Thai men condemed for inappropriately touching Taiwanese YouTuber
Thai and Taiwanese netizens condemned two Thai men for inappropriately touching a Taiwanese YouTuber, Ar Yuan, while she was travelling in Bangkok.
The Taiwanese YouTuber, Ar Yuan ( 一隻阿圓) runs a YouTube channel called I am CIRCLE (一隻阿圓) which promotes travel and lifestyle videos and draws over 762,000 subscribers to her channel. According to the Taiwanese news agency, ETtoday, Ar Yuan travelled to Bangkok in the middle of February and shared her experience in a video that was published three days ago.
In the video, Ar Yuan can be seen looking uncomfortable as a Thai man, who works as pier staff, attempted to hold her hand. She later expressed her discomfort with the audience saying…
“Why do they always want to touch me?”
As she attempted to board a long-tail boat, the same member of staff appeared by her side again but too close to her chest, prompting Ar Yuan to say “Ok, Ok,” in an attempt to make him stop.
The YouTuber also posted a picture on her Instagram account, where she can be seen with a Thai man who asked to take a photo with her. He hugged her without consent. She expressed her fear in the caption saying…
“This man came to me and asked to take a picture with me. I was really scared because he hugged me!” See the picture here.
Ar Yuan’s fans commented on her picture and video expressing their concern about the behaviour of the two Thai men. Thai fans apologized on behalf of their fellow countrymen. They commented…
“I’m from Thailand. I write this comment to say sorry about the bad men that don’t make you feel good.”
“Thank you for coming to Thailand. As a Thai person, female travellers must be careful even if Thailand is friendly to tourists. Hope you enjoy your trip. Be careful too!”
“I experienced the same thing. The Thai man tried to help me, but I think it was sexual harassment!”
Ar Yuan later informed her fans that she was accompanied by her cameraman when the incidents occurred and thanked her followers and the Thai people for their concerns. Despite these unfortunate events, she stated that she had a great time in Thailand.
This incident drew comparisons to the case of Taiwanese actress An Yu-Qing, also known as Charlene An, who was extorted by Thai police officers for 27,000 baht. Many said these incidents ruin the image of Thai tourism.
