Violence of all forms is destructive and should never be condoned -- a message that should be clear following "the slap" meted out by Will Smith on Oscars host Chris Rock before the King Richard star collected his first Oscar for best actor at the Academy Awards on Sunday night.
Alas, here in Thailand many people -- especially netizens -- still seem to believe that under certain circumstances, some forms of physical violence may be excusable.
This opinion is troubling. It also shows that even though the country prides itself on being a peace-loving nation, its people may have a long way to go before they fully embrace the idea of non-violence and loving-kindness that many profess to be an integral part of their way of life.
Following the shock and disbelief at the Oscars over Smith's action, Hollywood and its stars seem to have recovered quickly and come to their senses.
After slapping Rock on the face on live television for mocking his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, a tearful Will was back on stage afterwards to collect his gong. He apologised for his behaviour to everyone except Rock, but issued a public apology to the comedian later via Instagram.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday condemned the actor's action and launched a formal inquiry into the incident.
However, some other celebrities appeared more forgiving given that Smith was seen as defending his wife's honour (Rock's joke was targeted at Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head -- a look she adopted due to suffering hair loss as a result of an auto-immune disease).
The altercation sparked lively debate as people around the world weighed in on where you can draw a line between defending those you love, and being a bully.
While Rock's joke was utterly inappropriate, Smith's decision to respond with an assault is also indefensible. Smith admitted as much in his apology, calling it "unacceptable and inexcusable".
As such, it is somewhat disturbing to see so many netizens in Thailand expressing their support for Smith's slap.
Some of the comments are blunt, saying the Oscars emcee deserved to be hit because of his joke made in such poor taste.
Others adopt more of a macho approach, offering comments along the lines of "it's a manly act to protect the honour of one's wife", or "men who take good care of their wives are bound to prosper".
Overall, Thai online users -- many of them presumably youngsters -- seem to agree that Rock's joke could count as bullying (especially as this is the second Oscars where he has mocked Jada Pinkett Smith), and that bullying can sometimes be more harmful than a physical attack.
That is more encouraging, especially as bullying has become a major problem among Thai online users.
Nonetheless, hate speech, or any form of verbal abuse, cannot be used as an excuse to justify physical violence.
There are other ways to stand up to bullying and abusive acts, without resorting to violence.
As Smith said in his public apology, violence in all forms is inexcusable. Nothing, not a poke in the ribs nor a joke at someone else's expense, can justify it.
Thai netizens should perhaps try to understand this more clearly if we are to root out violence from our society.
