Thai Redditer: A TikToker told Thai locals to "just pull out Google Translate" while visiting Thailand. I'm Thai, and I have some thoughts.

[Tragedeigh]

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A TikToker told Thai locals to "just pull out Google Translate" while visiting Thailand. I'm Thai, and I have some thoughts.​

Bangkok/Middle

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So a TikToker recently posted a video saying Thai locals are "the most disrespectful people she's ever met in her life" and her evidence was that people didn't speak English to her.

I want to be fair. Language barriers are frustrating. Traveling somewhere and not being able to communicate is genuinely hard. I get it. That part I understand.

But here's where I have a problem.

She said and this is a direct quote "just pull out Google Translate. Don't ignore me."

Okay. But… why weren't you the one pulling out Google Translate first? You chose to travel to Thailand. You bought the ticket. You packed the bag. You got on the plane. At what point did you think to maybe download a translation app before landing in a country where Thai is the national language?

Because here's the thing a lot of people don't realize Thailand was never colonized. Not by Britain. Not by France. Not by anyone. With all the respect, Some other country in Southeast Asia that speaks relatively comfortable English was colonized, and English was forced into their education systems through generations of colonial rule. Thailand never went through that. We kept our language, our culture, our sovereignty.

And that's something we're actually proud of.

So when you land in Thailand and discover that not everyone speaks English that's not rudeness. That's just the result of a country that was never forced to adopt your language. There's a difference.

There's also a class dimension here that most tourists never think about. English education in Thailand isn't equally accessible. It's heavily tied to income and geography. A hotel worker in Bangkok has had different opportunities than a street vendor in a rural province. Expecting uniform English fluency across an entire country of 70 million people — because you showed up is a level of entitlement that I don't think most people even realize they have.

Then she said: "We will stop coming."

She spent four minutes calling Thai people disrespectful and then threatened us with lost tourism dollars in the same breath.

Thailand had over 35 million international visitors last year. Well, We'll survive that.

Look , she ended the video saying she loves Thailand and would come back. And I actually believe her. But there's a version of "loving" a place that's really just loving how a place makes you feel, without any curiosity about the people who actually live there. That's not love. That's consumption.

If you're going to travel, especially across the world, into a culture that is genuinely different from yours bring some humility in your carry-on. Learn three words in the local language. Be the one who pulls out Google Translate first.

Because the moment you decide that a local not speaking your language is their failure you've already missed the entire point of travel.

TL;DR TikToker called Thai people rude because they didn't speak English. Thailand was never colonized so English was never embedded in our culture. Language barrier ≠ disrespect. Also she threatened us with lost tourism while calling us rude,

which is... a choice.

 

[Tragedeigh]

This is the self entitled fatang bitch...

 

[Narong Wongwan]

This is the self entitled fatang bitch...

Where’s this mongrel from?

 

[Tragedeigh]

Where’s this mongrel from?

No idea....

 

[A Singaporean]

Fuck she is just like coolie gene Sinkies who expect foreigners to speak Singlish.