Gay-friendly Japanese sauna warns Thai tourists to watch their manners
A gay-friendly Japanese sauna displayed a sign in Thai to remind Thai tourists to exhibit proper etiquette while using the facility. The warning sign’s unique feature of a cartoon penis watermark accompanied by a silent hand gesture attracted significant attention and quickly went viral on social media.
A Facebook account named Sa-nguan Khumrungroj posted a picture of the sign with a caption that said…
“Thai tourists have the same image as Chinese tourists. Finally, it’s the day when Japanese people stand up against rude behaviour and put up a sign to warn Thai tourists. I talked to several friends in Japan. In their eyes, Thai tourists are no different than Chinese tourists, yelling out loud without manners.”
The messages on the sign were written in the Thai language…
“To visitors from Thailand, some of you obviously have no manners. Please maintain silence, especially in the dark and peaceful zone. Do not wrap a towel around your waist, do not hold a towel while walking, do not put on makeup when using the service, do not walk in groups, and do not use a mobile phone in the dark and peaceful zone.”
Sa-nguan did not mention the exact location where the sign came from, but many netizens pointed out that the sauna was gay-friendly and some sexual activity was allowed.
A second message below the main message also advised individuals who were rejected by others to accept it and not to force interaction. The utilization of a cartoon penis watermark along with a gesture of silence was another factor that contributed to the widespread popularity of the warning sign.
Thai social media users shared their thoughts on the sign, commenting that manners are essential regardless of location and that the sign was mortifying. Some shared their own experiences of observing Thai tourists displaying poor manners while travelling abroad.
One woman said…
“Some Thai people are really bad. I recently visited Vientiane in Laos and heard a group of Thai tourists complaining, ‘Laos is very uncivilised’ in the hotel lobby. They don’t even care that all of the Laos hotel staff understand Thai.”
Another woman said…
“I just faced a group of Thai women who let their friend cut the line at Narita Airport. People were queuing up for a long time, but they just told their friends that it was fine.”
Japan is the top destination for Thai tourists. Since Japan reopened its border for visa-free tourists on October 11, last year, flights from Thailand to Japan and tour packages have been fully booked.
Thai tourists have been warned by Japanese businesses once before. A Japanese restaurant on Hokkaido Island warned Thai customers to keep the toilets clean by flushing their used paper towels down the toilets to avoid a pile of tissues in the toilet bins.
