Lost in Translation: Foreign man’s tattoo trouble echoes Hangover II

In a scene that could have been shot in the Hangover II movie, a foreign man turned to social media for help after waking up with a Thai tattoo written across his chest. The meaning of the writing remained unclear to him until Thai netizens stepped in with the answer, which might prompt him to have the tattoo removed.

The foreign man posted a picture of the tattoo, “ฉันล่อกระเทย” on his chest on a Facebook group, Love Thailand, asking for translation help.

“Can someone translate, please? Woke up with this on my chest.”

Netizens speculated that the foreign man was likely heavily intoxicated the previous night and may not recall getting the tattoo. Several members of the foreign group attempted to decipher the tattoo using translation programs, but their efforts proved unsuccessful.

Several foreign social media users attempted to translate the tattoo with hilarious results.

“I copy hermaphrodites.”

“I tease transvestites.”

“I am a lizard.”

Thai social media users, however, came to the rescue and eventually provided the precise translation of the tattoo.

“I had sex with a ladyboy.”

The word “ฉัน” means I, “ล่อ” means “had sex,” and “กระเทย” refers to a ladyboy.

Numerous netizens found the unexpected tattoo amusing, while others suggested it could be a nightmare for the man to have a tattoo imposed upon him without his consent.

The Hangover

According to the report on CatDumb, one netizen did not find the story funny and had his say in the comment section.

“Every member should avoid sharing pictures or messages that are not inspired or rude. I am Thai and I feel uncomfortable when I see foreigners making fun of the country.”

The post later disappeared from the group, possibly due to reports from Thai netizens. However, the story continued to attract attention from other news outlets, with more funny comments.

“This is like a scene from the film The Hangover. Waking up with a tattoo!”

“Is this a teaser for the next The Hangover? Haha.”

“When you know the meaning… Your life will never be the same…”

“I want to laugh but still feel sorry for him. I hope the tattoo artist takes some responsibility by paying him to have the tattoo removed. He might like it, who knows?”

“Welcome to Thailand!”

This story is reminiscent of a similar report in June last year when a French Muay Thai kickboxer, Jimmy Vienot, wanted to get a Thai word tattoo “มวยไทย (Muay Thai)” on his arm, but the spelling was completely wrong. The first letter was ฆ (K) instead of ม (M), so the word was Kuay Thai, not Muay Thai, and Kuay in Thai means penis.

Vienot extended his apology to the Thai people who found his tattoo offensive and later changed ฆ to the correct letter, ม.