No matter how much travellers complain about the increase in numbers of Chinese tourists, who over recent years have flocked to popular holiday destinations across the globe, my vacation experience (OK, only a part of it) was actually enriched thanks to them.
In the past, it was quite common for Thais to receive the least amiable service from Thai employees in the hospitality industry, whether they be airline flight attendants, hotel personnel or restaurant service staff.
When compared to the sophisticated, gracious and, most importantly, deep-pocketed foreign travellers (Westerners, to be exact), Thais were seen by service providers from the homeland as less worldly wise, more stingy and nit-picking. Thais were therefore seen as deserving of second-class attention.
But lately, I have experienced a pleasant, upside-down change while on holiday as a Thai.
The most recent example occurred last week during a four-day, family vacation at
a pristine, Thai-owned island resort in the Indian Ocean.
The good feeling started during the check-in at the airline counter at Suvarnabhumi airport.
As a frequent traveller who has flown, on average, more than 10 international flights annually over the past 15 years, the attentive assistance was one of the best I've ever received.
Upon arrival at the beautiful resort, our party of six budget excursionists (no, we didn't look like jet-setters) enjoyed the warmest greeting from the hotel receptionist, who seemed eager to please us because, according to her, "we are Thai".
During the welcome session, we were told to study and strictly follow the resort's rules and regulations. Some of them include the prohibition of fishing and damaging or taking coral, to which my son asked, "Is there anyone who does something crazy like that?"
"Yes, there are," the receptionist said. "The Chinese people do."
On the second day at the resort, we saw with our own eyes Chinese, amazingly with their bare hands, catch fish from the ocean to put them in a foot wash basin in front of their bungalow. Blame me for not playing the role of fish rescuer, but I simply wasn't prepared for that.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, mainland Chinese have become the world's most common globe travellers, with more than 100 million going abroad each year.
The Chinese have also recently overtaken the Americans and Germans as top international spenders.
Because of their financial power, China's newly minted travelling classes are the darling of the tourism industry.
Yet over the past years, there have been non-stop incidents and complaints about the bad behaviour of some Chinese tourists worldwide.
Some of the high-profile embarrassments include a Chinese man who carved "Ding Jinhao was here" into an ancient wall of the Egyptian ruins at Luxor in 2013, and a group of Chinese vacationers who killed a stranded dolphin and used it as
a prop in photos.
Most recently, a Chinese tourist was caught on camera while defecating into Chiang Mai's moat, the city's famous attraction.
It might sound somewhat discriminatory, but the day has already arrived when Chinese guests aren't welcome at some hotels and restaurant buffets, as some are known to fill doggy bags after eating. At the Louvre in Pars, there's a sign in Chinese requesting that visitors not defecate or urinate on the museum grounds.
Hong Kong Airlines was also reported to have trained its crew members in kung fu to subdue drunken Chinese passengers.
Such incidents have obviously caught the attention of the Chinese government.
As a consequence, the China National Tourism Administration and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce recently issued its first tourism law, calling on Chinese tourists to observe public order and respect local cultures.
Over the years, I've learned to cope with the loud conversations of Chinese tourists, let go when they cut in front of me at the buffet line and prepare for the worst when being told by an airline official to wait for the late check-in Chinese passengers.
But things were a bit different on my recent holiday.
Because as I attempted to keep calm when our serene evenings were disturbed by loud noises from our Chinese neighbours, fought back when they tried to overtake our kids' turns in playing with water sports equipment and tolerated the sight of their inappropriate swimwear,
I also felt a great deal of love and appreciation from the people in the industry.
Vanniya Sriangura is a senior writer and food columnist for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.