The reputation of Britons abroad suffered yet another setback this week, when 19-year-old Thomas Strong was expelled from Turkey for exposing himself and shouting obscenities at a statue of the nation’s founder.
The Cumbrian teenager was unable to explain his behaviour when he appeared before a Turkish court in the holiday resort of Marmaris, telling the judge: “I don’t know why I did it.”
He was summarily deported and banned from re-entering the country for five years, but locals who do not feel honour has yet been satisfied have set up a Facebook group titled “String Up Strong” and are calling for him to be hanged.
Ayhan Hatay watched in horror on Sunday as Strong pulled down his shorts and began swearing at the statue of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who led the Turkish national movement and established the Republic in 1923.
“To be honest, he’s lucky it was the police that took him – Ataturk is the father of the Turkish Republic and a national hero – the local boys wanted to kill him for being so insulting,” he said.
Last month, the Foreign Office said 237 Britons were arrested or detained in Greece and 434 required hospitalisation between April 2008 and March 2009.
The problem is not confined to the Greek beach resorts popular with young British binge-drinkers: a total of 4,603 Britons were arrested in other countries around the world between 2007 and 2007, according to the most recent British Behaviour Abroad report.
The shenanigans of this raucous minority do not go unnoticed, and British tourists were recently named the worst behaved in Europe in a survey by Expedia, the holiday bookings company, of more than 4,500 hoteliers.
But Dr Arthur Cassidy, a social psychologist at the Belfast Institute, believes the stereotype of badly behaved Britons abroad has become a self-fulfilling prophesy, with tourists conforming to the perceived norm of drunken, loutish behaviour as a way of coping with a foreign environment.
“When we find ourselves in an alien environment in which we aren’t sure how we should behave, we begin to conform to group expectations,” he said.
“We know, as British tourists, that we are expected to binge drink and behave badly, and there is a strong element of peer pressure in groups of young people who travel abroad together, so they find themselves conforming to the cultural expectations of their own country, rather than the country they are holidaying in.
“For young people, often, the psychological cost of failing to conform to group pressure – the fear of exclusion and loneliness – seems far greater that the cost of engaging in dangerous behaviour.”
Dr Cassidy also said binge drinking habits have eroded the social skills of many British tourists, so they overcompensate by engaging in risky sexual and physical activities.
“Drinking to excess to the extent that your life is at risk has become a central part of British culture, even though it is not enjoyable,” he said.
“While in other cultures in Europe people drink as part of a varied social life, here it is the focus. This kind of excessive drinking has led to a sort of verbal amnesia deficit – we have forgotten how to communicate with each other, and we compensate for our verbal incompetence with physical and sexual display which can be offensive in other cultures.”
The psychologist also suggested that a lack of inhibitions when away from home and the higher temperatures of many European countries made people more prone to violent and sexually risky behaviour.
Higher levels of disposable income among young people in Britain than in the rest of Europe also made it easier for them to spend large amounts of money on alcohol, he said.
Excessive drinking and poor-quality, strong alcohol frequently contribute to arrests and hospitalisations abroad, according to the Foreign Office.
This is particularly true in the European tourist destinations made accessible by cheap airlines.
The mayor of the Latvian capital of Riga said earlier this month that British stag parties would no longer be welcomed to the city, telling a local magazine he had lost patience with the unruly groups urinating and climbing naked on Riga's revered Freedom Monument.
"Let's not be politically correct – unfortunately, this is their speciality," said Nils Usakovs.
Last month, a young British plumber, Stuart Feltham, became a target for national outrage in Greece when a local woman allegedly threw her drink over him and set him on fire because she claimed he exposed himself and tried to grope her in a nightclub.
But while the Expedia survey showed Britons were voted the worst behaved visitors by hoteliers in European countries, they were ranked the second best tourists overall by hotel staff around the rest of the world.
Stephen Davis, head of research at Expedia, said the speed and ease of cheap flights to other European cities mean Britons are more likely to misbehave closer to home than they are after investing the time and money needed to reach a further flung destination.
