With her most recent BBC documentary, former Love Island star Zara McDermott has sparked outrage in Thailand as she exposes the negative effects of tourism.
Zara McDermott has sparked fury from locals in Thailand after she called the country “Benidorm on steroids.” The former Love Island star has been accused of making a mockery of the tourist hotspot in her new documentary – Thailand: The Dark Side of Paradise – where she draws attention to the seedy underbelly of the travel destination.
The series sees Zara, 28, visit Bangkok and Pattaya as she highlights some of the complex issues the country faces – such as the availability of drugs and prostitution. However, some residents have hit back accusing the show of being one-sided.
Zara says in her documentary that Thailand is “Benidorm on steroids: cheap, cheerful, full of women,” but locals have countered that it is a “welcoming and warm country.” One resident of the famous Khaosan Road in Bangkok said, “I have talked to my clients from around the world many of them, of course some are English, told me here is safer than in their own countries.”
Souvenir shop owner Cletana Thangworachai continued to the Daily Mail, “The documentary is unfair. It could make a negative image about safety here in Thailand and it could shake the confidence of foreign tourists. I think what they report was not true particularly about the safety here. I regularly walk at night alone leaving it very late night or very early morning not only in Bangkok but also in the rural area. I think those who made this story just wanted to boost their engagement.”
Anutr Tosirikul, a 53-year-old local, claimed the documentary might have a negative impact on Thailand’s tourism sector. He continued, “It seems to me that she already had a predetermined outcome in mind.”
“The story appears to have been presented from only one side, which I believe is unfair to Thailand. This isn’t the kind of approach we expect from journalists, and I think it undermines the credibility of the BBC.”
Thailand is described as the “sex capital of Asia” in the documentary, which features young British men having sex with prostitutes for as little as £23.
It seems to me that some young Brits are acting in Thailand in a way unlike they would never behave in the UK, Zara says in the show. They are completely content to live under entirely different rules when they do, and they do it.
A YouTuber who appeared in the documentary just days before the backlash claimed the documentary was “full of lies” and “false scenes” that were staged.
She is shown around the red-light district of Pattaya by the man who runs the channel Mac TV Travel Learn Inspire, but he has since claimed that producers have edited “his dialogue and” dramatized everything.
The BBC responded to the Daily Mail’s article, “We refute any notions that this contributor was misrepresented or that any sequences were fabricated. He fully understood the nature of his contribution and the entire series before taking part, fully consented, and understood what he was doing.
They added, ” Zara McDermott has explored a range of sensitive issues in multiple documentaries for BBC Three over the past five years.”
Zara admitted to having some difficult and emotional conversations with sex workers in Thailand in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday.
Because I firmly believe that sharing our stories gives us women power, I want these women to feel completely seen and heard. I feel incredibly sorry for the women who are subjected to work in such a volatile and occasionally unsafe industry.
Source: Mirror
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