A video of Thai tourists, giggling and posing for group photos in a forbidden area at Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park, went viral yesterday as Thai netizens quickly jumped to shame them online and said they were the embarrassment of Thailand.
The video, shared on YouTube by a guide named “Jeff H.,” shows a group of at least eight Thais, who were chatting in their native language, as well as one Caucasian man, standing in the fragile thermal area, ignoring the danger sign. According to the text in the video, the incident occurred on July 27, near the Fairy Falls trail head.
“What the heck. Hey! Get out of there,” Jeff is heard saying in the video, which was later deleted after it was picked up by Thai media.
Some of the people disperse after Jeff’s warning, but a few ignore him and continue to take photos.
“That corner is pretty. Come on, girls,” a woman says in Thai before they proceed to pose for another group photo.
Jeff, who claimed he was a guide for a group of South American tourists that day, continues to tell the Thais to “get out of there,” to which a Thai woman responds in English, “I know but I want to…why?”
Jeff explains that it’s illegal and he will be turning in the video, but the Thai woman doesn’t seem to understand him and only says “I’m shy!” as the man continues to film her.
Clueless, ignorant, and loving the attention, another Thai lady does the peace signs to Jeff’s camera and shouted proudly “From Thailand!!”
The video then shows a Thai guy from the group confronting Jeff when he realizes what is happening. He inquires in broken English why the guide is taking their photos and demands that he delete the footage.
Jeff wrote that he notified a park employee and saw a police car as he was leaving the park with his South American guests.
He wrote, “While it was disappointing that I had to leave, I did zoom in on the various people in the video to give the park employee the best chance of locating them.”
“I am thankful that no one got hurt, burned, or fell through. I am sorry to the guests that I had as the event was upsetting to them since the gravity of the situation may not have been fully understood.”
“Even though I received threats from the Asian group regarding this video, I am posting for education and hopefully some good comes from it.”
Thai netizens heavily criticized the group of tourists. Some of the top comments said these tourists are from a “lower class” and “probably work illegally in America.”
Many also express how much they’re embarrassed for their country and blame these Thais as one of the reasons getting a U.S. visa is incredibly difficult.
There were no reports of the Thais getting arrested, but last year three Canadians were also caught trespassing the ecologically sensitive area. One of them was ordered to pay a USD3,500 (THB116,410) fine after he pleaded guilty to creating a hazardous condition and for foot travel in a thermal area, Yellowstone reported.
Two others pleaded guilty to additional charges for commercial photography without a permit, use of a drone, and riding a bike. They served seven days in jail and each paid a USD2,000 (THB66,520) fine.
