Man arrested in Thailand after saying airline ‘should be bombed’

Passenger claims it was a ‘slip of the tongue’

Incident occurred at Phuket Airport (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A passenger has been arrested in Thailand after allegedly saying that an airline “should be bombed”.

Thai man Mike Wims, 26, was due to board Thai Vietjet flight VZ305 from Phuket to Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok on 16 November when the incident occurred, reports the Bangkok Post.

As he was handing his boarding pass to Jitphisut Phrom-in, a member of the airline’s ground staff, Wims allegedly said: “I think this airline plane should be bombed.”

Worried by the comment, she asked her colleague Wallapa Bamroongrak to immediately inform the airport’s chief of staff and security team.

Local police were then alerted to the incident at around 12.50pm, according to Saku Police Chief Lt Col Kaken Nikrahatchai.

Police say Wilms admitted to making the comment, and blamed it on a “slip of the tongue” after losing his temper due to the flight being delayed.

Lt Col Kaken said the passenger had been charged under the Air Transport Act, which states that giving “false” information that could cause “panic” is punishable by a jail sentence of up to five years and/or a fine of up to B200,000 (£4,970).

It’s not the first time a bomb threat has got a passenger in hot water.

In January 2020, a woman allegedly said there was a bomb in her checked luggage after she arrived at the gate too late to catch her flight.

The passenger, identified by police as 53-year-old Hope L. Webber, was attempting to board an American Airlines flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to Salt Lake City, Utah.

She allegedly mentioned an explosive device when staff refused to let her through, resulting in the bomb squad being called and part of one concourse being evacuated.

Ms Webber made claims “related to an explosive device”, Sgt. Mercedes Fortune, a police spokeswoman, told AP.

However, no device was found, and Ms Webber was arrested on suspicion of false emergency reporting and making a false terrorism report.