While it seems to be accepted Thai etiquette to use flips-flops as placeholders in queues, a widely shared photo this week showed Thais have upgraded to using expensive duty-free items to bag their spots when traveling abroad.
A photo of what looked like a line of shopping bags left by Thai travellers to queue at a boarding gate at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport has become a hot topic on Thai social media this week.
“Shocked by the queue at Thai Airways boarding gate at the moment,” said the caption on the photo, which was posted on Pantip forum on Sunday.
Another user who claimed to have witnessed the incident said it was “nothing but a group of lousy Thais who want to make sure their stuff fit in the overhead lockers.”
“They ran in like they were competing for the space. They did not put their carts away. I want Thai people to care about the image of our country,” Pantip user Arex1970 wrote.
“How did we get here? Thais say so many bad things about Chinese tourists. Are we trying to compete with them now?” another user wrote.
The embarrassing behavior of Thai people when traveling to Japan has been a trending topic this past year, sparking online discussion. As Japan is a popular destination among Thais, many have shared stories of their countrymen behaving badly abroad, urging others to help build a good image of Thai tourists.
In April, GTH production company suspended famous teen actors from the Hormones series from working and using social media for up to six months after they upset Thai netizens by posting a video of themselves dancing like lunatics on a train amid unamused Japanese locals.
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Feet first: Locals queue with their flip-flops during lunch break
