Thai New Gen Airways employee loses temper and shouts at Chinese passenger for several minutes
It is actually rare to see a Thai person lose their temper and start shouting at someone in their general vicinity. It is just about unheard of to see a Thai employee shouting at a customer.
Yet, that is what happened yesterday at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport where a Thai New Gen Airways employee shouted at a Chinese passenger for more than two minutes.
Why? For no other reason than the Chinese passenger’s carry-on bag weighed more than the allowed 5 kg.
The incident happened as a Chinese passenger tried to check in at a New Gen Airways desk at Don Mueang, and had his carry-on bag checked. it was then discovered the bag was overweight.
That is because New Gen Airways apparently only allows 5kg, whereas most other airlines have a 7-8kg allowance.
Whether the Chinese passenger knew that, or had misunderstood the allowance weight for the bag he wanted to take on the plane, is not known.
What is known is the Thai New Gen Airways employee not only completely lost her cool, but she carried on a tirade against the passenger, shouting, pointing her finger at him and generally carrying on. For more than two minutes.
More than likely, the passenger did not understand a word she said. From her face, though, he could probably tell she was more than a little out of control.
Of course, the Thai New Gen Airways employee’s outburst would probably have gone unreported, if it was not for another passenger videotaping the tirade. The video was then uploaded to their Facebook account, with the comment:
“Normally, other airlines set the maximum weight for carry-on luggage at 7-8kg, but this airline allows only 5kg. The passenger didn’t seem to understand the rule and his bag exceeded the limit. This drew the anger of the woman staffer, who kept scolding him in Thai. The passenger did not understand. Why didn’t she politely ask him to take some things out? The passenger may be in the wrong, although he may not be aware of the airline’s weight limit. But her acting this way is over the top. She may have forgotten that many Thai passengers were also there.’’
The video almost immediately went viral and, just hours after its upload, had already received more than 123,00 views. Comments had just about everyone condemning the woman’s behavior.
New Gen Airways themselves released a statement several hours later saying the woman’s behavior was against company rules, and completely unacceptable.
They also said they were investigating the groundcrew’s behavior, and that she would likely be disciplined according to company policy.
Let’s face it, though, you cannot blame New Gen Airways for this. After all, it is highly unlikely they told the groundscrew employee to completely lose her cool and start to shout if a passenger did something she did not like.
But it certainly isn’t good news for Thailand and its Chinese tourists. Many of whom are now refusing to visit Thailand, after a Phuket boat accident in August, 2018 claimed the lives of 47 Chinese tourists.
Let’s just say, maybe next time a Thai airline employee decides to berate a passenger for a minor infraction, it might be a good idea to first make sure they are not Chinese.
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