Footage of the incident has sparked massive backlash in Thailand with some going as far as waiting outside the hotel they were staying in to demand an apology
A group of Italian teenagers have been caught on camera behaving so badly on a school trip to Thailand that their country’s embassy has been forced to issue an apology.
Footage circulated on social media showed a woman on the BTS SkyTrain confronting a group of youngsters for being too rowdy, telling them: “In Thailand, we don’t scream.”
When she asked them where they were from, they mockingly replied ‘Thailand’, before calling her a ‘b****’.
One appeared to be filmed giving her the middle finger, while the others laughed and carried on making a racket.
The clip also showed a teacher sarcastically telling her: “Sorry for bringing money to your country’, before telling her to ‘shut the f*** up’ and that the group were ‘just children’.
The reaction to the video, which was viewed 16 million times, was swift and fierce.
One social media user said: “Bringing money, no one complains, but please bring some manners too.”
Another wrote: “Bringing money to Thailand doesn’t make you a god.” Others went even further, tracking down the teenagers and targeting their schools’ social media pages.
Some even went as far as gathering outside the hotel where they were staying, demanding an apology.
Following the international furore, the Italian embassy in Bangkok released a video featuring three adults and a teenager all offering their humble apologies. After bowing, a male adult was heard saying: “We are the leaders of the Italian group that went viral. We are making this video to apologise to the Thai people and Thai culture.
“We wanted to shoot this video yesterday, but we were worried and scared so we postponed. That was probably the wrong decision.
“We wanted to ask for forgiveness for our behaviour to the Thai people and the country.”
A woman said: “I’m personally extremely sorry for what has happened. I know that money can’t buy respect and I’m really sorry for all the people offended and for having offended Thai culture and Thai people.
A young man who appeared to be a teenager said: “I’m very sorry for everyone in Thailand because of what I did on the BTS train. It was wrong. I’m very sorry for my behaviour.”
And a second adult woman said: “We do not accept this behaviour. The students are returning to Italy as soon as possible, and we will also try to teach our group again to strictly respect that culture. Thank you for welcoming us and we humbly ask for your forgiveness.”
