It doesn't matter if this takes place in Thailand or not but given the anti-foreigner sentiment that is kind of taking place in the media and on social-media it is stated so frequently in the news that one would think that the foreigners over here in Thailand are just running wild all the time.
I think that most foreigners are respectful and understanding of normal civil behavior but we once again are seeing a few stories of foreign visitors behaving badly and this time it is in very commonplace situations.
This story comes yet again from the wild cesspool that is Pattaya and the type of tourist that is in that part of the world. This time they are British but they may as well be from anywhere. The story here is that the Brit had lost his room key and was told that he would be fined 500 Baht for a replacement key.
This is a fairly standard practice all around the world. It isn't because keys cost that much but because of other things such as the coded needing to be changed for all of the cards and the old card is a bit of a security risk should someone else decide to use it.
Seeing as how 500 Baht is around 13-14 dollars, I really don't think this is an unreasonable fine. The foreigner became abusive after being told about this fine and then nearly threw some hands on a staff member during the exchange that became heated.
I think that I can kind of get some insight into why this Brit would get so worked up over such a small amount of money and I believe it boils down to the overall ambiance of Pattaya just generally speaking. Pattaya is not a laid back vacation destination. If you are there you are going to be harassed to be spending money at all times no matter where you go. No where is safe: It could be a market, a shopping center, the beach, walking down the road, standing at a bus stop, in a bar, or even once you are in the bar and spending money people are going to pester you to spend money constantly. It's truly annoying and is one of the major reasons why I stay away from that place.
It certainly doesn't justify losing your cool with reception who is only going by the business practices that likely weren't her idea at all, but I think this is a big part of the reason why people seem to lose their cool in Pattaya so frequently. You are treated like a walking ATM card while you are there and after a while I think some people just have their boiling point.
Here's the same tourist reaching in a threatening manner towards the staff of the hotel. He did not strike anyone and left the hotel, leaving his passport behind.
This happened right after what I believe was the end of a World Cup match that his country's team was in, so it wouldn't surprise me if he was completely trashed on booze as well.
Now the police are looking for him and as far as we know he hasn't went back to the hotel despite the fact that they have his passport. He's going to have to go back at some point.
So here are a couple of pieces of advice for anyone thinking of coming to Thailand: Don't lose your cool of minor things like this especially towards a staff member who has almost nothing to do with the policies being the way they are and two... just don't go to Pattaya. It's an annoying blemish in this country and other than the thousands of prostitutes there, I don't see any real redeeming qualities.
