The man whose joke about a bomb grounded a Thai Lion Air flight this weekend apologised for his behaviour on Monday even as the airline and his employer vowed more legal action.
Thai Lion Air CEO Aswin Yangkirativorn said the budget carrier's legal team was calculating how much was lost by the cancellation of flight SL8536 on Sunday and would sue to recover every baht of the loss from Pichit Boondaeng, 23.
Mr Pichit, an employee with the State Railway of Thailand's mechanical engineering department, already faces criminal charges.
He made headlines after he "teased" a Thai Lion Air flight attendant about a bomb possibly hidden in his carry-on bag as the flight was preparing to leave Don Mueang airport for Hat Yai on Sunday.
The attendant told the aircraft's captain, who immediately cancelled the flight and ordered all passengers to disembark.
Mr Aswin said the bomb hoax cost the airline hundreds of thousands of baht when the flight was delayed for six hours, affecting hundreds of passengers.
The incident damaged the airline's image and forced a recheck of all baggage. It also had to pay additional expenses for other services, including aircraft-parking fees.
"It is understood that the passenger was just teasing the flight attendant, but the airline's first priority is safety," he said.
"As for the extent of the compensation, the legal team is looking into it. This incident should be taken as a lesson and an example case for other passengers."
'Sorry'
Mr Pichit appeared at a news conference at Don Muang police station Monday, where Acting Metropolitan Police chief Pol Lt Gen Sanit Mahathavorn said the same thing.
The police chief thanked Mr Pichit for accepting an invitation to appear at the news conference, which aimed to encourage the public to be aware of the new Act on Certain Offences Against Air Navigation and to learn from Mr Pichit's mistake so similar incidents don't re-occur.
At the briefing, Mr Pichit gave a wai and apologised for his mistake, saying he did it out of a lack of discretion.
The young jokester may have to do more than apologise to his employer, however.
SRT governor Wutthichart Kalayanamitr said Mr Pichit is on leave until Tuesday and will face a disciplinary investigation when he returns to work. He added Mr Pichit's behaviour had caused alarm for crewmembers and passengers. He claimed it also had "damaged the SRT's image".
Pol Lt Gen Sanit said Mr Pichit will be the first person to be prosecuted under the new air-navigation law.
He said Mr Pichit was released on 75,000 baht bail after being charged with reporting false information causing alarm on a parked aircraft.
Pol Lt Gen Sanit said the air-navigation law imposes relatively high penalties. The charge against Mr Pichit carries a maximum five years in jail and/or fine of 200,000 baht.
Even harsher penalties would have been imposed had the flight already been in the air when Mr Pichit uttered his joke. In that case, he would have faced a maximum 15 years in jail, a fine of 200,000-500,000 baht or both, Pol Lt Gen Sanit said.
The SRT employee said he was supposed to attend a friend's wedding ceremony in Hat Yai and that it was the first time he had travelled by plane.
He made the bomb remark only to tease a female flight attendant who he thought was attractive.
"I didn't know this law existed," he said. "Due to my impetuousness, I just mocked her because I saw she was beautiful," Mr Pichit said.
"I want my case to be lesson learned so this kind of case will not happen again. I apologise to everyone for causing a problem. I repent and admit my guilt."