The Embassy of Italy on Saturday apologised to the Thai people over “the inappropriate behaviour of a group of Italian underage tourists” on a BTS Skytrain in Bangkok that generated heated conversations online, while strongly condemning their actions.

The embassy’s Facebook page, which had been flooded with angry messages from Thai netizens, issued the apology in three languages — Italian, English and Thai.

It was responding to a viral video showing a Thai commuter confronting a group of young Italians for talking loudly and shouting inside a train carriage on Friday.

In the video, the Thai woman asked where they were from before telling them that shouting on the train was inappropriate, stressing that such behaviour was not common in Thailand.

The tourists appeared offended, and the situation escalated to rude gestures and profanity.

At one point, one member of the group said to the Thai woman, “Sorry for bringing money to your country.” Both parties exchanged profanities and insults throughout the video before the tourists disembarked.

In a statement on Saturday, the embassy expressed its deep regret over the incident, saying it “strongly condemns the inappropriate behaviour of the group”.

According to the embassy, the Italians seen in the video were underage tourists participating in a school educational trip.

“The Embassy extends its sincere apologies to the people of Thailand and to everyone affected by this incident,” it said. “Italians deeply understand and appreciate the values that Thai society places on respect for others, courtesy and harmonious coexistence — values that are equally cherished and upheld by the Italian Republic.”

The embassy said the group’s behaviour did not in any way represent the Italian people or reflect the values of mutual respect, friendship and courtesy that have long underpinned the enduring relationship between the Italian Republic and the Kingdom of Thailand.

It was later reported that messages from aggrieved Thais below an entirely unrelated Facebook post exceeded 10,000 before the embassy decided to disable comments.

Undeterred, some people decided to cast their outrage net abroad, targeting the social media accounts of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

In another post on the embassy’s Facebook page, a video showed four Italians, including one person seen in the original video, apologising to the Thai people and asking for forgiveness.

“We are very sorry to the people of Thailand because what we did on the BTS was wrong,” said one Italian teenager. “I’m very sorry for my behaviour.”

Earlier, the group’s Italian tour operator, TravellingFox, had also issued an apology. It said the group consisted of minors taking part in a study trip designed to discover a new culture, experience an international environment, and develop respect and openness towards the host country.