A famous Taiwanese anchor and her friend have found themselves smack dab in the middle of an international online conflict after they were filmed in an argument at a hair salon in Bangkok’s Siam Square when they refused to pay THB250 (US$7.5) for a service on Saturday night.

The 10-minute-long video shows two tourists, one of them identified as famous anchor Huang “Vivi” Ruowei, argue with the owner of Phoenix Hair Studio in Siam Square Soi 7. The clip has gone viral in both Thailand and Taiwan, gaining more than 8 million views, along with plenty of internet criticism, and media attention.

According to the salon staff, Vivi, who has more than 100,000 Facebook followers, and her friend came into the salon after hours and asked for a wash and blowout service, but the staff had already shut the water heater power. The two girls, angry about the cold water, reportedly refused to pay up, and for unidentified reasons, refused to leave the premise.

“Alright, so let’s lock them out and turn off all the lights, if they would not leave. Get out, all of you!” Jax told her staff.

A staff member said in the video that Vivi, who wears a white shirt in the video, got her hair washed and blown out, but her friend in the black blouse asked the staff to stop washing her hair the second she found out the water was cold, so only Vivi needed to pay for the THB350 service ($US10.5).

The staff said they gave a discount to Vivi, charging THB250 ($US7.5), but they still refused to pay.

“We did everything for them. We gave them a discount. If they won’t leave, they can stay here. It’s raining, and Bangkok is flooding. I’m gonna go. See you tomorrow, bitches,” Jax said in Thai to the camera.

“Your country is horrible! Call your prime minister. Call your president! I’ll talk to your president about your nasty habit. When I’m in your country, I never behave like this,” Jax went on, as the rest of staff kept discussing how it was past their closing time.

The small argument has drawn much criticism from both Thai and Taiwanese netizens. Both sides felt the need to apologize to each other for their countrymen’s actions.

Vivi later responded on Facebook.

“They said they would still charge me a normal price, but my friend did not want to pay,” she wrote. “As a result a group of more than ten people surrounded us. I said we would pay, but they would not let us pay. They turned off the lights and threatened to lock us inside the store.”

“Then the salon’s owner pushed us. He took my cell phone and threw it onto the floor. I originally wanted to record the whole thing.”

Vivi then apologized and explained that she didn’t know some Thai salons wash customers’ hair with cold water: “In this situation, both sides are wrong. I would like to apologize to the local people. I’m really sorry.”

Yesterday, Vivi and her friend reportedly went to the salon and publicly apologized to the owner with a stuffed animal. Then they posed for a photograph for media.

Thai stylist Jax also apologized, adding she’ll improve her salon’s service.

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