abroad (as the Chinese tour operators handle most of the cashflow). However,
the hidden social costs and costs of conserving the natural resources and public
facilities are being paid and maintained by Thailand.- Thai law is poorly enforced. Thai culture is easy going. Chinese tourists can get
away with inappropriate and even illegal behavior. Thai may only being able to
“complain”about it without much follow-up. However, it is known that the
Chinese authorities have started penalizing Chinese tourists who committed
unlawful behaviors. Even the tour guide of one particular group was suspended.
The administrator of the Facebook page,“We love Chinese tourists,”reports
that certain behaviors which affect the public safety, such as driving dangerously
or not abiding to traffic rules, and the public toilet misuse behaviors, compelled
him to set up a page reporting these behaviors hoping that there would be a
quick solution to the problems.
5.2.7.1 Cultural Relativity in Thai–Chinese Relations
Stereotyping is not a way to solve problems. It rather creates more hatred and
discrimination. Cultural relativity is quite difficult as there is no universal standard
to assess each characteristic. Here are a few examples discussed in our sample.
- On being loud: Chinese language sounds terse and abrupt. This is the linguistic
nature. According to a Thai key informant who speaks Chinese and a Chinese
key informant who speaks Thai, uttering sounds in Chinese is naturally louder
than uttering sounds in Thai for a bilingual person. Thai tourists abroad behave
the same way as Chinese tourists in this aspect, even though Thai language is
softer and more musical in nature. Traveling in group gives power more than
traveling alone and that makes some people realize less that they are disturbing
others. According to data collected, big groups of Thai tourists are as loud as
Chinese when traveling abroad. - On etiquettes and cultural codes: Differences in culture do not mean that
Mainlanders have no culture at all. Jumping queue is what Thais see Chinese
tourists do. Queuing is not a Thai habit either. However, in the contemporary
globalization period, some Thais are more exposed to Western cultural codes.
Therefore, more and more Thais queue and wait in line.
However, according to the blog traveling-ok, Thais were being reported to
jumping queues abroad as well, especially in Japan. A blog advised Thais not to
do the following 10 behaviors abroad: arriving late; jumping queue; sharing
food/notfinishing a dish/taking too much food from a buffet table/bringing food
from outside to eat in restaurants; jaywalking; speeding/not abiding traffic
rules/parking not in a designated area; not paying tips in a country where this is
customary, like in the US; not wiping nose with a tissue; not cleaning up after
using public facilities; no bargaining in afixed-price place. This tells us that
what is considered acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in another
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