

A video starring a group of frenzied Chinese tourists using plates as shovels to gather shrimp at a hotel buffet in Thailand went viral last weekend, seeming to confirm everyone’s worst stereotypes about Chinese tourists. However, the restaurant where the video took place released a statement earlier today, putting the chaos into a different context.



In a Chinese-language press statement by Ramayana Restaurant, a subsidiary of King Power, a duty free retail group frequented by many Chinese tour groups, confirmed that the incident happened at one of its seafood buffet restaurants; however, they also stated that the frantic food grab wasn’t recent, but instead took place a full two years ago, CCTV reports.

Furthermore, they tried to rationalize the tourists’ behavior by explaining that they were all on a tight schedule during the peak time for Thailand tourism and were worried about missing their flights back home.

Presumably, that would also explain the massive amount of food left over by tourists following the scrum.

What a waste: Chinese tourists in #Bangkok spotted snatching tons of food in a buffet but left much untouched pic.twitter.com/X8HMPzNt7S — People's Daily,China (@PDChina) March 18, 2016



The group added that things are completely different nowadays. Their buffet service has improved, ensuring that diners will never again have to fight to shovel the last prawn onto their plate. At the same time, they also revealed that travel agencies are giving tourists guidance on “dining manners.”

Finally, they urged people to not use the video to generalize Chinese tourists and questioned the motives of whoever decided to upload it online.

However, on Weibo, not all netizens are convinced by King Power’s statement, believing it to be nothing more than a face-saving move by the company. One netizen even swears that the buffet frenzy actually occurred before her very eyes when she was at the restaurant a week ago, shocking her and her travel companions. Another chimed in, “My colleague who just returned from Thailand told me that is still how Chinese tourists are shoveling shrimp right now, and wastage is still a severe problem.”

“The media has destroyed the image of the Chinese people before getting the facts right! How disgusting!” wrote a sarcastic commenter.

“It doesn’t matter how many years ago this took place, the fact is that it did take place,” wrote another. “Some of you are pretending that the people in this video aren’t Chinese people just because it was shot two years ago. I’m embarrassed!”

Watch the video below:

It's buffet time!READ MORE: http://shst.me/buffet Posted by Shanghaiist on Friday, March 18, 2016