“When it comes to holidaying outside Europe, because of the cost involved and the time it takes to get there, Brits seem to make more of an effort to immerse themselves in the culture of the country they’re visiting and in turn paint a better picture of themselves than our closest neighbours might see,” he said.
But expats Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors did their bit to prove Britons who venture outside Europe can sometimes be just as badly behaved as the binge-drinkers closer to home, when they were arrested last July for being caught in flagrante on a beach in Dubai.
The latest British Behaviour Abroad report, which documents the number of arrests, deaths and hospitalisations of Britons overseas, will be released by the Foreign Office on Monday.
A lot of this is not true! yes tom strong got naked but all he did was pose for a picture. was no shouting or swearing or urinating!
I emigrated from the UK to Canada in 1975 and am glad I did. When I go back to visit London, it seems a very violent place from what I remember when I lived there. I do not feel safe walking around the city, especially the South London suburbs where I was brought up. Stores with shutters pulled down after hours, and at some stores you have to press a button at the entrance before the store will let you enter.
So sad. Not the future for Britain that my Dad fought for in the 2nd World War !!!!!!
To "Welshman in Portugal" re teaching proper behaviour in school: you have hit the nail on the head.
It's a shame, but if the parents can't do it, the state must step in. What other choice is there? No, really.
When I was young (clich�), we knew we were children and therefore under the care and the eyes of adults (who were really grown-up and responsible) until we were twenty-one.
Did this have any effect, do you suppose, on our behaviour?
I get the impression that prepubescent girls believe that they are adults. I saw a dreadful television programme where small girls were dressed up as tiny goodtime girls and put on stage to show-off. The mothers were desperately competitive, encouraging Maddonna-like behaviour. Sad, and shocking, really.
There seems no antidote to the lack of self-control of the young Briton, home or abroad.
Rest assured, John Walkington, we read your comments and are very glad you take the time to make them. Please keep chatting - it's always a pleasure to see how the readers respond to what we write.
Some of my English male friends in their sixties are not drunken louts, but it amazes me that they are proud of their beer drinking exploits when younger. It seems that if you could drink ten pints at the pub you passed some kind of male ritual achievement. Surprised at this sort of adolescent attitude in seniors there.
Yet more evidence to support the fact that my decision to change my nationality because I'm so ashamed of being British can only be a good thing. Thank goodness I can speak two other European languages and distance myself from that very sadly now "Sceptic Isle" (pun intended). Parry is no doubt turning in his grave.
hello out there!
is anybody ou there listening to us?
or are we writing this all for nothing?????
how many people read these letters?
Is it worth writing at all?
What do you expect from a country that doesn't believe in disciplining its youth? A country that doesn't believe in traditional parenting? A media that constantly depicts people using foul language, and gratuitous sex and violence. Until the UK cleans up its act, expect more of this!
These drunk British people set a bad name where ever they holiday. I have seen them in GOA- India too behave like animals, so much so that the lovely people of Goa now prefer the Russian tourists to British. That apart the Russian also spend more behaved well.
Surprise!! Surprise!!These louts are the offspring of those aweful soccer hooligans from some years back. So, like father like son. Although I have been living in Canada for some forty years, I still cring when I see these idiots misbehaving. Wherever I travel in the world, the worst tourists appear to be Brits. Where did all the ladies and gentlemen go? Don't tell me they all emigrated. Or did they?
It is not only abroad that these loud-mouthed inhuman specimens spread disgrace Britain, but also in Britain itself. I no longer live in Britain, but when I come back to visit I am shocked at the obscenities I hear and see on the streets. I send friends to Britain on their vacations and they tell me awful stories of some of the things that have happened to them. What has happened to Britain? I am in constant contact with family and friends and from what I can gather the home system has broken down, the school system has broken down. Maybe I am old-fashioned but the "old" school system was best, we knew where we stood, we knew what we had to do and we did it, no namby-pambying around like today. By the time we were teenagers we were on the way to being responsible adults and were proud to be British. I know I now question the "proud". Can you imagine a yahoo like this boy being your son-in-law, the father of your grandchild? Kids like him should have their passports removed for life and made to do community service in the place where they committed the obscenity.
