A Thai park ranger was fired after ordering Russian tourists off a beach for greeting him with "ni hao" — the Mandarin Chinese word for hello.
Siranudh "Sai" Scott, 26, an adviser to Thailand's Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation, filmed himself confronting the couple at Krabi beach. The video shows Scott telling the tourists, "We're not Chinese, we're Thai. So try that again, and I will have you deported." The confused couple repeatedly asked what they had done wrong as they were made to leave.
Scott posted the encounter online, where it reached 10 million views across platforms. He defended his actions, writing: "To come to Thailand, and not even have the respect to know the difference between Thailand and China is extremely racist." He compared the tourists' mistake to assuming England and Russia were the same country.
The Department of National Parks didn't support Scott's response. As reported in The Independent, Director-General Atthaphon Charoenchansa announced Scott would be removed from his position. Scott later challenged the parks chief to a debate and took his case to television.
"You cannot plan a vacation here to enjoy our natural resources and ignore the Thai people who live in the country," Scott said in his final social media post about the incident.
Previously:
• Thailand's thin-skinned king demands Youtube take down Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator'
• Watch President Trump attempt to say 'Thailand'
