I have been in Laos for almost two years, and he is the only receptionist in the railway system I have encountered who has behaved in a discriminatory and hostile manner.
I came to buy a train ticket and presented the photocopy of passport. I understand the copy may not have been perfectly clear for the machine to read, but in many cases — even with the original passport — machines still struggle. Other staff have always been kind enough to manually input the details without any issue. And in this case, while the machine didn’t read the copy on the first attempt, it successfully recognized it on the second try. That proves the copy was readable, and there was no reason to treat us so harshly.
Also, I want to mention that I have seen this situation many times before. When local people come with printed copies that are even harder to read, staff will still try their best to help—sometimes they even need to really look closely or guess the details—but they still do it happily. That clearly shows that even unclear copies are accepted, as long as staff are willing to help. So why did this man dare to say he won’t serve me next time, for the same issue others are helped with? Is it because I’m not a local, so he thinks it’s okay to bully or threaten me?
Despite the situation being easily resolvable, the receptionist continued to speak to us in an unpleasant and unnecessary manner. Later, my sister told me she had also experienced the same man’s bad behavior before, so this seems to be a repeated issue.
When I politely explained that he could simply enter the information manually—just as other receptionists have done—he responded rudely. He even told me that he wouldn’t sell me a ticket next time. It is completely unacceptable that he behaves as though he is in charge and has the right to deny service for such a minor issue. I want to make it clear that I was respectful the entire time. I only said one sentence: if the machine couldn’t recognize the copy, he could input the details manually. That’s all. But he reacted as if I had caused him a huge inconvenience, talking a lot and making me feel like I had done something wrong. All I did was request something that is clearly part of his job.
If I could make the copy clearer, of course I would—I don’t need him to lecture me about it. His attitude made it seem like he only wanted things to be easy for himself, not to do his job properly. That’s not how customer service should work. He acted as if he were the boss and had the authority to decide who deserves service, which is completely inappropriate for someone in his position.
What made the situation even worse was that he spoke in Lao and said unpleasant things, assuming I wouldn’t understand or be able to respond. That kind of behavior is not only disrespectful, but it also reflects very poorly on your organization.
He should be warned that if his manager becomes fully aware of how he is refusing to serve guests and speaking to them in this unacceptable way, it could lead to serious consequences. His attitude doesn’t just affect passengers—it damages your company’s reputation and business. No customer should be made to feel uncomfortable or threatened for simply asking for...
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