Thai Airways Chairman Faces Baggage Probe

[churchill]

Many a traveller gets caught out carrying excess luggage but few on the scale of Wallop Bhukkanasut, executive chairman of troubled Thai Airways.

Last month Mr Wallop and his wife arrived at Tokyo’s Narita airport with 30 pieces of luggage, tipping the scales at 380kg.

In first class, Mr Wallop’s allowance for flight TG677 to Bangkok on November 14 would have been 40kg, plus 20kg as a “gold card” holder.

With his wife enjoying the same privileges, they could muster an allowance of 120kg between them. Yet their excess baggage was still 260kg.

The fee would have been hundreds of thousands of baht – had they paid. Ampon Kittiampon, chairman of the Thai board, announced on Friday that a special committee would conduct an investigation after an initial probe showed Mr Wallop had a case to answer for avoiding excess baggage charges.

“The board has approved a plan to set up a committee to examine the case, which we would expect to conclude within three weeks,” said Mr Ampon.

The incident, leaked by Thai staff disgruntled at cost-cutting at the lossmaking national carrier, has produced widespread outrage in Thailand.

As the storm grew, Mr Wallop conceded that he had carried the excess luggage, most of which he said was fruit destined for a famous Buddhist temple in Bangkok as a donation.

But he denied an allegation that he had ordered the packages to be delivered to the lost-and-found department at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport in order to evade inspection by customs.

Under mounting pressure to quit, Mr Wallop has requested leave of absence from the board while Mr Ampon’s committee makes its inquiries.

Korn Chatikavanij, Thailand’s finance minister, has demanded a thorough investigation by the board. Union members among Thai’s staff have been wearing black to reflect their outrage.

Thai is restructuring after posting a net loss of 21.4bn baht in 2008. Last month the airline posted a 4.02bn baht ($121m) net loss for the quarter that ended in September.

Before the scandal erupted, Piyasvasti Amranand, the newly appointed Thai Airways president, railed against political interference, saying nepotism was dragging the carrier down.

“When you promote people who have connections but no ability, initially it’s OK, but eventually it weakens the company. That’s what happened at Thai Airways,” he said.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eb591e32-ec07-11...144feab49a.html

[Oberkommando]

“When you promote people who have connections but no ability, initially it’s OK

I wonder how he figures it is ok initially?

Surely if people are promoted that have no ability it is to the detriment of the company straight from the get go.

I suspect he's said that not to offend one of the very influential people that have previously benefited from TG's nepotism.

I refuse to fly them ever since that guy was arrested for LM on arrival in Bangkok for not turning his reading light off while flying First Class.

[neverdie]

The thing that amazes me about Thai Airways is that they have been running at a loss for years now, I keep hearing massive figures about a loss of xx billion of baht per quarter etc. How long can this go on for. I recently had to do a trip and although thais flight schedule suited me best I ended up going with Singapore because I keep expecting thai to go toes up one day, how long can a business like this run at a loss for?

I've got absolutely no doubt that a percentage of their loss is due to things like this, thai staff will only have themselves to blame when they are out of a job, not so good for the staff that are doing the right thing.

[Martied]

I think this is the national motto:

"Cut down the tree to get the apple."

[Ricardo]

Good to hear that this isn't just being swept under-the-carpet.

[geriatrickid]

Interesting statement;

As the storm grew, Mr Wallop conceded that he had carried the excess luggage, most of which he said was fruit destined for a famous Buddhist temple in Bangkok as a donation.

Now let's go have a look at the Thailand Customs webpage and see what it says;

If the total value of a passenger’s accompanied items is more than 80,000 Baht, the passenger is required to do the Customs formalities at Customs Formality section.

Punishment if Failure to declare!

It will lead to a fine amounting to 4 times the value of undeclared items plus tax and duty, or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both. Such undeclared items are confiscated.

Ok, by a show of hands,, does anyone think this Chairman declared these special fruits? If he did, then he will have the customs receipt and of course a receipt for the duty paid. However, there's one little catch. Importing fruits of this large an "order" would necessitate an appropriate department of agriculture clearance. Did the Chairman obtain such a clearance and inspection?

If the Chairman really did import fruit and declared it, then he simply violated his fiduciary duty to the shareholders and deserves to be fired and should reimburse Thai Airways for the missing excess luggage fees.

If the Chairman did not declare the fruit, then he is deserving of criminal charges, penalties and hopefully jailtime, like the the law says.

If the Chairman has made up the story about the fruit, then he is a liar, and a cheat and should be immediately terminated and pursued in a civil suit.

And if he really imported fruit, then he basically has made a statement that Thailand's fruit is no good and has insulted the farmers of thailand. Way to go, Mr. Chairman.

[sharecropper]

Interesting statement;

As the storm grew, Mr Wallop conceded that he had carried the excess luggage, most of which he said was fruit destined for a famous Buddhist temple in Bangkok as a donation.

Now let's go have a look at the Thailand Customs webpage and see what it says;

If the total value of a passenger’s accompanied items is more than 80,000 Baht, the passenger is required to do the Customs formalities at Customs Formality section.

Punishment if Failure to declare!

