THAI attendant held for smuggling

A Thai Airways International flight attendant is shown with some of the items customs officials found hidden under her clothing. (Image capture from TV Channel 3)
A Thai Airways International flight attendant is shown with some of the items customs officials found hidden under her clothing. (Image capture from TV Channel 3)

A Thai Airways International flight attendant has been arrested on charges of smuggling untaxed brand-name products from Italy.

Sutheerat Siripalanon, the national carrier’s director for in-flight services, said the company had a policy to forbid employees from smuggling illicit goods and from exceeding the specified allowances for products with intent to avoid import duty, Thai media reported on Saturday.

The airline closely monitors suspicious behaviour by staff and alerts customs officials to arrest offending employees, said Mr Sutheerat.

Following a tip-off, customs officials arrested an attendant found to have brought in goods exceeding the limit of allowances to avoid tax payments. She had boarded a THAI flight from Italy.

THAI is preparing to take disciplinary action against the employee, whose name was not released. She could face the maximum punishment of being sacked, said Mr Sutheerat.

TV Channel 3 reported that several brand-name products, such as belts and bags, were found hidden under the flight attendant’s clothing.

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Vocabulary

  • alert: to tell someone in about a danger or problem so that they can take action to deal with it - เตือนภัย
  • allowance: an amount of something allowed - การอนุญาตให้
  • carrier: a company that carries goods or passengers from one place to another, especially by air - บริษัทขนส่ง (โดยเฉพาะสายการบิน)
  • disciplinary: related to the punishment of people who do not obey the rules - การลงโทษเนื่องจากการฝ่าฝืนวินัย หรือระเบียบ
  • duty: a tax -
  • forbid: to state that something is not allowed, according to a rule, law, or custom - ห้าม
  • illicit: against the law - ผิดกฎหมาย
  • import: to buy or bring in products from another country - นำเข้า
  • offend: to commit a crime against; to cause someone to be upset or angry - ฝ่าฝืนกฎ, ซึ่งก่อให้เกิดความขุ่นเคือง
  • sacked (adj): removed from a job - ถูกปลดออกจากตำแหน่ง
  • smuggle: to take drugs, money, people, etc. to or from a place secretly and often illegally - ลักลอบนำเข้า
  • suspicious: a feeling that someone or something cannot be trusted — - มีความสงสัย, ด้วยความสงสัย, สงสัย, พิรุธ
  • tip-off: secret information or a warning given by someone  - ข่าวเตือน จากวงใน

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