American stays inside Suvarnabhumi for ten days, cites airfare rise
An American man who posted videos claiming he had been staying inside Suvarnabhumi Airport for ten days has drawn widespread attention online, after saying higher airfares linked to war left him unable to travel onward.
According to the Instagram account @rastagraphy, the man had been staying at the airport for ten days. He documented his routine at the airport by posting compilations of him watching movies, reading, sleeping, and eating.
CH3 reported that he also called on an airline to cover his costs and said that if the ticket was not paid for, he would continue staying inside the airport and would not go elsewhere.
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Pol Maj Gen Kathathorn Khamthiang, commander of Immigration Division 2, said the man was an American who travelled from Singapore to Thailand on March 15, but immigration officers refused him entry.
Kathathorn said that based on the man’s condition, he appeared unprepared and did not resemble a tourist. Under procedures, he said the airline that brought the passenger into Thailand was required to take him back into its care and arrange an onward flight to his destination.
He added that at first the man did not have money to buy a ticket to continue travelling, meaning he had to remain inside the airport under the airline’s supervision in line with regulations.
Kathathorn said it was unclear whether the situation was connected to the US-Israel war with Iran, but checks found that the man’s intended destination was not a country at war. Instead, he was travelling to a country in Southeast Asia as part of a route to return to his own country.
The man reportedly left Thailand on March 21. According to Kathatorn, immigration’s role ended once the entry refusal was issued, after which it became the airline’s responsibility to arrange travel documents and tickets to send the passenger onward to his destination.
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Throughout the days the man remained inside the airport, the airline reportedly did not ignore him and provided care according to its duties and the rules in place.
Kathathorn said he viewed the man’s posts as content creation and claimed they may have been intended to attract views or encourage donations by generating sympathy.
He urged the public not to be drawn in or used, adding that he would not want Thai people to become a tool for someone acting in that way.
Elsewhere, a foreign tourist took to social media to warn travellers to avoid Don Mueang Airport after immigration officers denied her entry into Thailand due to a lack of sufficient funds. She insisted she had never been informed of this rule before, despite entering Thailand multiple times in the past.
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