Foreign tourists with bamboo rice cookers on their heads have been spotted in Thailand. It is known that they mistook them for hats, so they wore them without embarrassment. The new trend, which is actively discussed by the Thais, made the inhabitants of the tropical country laugh.
According to The Thaiger, fashionistas with unusual headdresses were noticed by a resident, photographed, and published on social networks. The pictures quickly gained popularity, collecting more than 4,700 likes and 5,000 reposts from Thai users.
Note that the Thai steamer is a bamboo basket. It is used for steaming glutinous rice. This usually wraps the rice in a cloth and places it in a steamer, which is then placed over a pot of water.
As it turned out, the girls bought two steamers at the Thai market, but due to the language barrier, they did not understand the purpose of the item. The shape of the container resembled a conical Vietnamese hat, but with holes, so it was decided to use it exclusively as a headdress.
In the comments, Thais expressed their admiration for foreign female tourists, noting that a steamer can protect from the sun and become a universal fashion item. Many recognized that this was a funny case and laughed at the unusual choice of women. “This will become a fashion item for a global luxury brand just like our colorful large bag that was previously adapted by Balenciaga”, “It’s funny!”, “Vietnamese style hat?”, “It’s cute”, “I like it!” Haha”, – such comments were left by users.
This incident reminded me of the cultural mistake of another tourist in Thailand. Last year, a foreigner sat down at a table in front of the house of spirits where Thais worship them. This act can be considered extremely disrespectful to Thai culture, but this incident did not offend the locals but made them laugh.