Thai woman sparks backlash for vaping on Chiang Rai flight (video)

A Thai woman is facing criticism after a video of her smoking an e-cigarette during a flight from Mae Fah Luang International Airport in the northern province of Chiang Rai went viral on Thai social media.

A passenger took a sneaky video of the woman vaping on the plane and shared the content with the Red Skull Twitter account. The account shared the video to the public on April 11. The caption read…

“Vaping on the plane! Don’t know how she passed the screening counter at the airport. She smoked the e-cigarette without respect for the rules and other people’s safety. Such a shame! She gradually released the smoke under the face mask, so not many people noticed her action.”

The video garnered attention from Thai netizens, and the comment section was full of complaints both against the smoker and the airport’s recklessness.

“Don’t know the rules? Just come out of the cave?”

“First time for the caveman on the plane.”

“Shameless!”

“Are you gonna die if you stop smoking for a while?”

“Why did the man sitting next to her ignore that? This is completely against the rules!”

“So bad, both the smoker and the airport!”

The Twitter account and the woman who shared the video did not disclose the airline and the destination of the flight to the public.

Mae Fah Luang International Airport Director Somchanok Tiantiabrat clarified the issue in an interview with Matichon, saying there was a chance that the e-cigarettes would be snuck on board because their bodies are mainly made of plastic and could not be detected by the x-ray device.

Somchanok explained that the woman’s action violated two main laws including:

• Section 42 of Tobacco Products Control Act: smoking cigarettes in prohibited areas. The penalty is a fine of up to 5,000 baht.
• Section 8 of the Act on Certain Offences Against Air Navigation: smoking on a plane. The penalty is imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both.

Somchanok urged any passengers who witnessed the rule violations during the flight to immediately report it to the cabin crew to coordinate with the destination airport to arrest the suspect.

Somchanok revealed that the authorities already knew the flight where the issue took place and would contact the airline to bring the female smoker to justice.

สวัสดีค่ะฝากคลิปหน่อยค่ะ ดูดบุหรี่ไฟฟ้าบนเครื่องบิน! ไม่รู้ว่าทางสนามบินปล่อยผ่านการคัดกรองได้ยังไง

ดูดบุหรี่ไฟฟ้าบนเครื่องบินไม่เคารพต่อกฎและชีวิตส่วนรวมเลยค่ะ หน้าไม่อายมาก เขาค่อยๆพ่นควันออกมาในแมส ควันเลยไม่เยอะ

ไม่เข้าใจเหมือนกันค่ะ คาดว่าด้ามเป็นพลาสติก… pic.twitter.com/kxo2VHLjeu

— Red Skull (@RedSkullxxx) April 7, 2024