Singaporean influencer apologizes for viral clip about Thai sex workers, offending Thais
Local content creator Wendy Cheng, better known as Xiaxue, has apologised for a viral clip that has offended Thai people, claiming it had been taken out of context.
She posted a video of her apology and explanation on Instagram and TikTok on July 27, in which she said: “So I’ve recently gone viral in Thailand and not in a good way. Apparently, a video that I was in really offended many Thais.”
The social media personality added that someone had filed a police report.
In the clip, which was first posted on the YouTube channel Ladies First, Cheng was answering a viewer who asked: “Why are Singaporean men so attracted to women who are from Thailand and Vietnam?
“The amount of friends that I have who had their exes cheat on them with these women is astronomical. What do you think they have that we don’t?”
In part of her reply, Cheng said that because the women come from a “less well-off country” and may work in a job that is “generally frowned upon” – she meant the sex trade – the men who provide for their lifestyle get to tell the women what to do, where to go and what to wear.
The 40-year-old influencer – who shares an 11-year-old son with her American ex-husband Mike Sayre, whom she divorced in 2023 – then mentioned a male friend who returned from Thailand with a “beautifully formed” heart-shaped love bite.
“How can we compete with this?” she said.
While the clip has since been deleted, it was reposted online by others.
One Thai Facebook user even shared screenshots of the comments on the clip.
In the caption to her apology video, Cheng wrote: “The video everyone was angry about was taken out of context due to editing. Was not talking about all Thai girls, but only Thai sex workers.”
In the video itself, she said: “If you’re Thai and you felt hurt or attacked, I’m sorry and that’s not my intention.”
Cheng acknowledged that the clip did “sound horrible” due to it being taken out of context.
She said: “The original long-form video, meaning the one where I explained a lot more, is a lot less offensive because in this particular clip... it was edited into a very short clip. So the meaning has completely changed.”
Cheng then went on to explain the context and what she really meant in the clip.
A transcript of her apology video translated into Thai was also included at the end of it.
In response to Cheng’s apology video, one of her Thai detractors posted on Facebook: “Seems like it’s getting worse. The better way is to just say sorry. That’s all. Don’t explain anything else. Because we can see it’s fake. Just say sorry to Thailand and Vietnam.”
Ong Su Mann
The Straits Times
Asia News Network
