent upon them to be on their best behavior. If not, they will be called out, hopefully. If this causes them extreme embarrassment, and distress, too bad. My heart bleeds. 

 

Edited August 17, 2017 by spidermike007

[Puccini]

1 hour ago, Scouse123 said:

Trying to take a fair balanced view on this minor infraction...

 

Minor infraction, indeed. That's why two Canadians were fined only $2,000 and another was fined only $3,500 for this type of infraction, and two of them were sentenced to seven days in jail.

http://trib.com/lifestyles/recreation/canadians-plead-guilty-to-yellowstone-violations-given-fines-jail-time/article_72177d3a-b286-5e95-99db-cfd949583887.html

[Scott]

35 minutes ago, Maestro said:

 

It was, in November last year. I remember reading that, too.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tourists-boiling-hot-spring-death-sobering-reminder-of-park-rules-yellowstone/

I suggest people read the link in the above post.   Do people feel the need to stick their hand in a pot of boiling water to see if it is hot?   

 

The guy in the above link couldn't even be recovered.  

[smileydude]

They should be fined if they violated park rules knowingly,  if not then a warning.   Many people do not read signs and the excuse that someone did it first therefore I can is a common thai mentality.  

This social media witch hunt reeks of a loss-of-national-face/pride thing akin to cyber bullying with a dash of vigilantism has been totally blown out of proportion and a downright waste of time when we should be calling out corruption and other more important things but I guess some people have nothing better to do then to beat their cyber warrior drums to feel good about themselves.

Edited August 17, 2017 by smileydude

[jimster]

Personally I can't take anyone seriously who uses the lowest of the low reactions to being criticized - to start using the race card, only an uneducated moronic imbecile would react like that. This guy loses all credibility when he starts talking racist nonsense against the guy that took a video of him and starts blaming "farang" when in America, he is the foreigner.

 

Talk about ignorance.

[Time Traveller]

Don't ya just love the way Thais react when caught doing something wrong

1. Blame a foreigner for doing the same thing or forcing the Thai to take part in the forbidden activity

2. Blame a foreigner for recording the crime 

 

Tell me again, what exactly is Thailand's contribution to humanity ? <Edit by Maestro: deleted nonsensical comment>

 

Edited August 17, 2017 by Maestro
deleted nonsensical comment

[jimster]

36 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

It appears this is just another example of people not willing to take responsibility for their actions. Well, we only went there because other people did. That does not mean anything. Man up. Look within. Apologize. Do the right thing. Stop being such babies. It is ultimately about saving face. And do you know what I think about the practice of face?

 

Face is no doubt, the greatest form of weakness, a human can engage in. Many will say it is societal, cultural, etc. No matter. It is the absolute and complete lack of the ability to introspect, and look within for the source of any problem, shortcoming, conflict, or issue. It is the polar opposite of spirituality, and therefore an absolute scourge on Buddha, and all of the precepts he taught. By practicing face, you are denying your spiritual heritage. You are refusing to man up. To take responsibility for your actions. If a man or a woman cannot, and will not take responsibility for their actions, the problems they create, the mistakes they make, and the issues they involve themselves in, what are they? Are they still an adult? Are they a complete individual, if they allow themselves to be limited by such infinitely small social convention? 

 

Who cares what people think of you? For those of us with high self esteem, it just does not matter. Sure, close friends and family. But strangers on the street? Who gives a rat's butt about this? It means nothing what they think, nor what they say about you. They count for nothing. They are just people, and people you do not know, nor will ever see again. Face is rife with self doubt, and by subscribing to this weakness, and man or woman is made a far lesser person. For those of us with high self esteem, we know who we are. What others think, what society thinks, what a guy or gal thinks, means less than zero.

 

Real men or women, simply own a situation, and take responsibility for their errors or mistakes. Small men, social deviants, or emotional adolescents deflect, obfuscate, attempt to confuse, and do everything in their power to deny that they made a mistake, or that they are responsible in any way, or on any level. They make up narratives about fake news, or alternative facts. Anything to avoid looking within, for the source of the problem. Anything.

