The title Never Go To Thailand certainly grabs your attention. But the real message of this 4.7-minute video produced by Brian Camusat champions the opposite.
The Frenchman's clip was made after his holiday to the Land of Smiles and it has turned out to be the talk of the town in social and local media, attracting nearly 300,000 viewers online.
Camusat posted the video on Vimeo with the message: "Worst holiday ever... you shouldn't go there :)" The sarcastic title and quip succeeded in poking people's curiosity to find out why.
"I'm very surprised. This video was just a holiday souvenir at the beginning," Camusat told the Bangkok Post. "But I'm very glad that Thai people love it. I've never seen so many thanks for a video and I would like Thai people to know that I thank them a lot also. Thumbs up for you."
Camusat, 28, chose Thailand for his first trip to Asia because he said he heard a lot of good things about the Kingdom and was curious about the culture, especially as it is a Buddhist country. Thailand also held the promise of sunshine.
After spending three weeks travelling to five provinces including Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai and Surat Thani (Koh Samui and Koh Phangan) with his friends, he returned to Paris, edited his video and posted it on Vimeo and YouTube.
The movie begins with an aeroplane taking off, followed by popular Bangkok sights such as Wat Pho, Yaowarat and its street-food stalls, and a train ride to Ayutthaya, and the lively atmosphere is accompanied by upbeat songs. He also entertained his audience by mixing in a scene of the movie La Classe Americaine when two pilots had a conversation in French: Pilot 1: Can you tell me what we are doing in this movie?
Pilot 2: We don't have anything to do here. It's probably an error in the flashback sequence. It should not be too long.
Pilot 1: It looks like a real mess!
Then the mood switches to a slower song with his relaxing time in the South, including diving with schools of fish.
When asked if he would come to Thailand again, he said yes and probably very soon. "I have friends to see there, a lot of good new places to discover, new people to meet and also food to taste," he said.
"I really love Chiang Mai so I have to go back and try to discover Chiang Rai next time," he said.
"I also have to go back to Koh Samui to see my friends Kim & Jo who helped me a lot to find good places to go."
When asked what he liked the most, he said: "The first words that come to my mind would be: the people, the nature, the culture, the smiles, the food and the biodiversity.
"I really hope Thailand will preserve all this."
_ Karnjana Karnjanatawe
