Cat bites owner, stops Thai train, gets blamed for seven-hour delay

Ryan TurnerPublished: April 16, 2026, 11:26 AM

50 1 minute read

Cat bites owner, stops Thai train, gets blamed for seven-hour delay | Thaiger — Photo of the suspect on the train | Courtesy of Kijja Pongpisan/Facebook

A cat that attacked its owner and scratched fellow passengers on a southbound train has been blamed online for a seven-hour delay, though passengers say two successive engine failures were the real cause.

Rapid Train No.169, travelling from Bangkok Aphiwat to Yala, arrived at Yala station at 6.15pm on Monday, 430 minutes behind schedule. A Facebook post by Kijja Pongpisan, shared widely by local media on April 14, described how the train halted mid-journey after a cat became agitated and bit its owner, drawing blood, before scratching other passengers in the carriage.

Three train staff spent 20 minutes using a bedsheet to restrain the animal before the service could resume. The cat, a ginger, was travelling with its owner in a non-air-conditioned sleeper car. Heat was cited as the likely cause of the animal’s behaviour.

However, multiple passengers pushed back on social media against the suggestion that the cat was responsible for the lengthy delay. One commenter said passengers endured two separate waits due to successive engine failures.

Cat bites owner, stops Thai train, gets blamed for seven-hour delay | News by Thaiger — A separate SRT train | Photo via Southeast Asia Infrastructure

“The new engine replacing the broken one was also out of order… The delay wasn’t due to the cat.”

Another commenter said the train stopped first at Na Phak Kwuang station in Prachuap Khiri Khan to wait for a replacement locomotive, then halted again at Khao Chaiyarat station in Chumphon, after the replacement also developed problems. The two stations are approximately 50 kilometres apart.

A third commenter also attributed the delay to the locomotive issues rather than the animal.

“It took only 20 minutes to catch the cat. The pet did not cause the delay.”

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) confirmed via its official tracker that Train No.169 arrived at Yala 430 minutes late on Monday but did not publicly disclose the reason. The SRT noted in general terms that delays can result from construction work, engine malfunctions, track clearance signals, or passenger-related incidents.