Thread: Thaivisa.com readers voted most Retarded.

ThaiVisa.com Readers Voted Most Retarded by JIP



Story: Tuktuk driver on Phuket stabs tourist over fare dispute.

ThaiVisa.com readers comments (paraphrased):

1. If the tourist knew Thai culture better this wouldn't have happened.
2. Why was the tourist arguing in the first place?
3. Well, the tourist was Welsh. (Jil: OK, I know that was a joke.)
4. The tourist was drunk, so he probably deserved it.
5. The tuktuk driver should be ripping off drunk tourists. It's only fair.
6. The tuktuk driver did what any Thai person does in this situation.
7. The British are all criminals, so why judge the Thai guy so quickly?
8. Blame the Phuket government for not hiring nice tuktuk drivers.
9. It was 3:30 a.m., so the tourist obviously had it coming.

What a bunch of apologist douchebags.

These people honestly believe that certain tourist behavior naturally and always should lead to a Thai putting them in the hospital. They think, without apology or doubt, that if you go against the Thai way of things, the Thais ("they're barbarians, but they're our barbarians, dammit, and we love them") have every right become violent and assault people.

I don't know why, but there are so many foreigners like this who live in Thailand who honestly think that stabbing and robbing tourists is (and should be) just a normal part of Thai culture. They believe that certain tourists are just naturally inclined — by their behavior or ignorance — to be culled from the tourist herd. They use catch phrases like "TIT" (which stands for "This Is Thailand", meaning that it bears no further explanation), or "som nam na" (which means "too bad for you" in Thai, or, translated into that mocking Simpson's kid's laugh: "Hah Hah!") to ridicule tourist ignorance and excuse Thai behavior.

(As an aside, I do riducle tourists who are duped into taking knockout pills by prostitutes, and then get robbed of all of their belongings. But, (1) it is hard to argue that theirs is not a grand stupidity, and (2) I don't make excuses for the prostitutes who do it.)

Anyway, as I said, apologist douchebags. Each and every one. UPDATE:

I noticed a bunch of hits coming from ThaiVisa.com, and went over to see what they were saying. Sure enough, about half of the folks agree with me (recognizing that the title of this post refers specifically to the 9 idiot commenters linked to above and not every ThaiVisa reader (which includes myself) out there), others obviously aren't even bothering to come over to read what is written here, and one guy seemed oddly desperate to find out where I live. (He probably wants to stop by my house and stand outside and make loud disdainful harrumphing noises or something.)

Anyway, yes indeed: Thank you to George for the hits, and please remember to vote for me as Best Asian Blog when the 2006 Weblog Awards start taking votes in early December.