They made us laugh, roll our eyes and some even made us cringe. Wrap up your work week with some of the funniest travel news stories we could find.
1. Don’t strip in public: Thai’s new tourism message
Chinese travellers are back under the spotlight after the Thai government released plans to create a two-minute video educating them on the do’s and dont’s of travelling.
The video comes after an image of a woman topless in the toilets at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok went viral across social media.
Although Thailand is known for its bright colours and people, it has a strict ban on public nudity. This rule extends to taking clothes off in the public bathrooms.
The woman in the picture is believed to have been Chinese – although this is yet confirmed.
Originally posted to the Facebook page of CSI LA, it was accompanied with the comment: Chinese tourists are terrible! I saw a group of Chinese tourists stripping in the ladies’ room. Some were topless, some bottomless. So disgraceful!
A spokesperson for the airport confirmed the incident took place but stressed Chinese tourists in Thailand are relatively ‘well-behaved’.
However, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports has decided a message needs to be sent to tourists to ensure they’re following local laws.
The video will be posted to tourism websites and blogs in the coming weeks.
2. Wait, I want to leave my mark on the Colosseum
Two American women have been arrested after they carved their initials in Italy’s 1,943 year-old Colosseum.
The women aged 21 and 25 had snuck away from their tour group on Saturday when they decided to carve their initials into the ancient structure.
Once the 8cm high ‘J’ and ‘N’ were inscribed, they took a selfie with their work.
Police were quick to catch the two and now they may go in front of a judge and face penalty.
This isn’t the first time tourists have chiseled away at the Colosseum – a 42 year-old man was slapped with a $21,685 fine after he was caught carving the letter ‘K’ into the historic site.
3. Egypt outraged over Pyramids porno
If you thought the story of two male tourists taking nude pics at Cambodia’s ancient Angkor temple was bad, then you’re about to get a shock.
Egypt is reportedly outraged over what has been described as a pornographic film made by foreign visitors at the Giza Pyramids.
Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said in a statement to a public prosecutor that the ‘unlawful footage’ was made by an international female tourist and was posted online last year.
Contents of the 10-minute video have yet to be confirmed, according to Reuters, however screenshots published by Egyptian newspaper ‘Al Masru Al Youm’ show blurred images of a woman’s breasts.
The paper also said the video included nudity and sexual acts by Russian-speaking visitors near the 4,500-year-old pyramids.
Meanwhile, last week a new study showed ongoing political disruptions in Egypt has made it one of the cheapest destinations for Aussie travellers.
Hotel rates in the country are at an average of $117 – making it the fifth cheapest destination.
4. Where are your customers hiding their money?
Losing your money (or having it stolen) while on holidays can be scary, so travellers are forced to come up with new and creative (and smelly) ways of keeping it safe.
And the most popular technique used to stash away cash?
Tucking it into your sock.