 

And as far as the allegations of racism goes, that is pure, unadulterated deflection. If we commit crimes here we are often singled out. So, when a Thai travels to a foreign nation, he or she must realize it is incumbent upon them to be on their best behavior. If not, they will be called out, hopefully. If this causes them extreme embarrassment, and distress, too bad. My heart bleeds. 

 

Excellent post.

 

Face to me in this instance is to make the person deflecting personal responsibility look even more stupid and he/she should thus feel even more shame, more embarrassment than if he had simply said: "i'm sorry". Don't people realize that by defending their stupidity, they are making themselves less likely to keep "face"?

 

I always thought keeping face was about covering the embarrassment you feel when someone calls you something based upon say, your physical appearance or if you fall over something while walking on the street. In Thailand, people call each other big, fat, skinny, whatever, the types of insensitive things that SHOULD cause a loss of face and yet they persist in doing so. I mean, if a Thai person calls a westerner a big nose, that should be embarrassing and a loss of face for said westerner, because it's a stupid, uneducated and insensitive remark. Yet strangely, in Thailand people call each other all sorts of names like this without embarrassment (seemingly) but are quick to defend themselves when their character is criticized? I know you shouldn't care what others think of you, that's why you should stand up to those who criticize you unfairly (like if they make an uncalled for remark about your physical appearance say) but as mentioned if you're wrong like the people in the clip then you need to recognize that and apologize.

Compare this to the American guy "my mate nate" who apologized for his stupidity when confronted about his railroad track coin stunt. I don't recall him blaming Thai people, blaming others, he simply waiied and said sorry.

 

Why couldn't these people, particularly the young guy and the old aunty do the same?

[Scott]

Off-topic post removed.  

[Xobtsiwt]

I thought about getting angry, but then I thought, 'Nah'.

[connda]

Interesting.  When a foreigner in Thailand does something relatively minor, like climbing the moat wall CM, or ignorantly not wearing proper clothes to a temple, or climbing on some villages 'sacred tree', or not wearing a shirt during songkran, or feeding fish - suddenly there is an All Points Bulletin for the cops to find, arrest, fine, and publicly shame the offender - so pray tell me, what's the difference?  

I've never heard this referred to as 'cyber-bullying when a foreigner becomes the object of both Thai social media and Thai main-stream media scorn for doing something out of 'ignorance' because they 'didn't see a sign', or 'the sign was too small', or 'nothing was posted', or nothing was posted in readable English, or they simply did not know the customs.  So again, how is this different?  

It is not!

 

Op, think on the bright side.  Yellowstone didn't charge those Thai tourists 10 times the price that an American is charged to get through the gate.  

Edited August 17, 2017 by connda

[habanero]

I just want to know if they had to pay 10X's the cost to enter the park because they were foreigners. My guess would be, that they paid what every other person paid.

 I guess it's OK to cut down a tree in Khao Yai national forest if the signs are small. That means it really doesn't count right?

Edited August 17, 2017 by habanero

[TKDfella]

Well, as I intimated on the earlier related thread had the tourist followed the rules of the park there would be nothing to write about except a pleasant trip.  But now it's gone viral and so defenders will spring up. We all know there are people that spend all day looking for some 'juicy' on the net to fill their empty lives and they have apparently chosen this event. However, I think a deeper concern is that this type over reaction can spoil it for the rest of us and probably authorities in Thailand will again try to muffle or block access.

[shaurene]

For a start that notice is not very prominent. If it was that dangerouse etc it should have been quite higher and placed on a proper board not laying againt a log on the ground. So of you think it is the end of the world, get real. All the Thai people kicking up all this stink. How many times has anyof you thrown rubish onthe ground or your children throwing their empty drink containers to the ground, or thrown rubbsh on your beaches.and down the drains. I bet none of you could say younever ever did this.

[connda]

1 hour ago, Scott said:

I suggest people read the link in the above post.   Do people feel the need to stick their hand in a pot of boiling water to see if it is hot?   

 

The guy in the above link couldn't even be recovered.  

My ski coach and friend was almost killed in his teens in a thermal pool and he's been living with the problems associated with the scar tissue all his life..  Also, those pools have been known to go from bathing temperature to boiling in less time than you can get out of them. People have died in them because the thermal activity can be very unpredictable.  The place is dangerous, and those signs are meant to protect the public - foreign and domestic.  And the fines and sanctions that go with violating the rules are meant to put some teeth in the warnings.  There are warning signs all over Yellowstone warning about the thermal dangers, and the ecological damage that tourist can cause in what should be pristine areas.  Not just that one particular sign.  
So if these Thai tourists are found and fined, hopefully it sends a message to other foreign tourists, and even American tourists for that matter, that the rules are not a joke.  Those warnings are deadly serious.

Edited August 17, 2017 by connda

[habanero]

11 minutes ago, shaurene said:

For a start that notice is not very prominent. If it was that dangerouse etc it should have been quite higher and placed on a proper board not laying againt a log on the ground. So of you think it is the end of the world, get real. All the Thai people kicking up all this stink. How many times has anyof you thrown rubish onthe ground or your children throwing their empty drink containers to the ground, or thrown rubbsh on your beaches.and down the drains. I bet none of you could say younever ever did this.

Most of us taught our children to pick it up. That it was unacceptable to throw trash on the ground. I assure you, my children also taught their children.

 The sign is placed on the log so as not to have to put holes in the ground near a thermal fragile area. Putting holes in the ground to place a pole in such an area would defeat the whole purpose of not disturbing the area.

[Araiwah]

It seems that Thais abroad don't like being treated the same way as they treat foreigners  in Thailand.

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, jimster said:

Excellent post.

 

Face to me in this instance is to make the person deflecting personal responsibility look even more stupid and he/she should thus feel even more shame, more embarrassment than if he had simply said: "i'm sorry". Don't people realize that by defending their stupidity, they are making themselves less likely to keep "face"?

 

I always thought keeping face was about covering the embarrassment you feel when someone calls you something based upon say, your physical appearance or if you fall over something while walking on the street. In Thailand, people call each other big, fat, skinny, whatever, the types of insensitive things that SHOULD cause a loss of face and yet they persist in doing so. I mean, if a Thai person calls a westerner a big nose, that should be embarrassing and a loss of face for said westerner, because it's a stupid, uneducated and insensitive remark. Yet strangely, in Thailand people call each other all sorts of names like this without embarrassment (seemingly) but are quick to defend themselves when their character is criticized? I know you shouldn't care what others think of you, that's why you should stand up to those who criticize you unfairly (like if they make an uncalled for remark about your physical appearance say) but as mentioned if you're wrong like the people in the clip then you need to recognize that and apologize.

Compare this to the American guy "my mate nate" who apologized for his stupidity when confronted about his railroad track coin stunt. I don't recall him blaming Thai people, blaming others, he simply waiied and said sorry.

 

Why couldn't these people, particularly the young guy and the old aunty do the same?

 

My guess is that there is a nation wide lack of self esteem. Could have to do with the educational system, poor parenting, or just the way they are not taught to be self confident people. So, when you do not feel good about who you are, and someone insults you, your very thin skin causes you to overreact. Perhaps. Just a theory. 

 

Where I come from someone says something about us, and we say really? Maybe you are right, maybe you are wrong. The fact is what you say means less than zero. So, how could I possibly get upset about it? You are looking at me funny? Who cares? Who are you anyway? Water off a ducks back. Men behave like men. Boys behave like boys.

[sweatalot]

witch hunt might be over the top

but it is good when the Thai take it in their own hands.

May be this way they 'll learn

[Thian]

 

This is mr swagging finger. He belongs to the Violent clique...

Edited August 17, 2017 by Thian

[wvavin]

No cure for stupidity, it is an inherent disease of the people in this country!

[dictater]

Doesn't' surprise me to see Thai tourists going into restricted areas in Yellowstone knowing what they do in their own national parks. I have written often here about the way local tourists abuse the national parks in Thailand and watching it get worse and worse as it has become trendy to camp in once quiet, and clean parks around the country which are all becoming crowded, over built  and covered with litter because local tourists in the me me me culture have no respect for nature. And oh yes I have been called racist here for writing such things as the truth many times. 

[Dukeleto]

7 hours ago, gandalf12 said:

It isn't only rare it is on par with finding hens teeth

Or indeed Rocking Horse turds.