Although this spot is a little bit long-winded and the protagonist probably deserved to be robbed, it is still quite refreshing travel ad from Thailand ´s Tourism Authority:
Insight: Setbacks can happen on your holiday, but that is part of the whole charm of travelling. By starting to build up this spot from the negative experience, it gives more authentic point-of-view than traditional destination advertising. Thailand has had bad year in tourism due to numerous reasons so overtly positive advertising would have felt totally out of place.
Brands do not generally understand that consumers actually love honesty instead of sugarcoated fantasy. Their cellphones have been snatched by ladyboy, they have gotten violent diarrhea from raw sesame chocolate balls or been tricked by taxi uncle. When brand addresses upfront that something bad might happen if you are unlucky, drunk or both, it can actually concentrate on your positive message.
Some people have actually mistaken this to be a real thing and not an ad. I think it is obvious that it is ad (no one would make this cheesy of a story) and if you had mistaken it for real thing, I recommend courses in media literacy. The ad has been success with the audience as well, clocking almost 2 million views.
Stand-Up Strategy 