Brits generally behave badly at home so why would you expect anything different abroad?
It appears to me that the British lack any notion of duty and honour. Young people in Portugal can go to a bar and sit and talk quite happily with just a coffee or maybe just one fino - about half a pint. The peer pressure amongst British people to to drink to excess is strong. It's almost certainly too late to educate people regarding the social consequences of their behaviour. The British Govt has to start with the kids in schools with workshops and role plays where the negative effects of antisocial behaviour can be experienced and hopefully this will mean the next generation of Brits are a better kind of person.
In most cases the countries where these lowlife commit their offences have stricter laws than the UK, whose law enforcement policies are nothing but a joke.
They should be deprived of Consular protection, dealt with under local law, and when and if returned to the UK, chipped like dogs so that they are permanently tracked, banned from public places where alcohol is served, and permanently denied a passport.
And stuff their 'human' rights, which are only for humans.
It's not only the young and drunken Brits who let the side down. We live in Normandy, which is at present pretty full of holidaying Brits, The behaviour of many, in supermarkets, restaurants and tourist sites leaves a great deal to be desired. Two days ago we witnessed a middle-aged couple have a screaming slanging match outside a store, in full hearing and view, because the man overturned their trolley. The woman's language contained the 'f' word repeatedly. We see people rudely making fun of the French and their surroundings, arguing over matters of protocol or procedure about which they haven't bothered to find out. Mainly, though, we witness loud, ignorant comments laced with foul language and lots of showing off - and these are adults, parents and grandparents, as well as children and parents publicly arguing. Needless to say, when such scenes are occuring in shops, we keep our mouths firmly shut, or speak only French. All the Brits who reside around us feel ashamed of this behaviour and are at a loss to know why such people feel it necessary to draw attention to themselves in this way. Perhaps, as one correspondent said, this is their normal behaviour whether at home or abroad, in which case why bother to visit another country? Just stay at home and be boorish, if the people, culture and country don't interest you.
Incidentally, following on from my last post, Mr Strong is very lucky he wasn't summarily lynched at the scene of his crime. Turks revere Ataturk as a demigod and you malign his honour at your peril.
Another example of the ignorance of some of our young people these days.
Being drunk is no argument, anyone in any country that disgraces themselves should pay the ultiment punishment of imprisonment in the country they caused the problem, within a short time, the words, being drunk and causing trouble would be a thing of the past, time to remove the human rights act from those type of idiots.
It seems to mirror the behaviour of some people in England. There are problems with alcohol in the UK and now it's being exported. We need to look inwards at why alcohol is such a serious problem in the UK. Unfortunately, the actions of the objectionable minority are always more visible than the well behaved majority. I agree with the people who say take away their passport for 10 years.
hallo Attlia
can I stand beside you?
believe me there are thousands to of us who want nothing to do with these products of a bad digestive process.....
its time to stand up and be counted
Wow, and I thought we American tourists took the cake on bad behaviour abroad!
Make them joing the Royal Navy as punishment, and for some discipline-they'd still get to travel, but they'd have to behave!
British consular staff all over the world bend over backwards to help Brits who, for one reason or another, have found themselves in trouble with the host countries' authorities. They deal in the same way with drunken louts like these without passing on the cost of their services. We really are too lenient.
Perhaps, when drunkenness is found to be the undeniable root of the problem, the cost of these services should be passed on in full to them.
If that doesn't persuade these louts to mend their ways, then we really should be looking at stopping them from travelling abroad for a time by confiscating their passports. A number of other countries do it, so why can't we?
well well well another brit showing their true face and what they really want to do on these "holidays" if l was british l would not be in turkiye as things are going to heat up now!
stringupstrong
Getting drunk and making an ass of yourself is not being liberal, is simply being plain stupid.
Stuart Feltham? What a perfect surname for an alleged groper.
they should have set an example to the poms and charged him according to that countries laws.hang the bas....
