A Thai Cathay Pacific flight attendant, who is a self-confessed ‘Yellow Shirt’, has been fired from the airline after she posted on her Facebook page that she had wanted to throw coffee on former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was a passenger on the Hong Kong flight she was working on.
The woman even had the audacity to say she had asked her manager if she could.
The Cathay Pacific manager, who obviously had a lot more common sense than the Thai flight attendant, of course told her “No. You can’t”. She was reassigned to a different area of the cabin and, after her later Facebook postings, was then promptly fired.
Deservedly so.
You honestly have to wonder though, what goes through someone’s head when they think throwing hot coffee onto a passenger, simply because they don’t like who they or their family are, is remotely acceptable.
After all, it likely didn’t occur to this Thai flight attendant what she wanted to do was assault and could have her facing criminal charges.
Not only that, but the flight attendant, known on Facebook as Honey Lochanachai, seemed positively aggrieved that throwing hot coffee on Paetongtarn Shinawatra wasn’t an option to express her dislike of the Thaksin family.
But this Thai flight attendant’s ignorance won’t be forgotten in a hurry, however.
Not only did she lose her job at Cathay Pacific, but Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Prasobdee has now said he wants criminal charges filed against the woman. After all, she not only made disgraceful comments about a Cathay Pacific passenger but she also published the airline’s private passenger manifesto on her Facebook page.
A huge breach of security, and one that could leave Cathay Pacific open to a lawsuit from other passengers.
Of course, Paetongtarn Shinawatra had more poise, grace and common sense than the Yellow Shirt flight attendant. On her Twitter page, Paetongtarn jokingly asked “Is it coffee or tea?”, and then apologized if she had done or said something that made the flight attendant angry.
Now there is a nice woman with a level head on her shoulders. The now former Cathay Pacific flight attendant would do well to emulate her.