In 2024, a video from the Thai version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” with a question about Russian cuisine became popular in the Russian-language segment of social networks. We checked whether such a question was actually asked in the TV show.
According to the Russian dubbing and subtitles, in a quiz show on Thai television, the host asks two participants what they put in the popular “Winter Salad” in Russia: peas, papaya, snow or ice. The girls choose between ice and snow and eventually settle on the second of these options. The presenter announces that the correct answer is peas.
The video went viral among users "VKontakte“- for example, a publication in the public “Life is like this” received more than 2 million views. This video was also shared on Instagram, "LiveJournal"and on YouTube, bloggers and channels writing about tourism in Thailand did this especially often.
One of the heroes of the viral video - Traipop Limpapat, host of the Thai TV show "The Millionaire Game". This is a local unlicensed version of the British quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which came out in 2000–2008. The participant who answered all 16 (initially - 12) questions received the main prize - 1 million baht (about €20,700 according to course at the time of last release).
In The Millionaire Game, just like in the original show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, each question with four possible answers is displayed on the screen.
According to automatic translation Google, the question shown in the video actually sounded like this: “In which province did the Thai Bangku dog breed appear?” This is local breed Spitz-shaped dogs, bred in the mid-20th century and becoming popular throughout the world. The answer options for the question were: Trat, Chanthaburi, Phitsanulok and Sukhothai.
People who speak Thai, in a conversation with Verified, confirmed that the audio track in the video (or rather, those fragments of it that were not superimposed with Russian dubbing) corresponds to the above translation of the text on the screen.
Another discrepancy is striking even without knowing Thai or using online translators. After the participant chooses the option “Phitsanulok” (in Russian voice acting - “snow”), her answer, judging by the animation, is recognized as correct - in the Thai version, unlike, for example, the Russian one, it is denoted by red background. Indeed, the village of Bangku, which gave its name to the dog breed, located in Phitsanulok province. However, in the Russian voice-over, the girl’s answer is called incorrect, although the “correct” option (Chanthaburi, in the dub - “peas”) is not highlighted in any way.
We also note that the video discusses a question that, according to the graphics, was the fourth question asked in the game. In the show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" The first five questions are traditionally very easy, and few participants complete their participation in the program at this stage. At the same time, for residents of Thailand, the question of a certain Russian “Winter Salad” (apparently, Olivier was meant) cannot be called simple.
"Verified" found fragment original episode of The Millionaire Game on YouTube. As can be seen from the recording and subtitles, the girl in purple, having heard a question about the breed of dogs, turns for help to the girl in burgundy sitting next to her. The last one's name is Vilaylak Tanomngen, she is an award-winning and experienced Thai show contestant. Tanomngen answers the question correctly, and the girls move on to the next one.
Thus, a Russian dubbing was superimposed on the video, where a question about the breed of dogs is asked, which does not correspond to the original. The oldest “Verified” publications found with such voiceover were posted by the travel company “Phuket Guide” on YouTube (16,000 views) and in Instagram (1 million views) June 16 and 17, 2024, respectively. Despite the hashtags #humor, #funny, and #translationwithinhumor that accompanied these posts, many other resources distributed the video without appropriate clarification. In a conversation with Verified, a representative of Phuket Guide said that the dubbed video was taken from one popular application, but found it difficult to name a specific source.
Cover photo: social networks
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