Tourists urged to respect shrines
TOURISTS ARE BEING URGED to show more respect at shrines set up at local venues after a foreign woman sat at an altar for incense and
offerings at a popular market on the outskirts of Phuket Town, ignorant of where she was sitting while fully engaged with her mobile phone.
The need for tourists to be more respectful came to the fore after a young foreign woman sat at the Phra Phrom shrine, honouring Brahma, at the Chillva Market on Yaowarat Rd, near the Samkong Intersection.
A video of the woman was posted
on TikTok on May 4, raising concerns
among local residents.
The woman is seen sitting at the altar in front of the shrine, oblivious to a woman who had come to pay her
respects. After minutes of waiting, the Thai woman asked the young foreign woman to move.
The foreign woman finally realised
what she had done. She apologised and respectfully moved.
Pussadee Chakmanon, a clothing seller at the market, said that vendors
at the market were understanding of the transgression. “No one warned her because we understand that she did not know our culture,” Ms Pussadee said.
Wirot Somchit, another clothing merchant at the market, noted the woman had plugged her phone into a power socket at the altar. “She was probably worried her battery was going
to run out while talking to her friend,” he explained.
Regardless, comments posted after the video of the woman was shown online called for tourists coming to Thailand to be more aware, and more respectful, of local culture.
Eakkapop Thongtub