S'porean family pays extra for Vietnam sleeper train bunks, but elderly passengers get there first
A Singaporean family of six on holiday in Vietnam had paid extra to book the lower bunks of a sleeper train cabin — only to find two elderly passengers already occupying them.
However, when they stood their ground and asked the elderly pair to move, netizens slammed them as rude and entitled.
A TikTok clip of the incident, posted by Low Xiaoqi under the handle @missyqiqi on Jan 5, has since garnered more than 102,200 views, 767 reactions and 43 comments.
The minute-long clip shows the elderly passengers having unpacked their belongings, with the man sitting on one lower bunk and the woman resting barefoot on the other.
The incident occurred on Dec 17, 2025, when Ms Low's family was travelling on a sleeper train from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang. "I was confused and shocked because I thought I had the wrong cabin," the 42-year-old told Stomp.
In the video, she tries to explain to the elderly man that they had booked the lower bunks for their family. But he continually gestures toward the upper bunks, with the language barrier making communication difficult.
Even after the elderly man eventually gives in, the elderly woman seems unwilling to move. "Excuse me", Ms Low can be heard repeatedly saying.
Shortly after, a voice suggests giving the elderly pair a bit more time to move.
"Omg… she still (signalled) me (to) wait and (continued) watching her video," Ms Low writes in her post.
While the situation initially made her 7-year-old son reluctant to sleep in the cabin with his father, he soon settled in comfortably after the elderly passengers moved to the upper bunks. Ms Low and her three daughters later moved to their own cabin as well.
'This kind of exception is moral kidnapping'
Acknowledging that in many Asian cultures, people are taught to give in to the elderly out of respect, Ms Low said she considers such situations a form of "moral kidnapping".
"Respect, yes, but there still needs to be a boundary," she said.
Ms Low stressed that she made the effort to book the tickets early, paid extra to choose the cabin and lower bunks, and arranged the seating so her family could be close together.
"So honestly, I don't see why I should give in just because someone thinks I should. Respect is voluntary. Entitlement is not."
'Sometime kena this kind of thing very sian': Netizens
While netizens understood Ms Low's frustration, others criticised her for sounding rude, which she defended as simply standing firm.
One user sarcastically applauded Ms Low for "setting an example", adding: "That's why nowadays kids are as rude as their parents."
Other praised her for standing her ground. "If not people take advantage," one comment read.
