Thai airline flight to China turns back after passenger scalds flight attendant

BANGKOK – A Thai airline flight to China returned to Bangkok after a passenger assaulted a flight attendant by tossing hot water at her, the airline said Friday.

A statement from the budget airline Thai AirAsia said the Chinese passenger on a Thursday evening charter flight to Nanjing berated the crew member before scalding her with the water. It said colleagues gave her first aid while the pilot returned to Bangkok and asked the passenger and her entourage of three other people to disembark.

The statement said the captain and the crew invited the passenger to discuss the situation at the airport office after deeming her actions a flight risk, and reached “an amicable conclusion.”

Chinese media reported that instant noodles were thrown along with the hot water. In a video posted on the Internet by China National Radio, a man was also seen standing up in the cabin, making a threat to bomb the plane. The airline statement did not mention the bomb threat.

Incidents involving Chinese tourists making angry outbursts have prompted Beijing to issue guidelines on behaving abroad.

In February, according to Thai and Chinese news reports, 27 members of a Chinese tour group were ejected from a China Eastern Airlines flight before takeoff from the Thai resort island of Phuket after brawling over seating arrangements.

Chinese visitors represent the biggest share of tourist arrivals in Thailand.

Thai AirAsia did not say if the four passengers were allowed back on the plane when it departed again, almost five hours after its original departure time.