Bangkok: Police have detained a Chinese man who damaged an automated passport scanner at Suvarnabhumi Airport and remanded him in custody. He will face charges of insulting a public official. The man has already agreed to pay over 400,000 baht in damages.
According to Thai News Agency, CCTV footage captured the incident where a Chinese tourist went on a rampage, damaging two automated passport control machines (outbound) before walking through the checkpoint without permission. He also verbally abused immigration police officers with vulgar language and attempted to assault them.
This incident occurred yesterday at approximately 2:00 PM. Investigators from Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station received a report of an incident within the Immigration Departures area, Zone 2, at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Police Lieutenant Sarunwit Kaewkhot, an immigration officer, stated that while on duty at the automated passport control point, a Chinese man became enraged and vandalized two automated passport control machines before walking through the checkpoint without permission. After the incident, the man continued to verbally abuse officers with vulgar language in Chinese, including several other swear words, and attempted to assault them. However, his wife intervened and restrained him, leading to his arrest.
This morning, police officers from Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station took the Chinese man to Samut Prakan Provincial Court for detention. He will be charged with insulting an officer while performing their duty. The man confessed to the crime and agreed to pay compensation for damaging two automatic passport control machines, totaling over 450,000 baht.