Passengers shame China on flight from Thailand
Print Edition
IN the latest scandal to taint the image of Chinese tourists abroad, four Chinese passengers grabbed headlines for causing chaos on a Thai budget flight, forcing the aircraft to return to Thailand.
The incident occurred last Thursday night, when a couple on a China-bound AirAsia flight, FD 9101, had a spat with the flight crew over the seating arrangements and hot water, according to Zhang Xiao, a TV host who broke the story on his Sina Weibo microblog.
The couple, who were not seated together, demanded to switch seats so they could sit together when they boarded the plane. They then requested hot water while the plane was still climbing, according to Shenzhen Satellite TV, citing a passenger surnamed Wu.
The man, already annoyed by the water delay, had another fight with the flight attendant over payment and a receipt for the hot water, Wu said.
“A flight attendant who could speak Chinese came over to explain the situation, but when she turned around, the woman poured the hot water on her back,” said another passenger surnamed Zhou.
Pictures on Weibo showed the flight attendant crying while covering her face. A video posted online by a passenger on the same flight shows a man screaming at flight attendants while threatening to bomb the aircraft.
After the air crew demanded an apology, the man’s girlfriend climbed over the back seats, threatening to jump out of the plane, all while punching the plane windows, Wu said.
The in-flight brawl forced the plane to return to Don Mueng International Airport in Bangkok, where the couple and the two other passengers involved were taken away by Thai police. They were required to pay compensation of 50,000 baht (US$1,525) to the flight attendant, and all four passengers were fined a small amount of money.
But the drama did not end there. According to an online post from “Lvluonuanuan,” after the couple arrived in Nanjing, they refused to get off the plane, asking the air crew to issue a statement to “clear all the rumors” on the Internet. The man even threatened to hit the air crew and onlookers at the airport.
On Saturday night, the China National Tourism Administration issued a statement, saying the passengers’ behavior had “severely tarnished the image of Chinese people.”
It vowed to investigate the case and punish the passengers involved by including them on a travel blacklist.
The incident sparked a storm of criticism online.
“Whoever you are, wherever you go, you should remember that your behavior represents your country,” was one comment.
Some even started a “human flesh search” to try to identity the passengers involved.
In 2012, two Chinese passengers brawled over seating arrangements on a Swiss flight.
Last year, a boy was caught carving Chinese characters in the Luxor Temple in Egypt.
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