A 29-year-old man faces serious charges after joking that there was a bomb inside his luggage while he was about to board a flight at Suvarnabhumi airport to Myanmar on Saturday.
The Chumphon resident identified only as Naphat was taken to the airport police station for interrogation following the incident at the check-in counter of Thai Smile Airways.
He told police that he was about to board a flight to pay his respects to Buddha statues in Yangon. During the check-in, he complained to a staff member at the counter about the postponement of his return flight, which the airline had informed him about via email.
Later, the counter attendant asked him whether his luggage to be loaded onto the plane contained any prohibited items such as a laptop computer.
At the time, he said he was still upset about the return flight postponement. He then said there were no prohibited items, but only a “bomb’’ inside his luggage. The attendant told him that using such words was banned and the airline took such comments very seriously. She immediately alerted police.
Mr Naphat said he had made his remark innocently and tried to ask for leniency, but the woman refused, in line with security policy at airports all over the world.
Airport deputy director Kittipong Kittikachorn said any mention of the word "bomb" is viewed as a threat, in line with international safety standards. Any passenger who makes such a remark would have his or her flight cancelled and also face legal action.
He warned passengers to be aware of banned words at the airport and avoid using them.
Police charged Mr Naphat with giving false information and causing panic among people at the airport. Conviction carries a jail term of up to five years and/or a fine of up to 200,000 baht.