chinese tourists shrimp hoarding thailand buffet

China’s “Soft Power”: Tourists Caught Shoveling Plates Full Of Shrimp At Buffet In Thailand

Video of Chinese tourists "exaggerated"

A video publicly shaming Chinese tourists at a buffet in Thailand went viral over the weekend.

The 32-second video shows a crowd of Chinese tourists at a buffet table of fried shrimp. The tourists can be seen grabbing as much shrimp as they can with no concern for their fellow diners. Rather than using serving utensils, the tourists used plates to shovel up the food. One woman can be seen hauling away three plates of shrimp, stacked one upon the other.

The video attracted 6,000 comments and 1,600 forwards on Weibo, eventually becoming the sixth-most searched item over the weekend. Many Chinese netizens expressed disgust, while others argued Chinese should be more conscious of how they behave while traveling abroad. A number of netizens simply criticized the tourists for wasting so much food.

One Chinese netizen wrote, “After watching this, my heart is full of anguish… I feel this is funny and yet sad at the same time.

chinese tourists shrimp hoarding thailand buffet

The video quickly went viral outside of China as well. The story was all over Facebook and was the number one-rated post on reddit over the weekend. Among the 10,000 comments, some reddit users attributed the crassness of the tourists to the Cultural Revolution, the rise of new money (tuhao), and the inability to be shamed.

The Beijing Youth Report confirmed the video was taken at a Ramayana Restaurant, a buffet and tax-free store-located in Thailand. Three unnamed employees also confirmed the video was taken at the restaurant, but claim the footage was shot one to two years ago.

Other pictures found online that purportedly show Chinese tourists hoarding plates of fried shrimp at the restaurant weren’t able to be verified by the paper (seen above and below).

chinese tourists shrimp hoarding thailand buffet

One Chinese tourist, Yang Mingna, (a pseudonym) described her trip to the Ramayana with a Chinese tour group as “the best place to eat on the (Thai) trip”. However, that didn’t mean it didn’t have its drawbacks:

Upon arriving, we saw that the buffet was crammed full of people. The food tables were especially busy with people, but were lacking in utensils for serving food. As many (Chinese) tourists were there, the restaurant was beyond its capacity (to serve customers). To put it simply, the provided food wasn’t enough for the requirements of so many tourists.

Another tourist named Mr Li told a similar story. When Li visited the Ramayana in December 2014 he complained of the lack of food, saying “There was just a bit of soup and vegetables left, and some fried rice left in the corners of the pan. Everything was cold.” Li also claimed there was a shortage of serving utensils, compelling the tourists to use their plates to shovel up the food.

Tour guide Zhang Tongchen however argues the video has been blown way out of proportion. Zhang is adamant that such behavior is “exaggerated” and not the way Chinese tourists normally act:

Normally it’s really not that serious. The tourists in this video are displaying uncivil behavior. But for all the tour groups I’ve led, this type of behavior is uncommon.

Having taken many tour groups to the restaurant in the video, Zhang emphasized the importance of the fried shrimp at the Ramayana, explaining that diners go into a frenzy over them. Zhang also claims that beyond shrimp, the restaurant’s menu doesn’t have much to offer.

chinese tourists shrimp hoarding thailand buffet

Li confirmed Zhang’s account of the shrimp frenzy: “When the shrimp appeared, everyone went after them, and after a short while there was nothing left.

Zhang also argued that Chinese tourists may be eating in a rush to leave enough time to shop at the duty-free store located adjacent to the restaurant.

Although restaurant employees were unwilling to say which particular Ramayana restaurant the video was taken at, they did say that buffet prices aren’t set because they are determined by Chinese tour companies.

Watch the video below:

Charles Liu

The Nanfang's Senior Editor