I agree with Grumpy, if you are found to be driving under the influence you lose your licence, why shouldn't you lose your passport if you are drunk and disgracing yourself abroad. If they are sent to a foreign gaol so what? Let them learn that not all countries are as Liberal as Britain.
Far too many young Britons disgrace themselves and us. Here in France I have seen people gauging how good a time they are having by counting the beer bottle tops. Not the French I hasten to add or even British youngsters but forty + year old Englishmen. It is a regular occurrence for the people with second homes. Of course they probably learnt the behaviour from their fathers. The very same people who were the drunken louts spewing up all over the train carriages when I had to escort them throughout the country to various football matches when I was a Police Officer. It disgusted me as a twenty year old and I haven't mellowed with age.
We have to stop these idiots and if we can't do that, then make sure they don't disgrace us again, confine them to the Island and if they lose their jobs too bad. They will have learnt a valuable lesson.
Perhaps it might be sensible to consider the simple fact that the drunken, yobbish behavior seen abroad is exactly the same drunken, yobbish behavior seen "at home" in England. Taking away passports is a good idea to stop the people escaping British shores - but it won't stop their appalling behavior when they are still at home, will it?
Not sure that I buy the argument that you can't take their passport away for a period of time becasue it is a human rights violation? We take driving licences away from drunks. Besides you have to be human to have these rights and they seem hell-bent on proving otherwise!
I travelled to Prague in June/July and found the Brits were appalling - As an ex pat "Pom" I was mortified - fortunately I didnt come across any Aussies - who have a similar reputation
sorry sumo
teaching such manners is not the job of the school- it starts at home. Parents are at fault here. We are talking about morals and self-discipline.
Any idiot can produce a child- the problem is bringing it up.
Look back at the last 20 years or so, if we have a social problem it always seems to be schools who are made the scapegoat.
Its not the schools who are at fault- it�s the parents.
Strong like many other use the excuse they can't remember because they drunk so much. No excuse! Being deported and banned is not enough. I agree with grumpy old man, blacklist them from having a passport.
I have lived in Germany for several years. I don't see adult Germans running wild on Friday or Saturday nights. I don't live with the fear of being glassed or assulted, or abused. When home in the UK I have those concerns. The youth in Germany certainly binge drink, more through boredom, and they don't go on the rampage. The UK government needs to start teaching social etiquette in schools, etc, but then again the UK Government doesn't exactly lead by example! Let us just face it, with a country being dragged down by hooligans from all levels of society no wonder we have this reputation.
During the last world cup I managed to be part of the celebrations, the sickening thing were English fans fighting amongst each other. Grow up, get a life and learn some social manners, otherwise we'll never get rid of the perceptions of Brits being lager louts, then again they always have been, always will be.
Being a member of the 'Lock 'em up and throw away the Key' group. I thought that stringing him up a wee bit over the top.
I did hear once in a German Travel Office a lady wanted a Hotel without British guests. These young drongos forget that they are guests in a foreign country. I agree with grumpy 5.46 PM
put them on a banned list for 10 years. But then they will only misbehave themselves at home, hopefully not in front of foreign tourists.
Just picture the scene in central France. It's a wine tasting in Saumur called 'La grande tablee'.
For a few euros you have a ticket to taste wine all evening, and to get a little food too. There are thousands there, old, middle-aged, yes and the young. Everyone drinks plenty.
People are happy. There are smiles all round. Some get drunk.
BUT, no-one urinates in the street; no-one gets into arguments and fights; no-one becomes abusive or offensive.
My conclusion: it's NOT the availability of drink which is the problem, it's the culture.
We in the UK are brought up to believe there is something amusing or rather grown up in getting 'drunk' and becoming aggressive. It's in our comedies, in our newspapers daily, and the talk of school or work. "She was plastered last night!" , "He was off his head!" Giggle, giggle. Great, isn't it!
Well, actually no. The French think those who become incontrollably inebriated are rather sick and impolite. It's something associated with alcoholic old men. Sure some young people do indulge in the 'English vice' but not that many.
