Italian students who sparked outcry over bad behaviour on Bangkok train apologise following fines

BANGKOK – Five Italian students and their supervisor apologised to a Thai woman known as Sugus at Samrae Metropolitan Police Station on July 25 after a dispute over their conduct on a BTS train in Thailand.Police fined five members of the group, and both sides agreed to end the matter and pursue no further legal action against each other.The incident began when the group spoke loudly and behaved inappropriately aboard the train.After Sugus intervened politely, she was met with rude language and gestures, including a raised middle finger.The exchange also included the remark: “Sorry that we brought money to your country.”It prompted widespread anger among Thai social\ media users, and Sugus later filed a police complaint.Investigators invited all six members of the group to meet Sugus at the station with an interpreter present.The talks lasted more than an hour, during which the students and their supervisor expressed regret, acknowledged that their behaviour had been inappropriate and apologised sincerely.Sugus later posted a video on her TikTok account – 1234aaawry – showing all six raising their hands in a wai gesture and apologising.Sugus asked: “Are you apologising to me?”The woman in red replied: “I apologise to you, to all Thai people and to your family.”The others also offered their apologies.The two sides agreed to delete photographs and video clips stored on their phones or posted on social media.Sugus said she would remove images of the Italian group in line with the agreement.She also wrote that, with the case concluded, the Italian side would not be able to use the incident later to bring a claim or legal action against her over her efforts to defend herself.Police charged five of the six with insulting another person in their presence and each of them was fined 1,000 baht (S$38).The person seen making the middle-finger gesture in the video faced an additional charge of committing an indecent act in public, bringing that person’s total to two charges and 2,000 baht in fines.Police then completed the legal process, formally ending the dispute.In her account of the settlement, Sugus referred to a 1,000-baht fine and wrote that police had recommended that amount to conclude the case quickly, although the maximum was 10,000 baht.She felt the amount might not be a severe punishment for the group but said she respected the officers’ discretion and advice.Sugus said she recognised the sincerity and remorse behind the apology and believed people who admitted wrongdoing and apologised should be given another chance.She stressed that she had filed the complaint to protect her rights and dignity, and to remind visitors to Thailand to respect the rights of others, Thai culture and social etiquette.She asked for the matter to end there.She later posted a photograph of herself embracing the Italian woman, writing: “She has sincerely apologised to me.”Sugus thanked everyone who had protected and stood by her when she was insulted and harassed, adding that she would never forget their encouragement.She believed the legal process, public criticism and subsequent events had shown the visitors how much their actions had affected others.At the same time, Sugus said the woman was being heavily harassed, including through insults, threats and messages telling her to die, treatment similar to what Sugus herself had experienced.She said she did not want anyone on either side to face the same abuse and urged the public to stop the harassment.“I did not want this to escalate or create hatred towards any nationality,” she wrote, adding that her aim from the outset had been only to protect her dignity and rights from insults and harassment.Sugus said the incident should serve as a shared lesson that Thais and foreigners alike deserve respect and that no one should be insulted or harassed.The Italian students were scheduled to continue their study-visit activities in Thailand for several more days. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK