Chinese tourists break out into national anthem to protest delayed flight at Bangkok airport

Chinese tourists break out into national anthem to protest delayed flight at Bangkok airport

Dozens of angry tourists from Chongqing started singing the Chinese National Anthem at a Bangkok airport on being told of a 10-hour delay in their flight home, creating a massive disturbance, am730 reported on Monday.

The Chongqing tourism bureau blacklisted 33 people, requesting all travel agencies not to accept them as members of tour groups, citing Western China City Daily, a newspaper in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

Their flight was scheduled to take off from Don Muang International Airport at 5.40pm Friday (Sep 4), but Orient Thai Airlines delayed it until 3am the next day due to heavy rain and plane maintenance work.

A Chinese woman booked on the flight said airline staff brought food to the affected passengers and arranged hotel rooms for them, but some of the Chinese passengers did not want to leave.

They demanded an apology as well as compensation of 1,000 yuan (S$220) each, the Chengdu paper said.

The woman also mentioned that they shouted at other passengers of the flight for accepting the airline's arrangements, calling their tour group leader a "national traitor".

When it was time to board the flight, some Chinese tourists refused to and started singing the national anthem as Thai police tried to drag them aboard.

According to ejinsight, some passengers complained about their seats, due to the change in the aircraft of the flight.

The plane did not take off until 6am Saturday, leaving behind 33 Chinese passengers who refused to embark. They ended up taking another flight at 6pm Saturday.


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