From PBM:
'Drinking... has become a central part of British culture..'How very true- and about the only bit of relevant information from Dr Cassidy's elaborate apologia. This behaviour is certainly not confined to overseas;here in Oxford, which could be classed as one of the more cultured cities of the nation, we have "Vomit Mile," home to dozens of nightclubs that spew out horrible noise on a nightly basis. We suffer raucous clubbers who urinate, defecate and fornicate regularly in our otherwise picturesque road and our back gardens. They are suffering from a national disease that urgently needs to be tackled in the context of its complex causes.
what to do?
some talk of lacking parental guidance, some of deprived backgrounds......come on when in Rome, then behave like the Romans.
If the "little" boy(who is biologically adult, but in no way whatsoever mentally so) in question kept to the law of the land where he just happens to be a guest, well okay, if he falls foul then let him be punished under the law of the land he is in- that is what we do and practice with foreigners who are in GB!!!!!
Oh, and by the way, when asked of my roots, I am not british, I come from yorkshire..........
More than 20 years ago, while living in the UK, I went to Le Mans on a locally booked package: from London to the coast by train, then a bus from the ferry to Le Mans.
The vast majority of the "racing fans" were drunk before they got to the ferry, and those who didn't vomit on the boat did so on the bus.
And many never, ever saw a racing car, in 24 hours.
Pretty unimpressive . . .
Grumpy old man's so-called "solution" is both over-simplistic and unworkable. Whilst it may make decent citizens' skin crawl to realise that there are fellow Brits disgracing themselves in such a manner (i.e., peeing in public on statues erected to commemorate departed leaders and other figureheads), removal of passports will not solve the problem because it would be seen as "cruel and unusual punishment", essentially a violation of human rights, especially given the fact that people are nowadays so mobile that they not only holiday abroad, but they can also work abroad. No information is given in the article as to whether Strong lives and works actually in the UK (or even whether he works at all - why was his occupation not stated?), but it could very well be that he could be resident and working outside the UK, in which case he would have needed his passport to return to that country, too, never mind (only) the UK. Deportation from a country and the imposition of a temporary ban on re-entry are about as much as the Turkish authorities could do, and there will undoubtedly be an endorsement in Strong's passport to this effect. Furthermore, the record will show that Strong has a criminal conviction, even if it is in a country outside the EU. That means that he may have to admit that he has a conviction whenever he applies for jobs in the future, whether in the UK, the EU or outside. If he does not and is hired, then found out, he could legally be fired for deliberately trying to mislead the company when he applied to work for it. Strong, who is just 19, needs to bear this in mind from now on for the next 45+ years of his working age.
Why can't they behave? Because for many of them in their formative years, there was no father or authority figure to draw the boundaries for acceptable vs unacceptable behaviour.
The height of confusion of many kids must be Father's Day, what with Mother's serial relationships, boyfriend/partner of the month (night?).
I agree with GOM re withdrawal of passport/travel facilities, but it won't happen due to yuman rites.
Dr Cassidy says that "higher levels of disposable income among young people in Britain than in the rest of Europe also made it easier for them to spend large amounts of money on alcohol." This is not true. In many European countries young people have at least as much money in their pockets. Important reasons why Brits binge drink so much are: 1) It seems to be part of the British way of life and 2) In most other European countries alcohol is much cheaper than in Britain.
I was pleased to see that Heidi Blake refers to these 'binge 'n' disgrace yourself and your country' bunch as a "raucous minority" as of course we never get to hear about the well-behaved majority.
The fact that Italy is experiencing a similar problem with young people suggests that perhaps (a)the young today have too much disposable income and (b)need some EU-wide laws that apply in all our countries which include jail time and no exceptions including insulting national monuments as a Top 10 insult. That young man in Turkey was indeed lucky to have been picked up by the police and not the local youth.
simple solution - if they cant behave once outside our country, take their passport off them for ten years and put them on a blacklist for travel to other countries.