It will lead to a fine amounting to 4 times the value of undeclared items plus tax and duty, or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both. Such undeclared items are confiscated.

Ok, by a show of hands,, does anyone think this Chairman declared these special fruits? If he did, then he will have the customs receipt and of course a receipt for the duty paid. However, there's one little catch. Importing fruits of this large an "order" would necessitate an appropriate department of agriculture clearance. Did the Chairman obtain such a clearance and inspection?

If the Chairman really did import fruit and declared it, then he simply violated his fiduciary duty to the shareholders and deserves to be fired and should reimburse Thai Airways for the missing excess luggage fees.

If the Chairman did not declare the fruit, then he is deserving of criminal charges, penalties and hopefully jailtime, like the the law says.

If the Chairman has made up the story about the fruit, then he is a liar, and a cheat and should be immediately terminated and pursued in a civil suit.

And if he really imported fruit, then he basically has made a statement that Thailand's fruit is no good and has insulted the farmers of thailand. Way to go, Mr. Chairman.

Perhaps he'll be taken to a Love Hotel and extorted out of his savings.

[mca]

Of course the pertinent word here being "Chairman" which in Thai translates (as in so many other positions and fields and to me is the bane of the country) into "I'm Puu Yai and I do what the <deleted> I want"

[scorecard]

Interesting statement;

As the storm grew, Mr Wallop conceded that he had carried the excess luggage, most of which he said was fruit destined for a famous Buddhist temple in Bangkok as a donation.

Now let's go have a look at the Thailand Customs webpage and see what it says;

If the total value of a passenger’s accompanied items is more than 80,000 Baht, the passenger is required to do the Customs formalities at Customs Formality section.

Punishment if Failure to declare!

It will lead to a fine amounting to 4 times the value of undeclared items plus tax and duty, or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both. Such undeclared items are confiscated.

Ok, by a show of hands,, does anyone think this Chairman declared these special fruits? If he did, then he will have the customs receipt and of course a receipt for the duty paid. However, there's one little catch. Importing fruits of this large an "order" would necessitate an appropriate department of agriculture clearance. Did the Chairman obtain such a clearance and inspection?

If the Chairman really did import fruit and declared it, then he simply violated his fiduciary duty to the shareholders and deserves to be fired and should reimburse Thai Airways for the missing excess luggage fees.

If the Chairman did not declare the fruit, then he is deserving of criminal charges, penalties and hopefully jailtime, like the the law says.

If the Chairman has made up the story about the fruit, then he is a liar, and a cheat and should be immediately terminated and pursued in a civil suit.

And if he really imported fruit, then he basically has made a statement that Thailand's fruit is no good and has insulted the farmers of thailand. Way to go, Mr. Chairman.

Perhaps he'll be taken to a Love Hotel and extorted out of his savings.

Lots of good points. The following point is worth is a little more comment:

"As the storm grew, Mr Wallop conceded that he had carried the excess luggage, most of which he said was fruit destined for a famous Buddhist temple in Bangkok as a donation."

Given the purpose of temples and where they fit into the beliefs of Buddhism, is it appropriate for temples to be asking for or accepting such 'luxury' items?

Surely a temple should be practicing and encouraging the concepts of simplicity, moderation, etc.

Further, why would a person such as Mr Wallop (or any person) be doing this? Seems to me that he's become entrapped in the 'modern' (but false) concept of gaining good karma by expenisve gifts to temples.

[Artisi]

Has anyone actually seen this "fruit" ? Just more bullsh1t from the top end, hi-so, I can do what I want mentality. The sooner the heads of these people start to roll the better for Thailand.

[Hardback]

Another heartwarming story about one of the well-educated members of Thailand's elite class.

[harrry]

Lucky he didn't face a customs probe. Not sure they change the rubber gloves here.

[andyww]

The thing that amazes me about Thai Airways is that they have been running at a loss for years now, I keep hearing massive figures about a loss of xx billion of baht per quarter etc. How long can this go on for. I recently had to do a trip and although thais flight schedule suited me best I ended up going with Singapore because I keep expecting thai to go toes up one day, how long can a business like this run at a loss for?

I've got absolutely no doubt that a percentage of their loss is due to things like this, thai staff will only have themselves to blame when they are out of a job, not so good for the staff that are doing the right thing.

They can run at a loss forever. Many flag-carrier nationalized airlines run at a loss.

[lomatopo]

The thing that amazes me about Thai Airways is that they have been running at a loss for years now, I keep hearing massive figures about a loss of xx billion of baht per quarter etc.

While 2008 was a truly horrendous year for TG, they have been profitable "for years now" so your amazement seems misplaced?

http://www.thaiair.com/about-thai/investor...ial-results.htm

___________________________________2008____2007______2006_____2005_____2004_____

2003

Profitability (Result before Tax) (Million Baht) -23,600 6,338 12,822 9,906 14,284 17,431

And I'm not saying they don't have problems.

The most amazing thing about this story is that it was made public, and is being covered extensively. Many of the other misdeeds, like the huge ticketing scam (reselling of free tickets), have rarely seen the light of day. Kudos to the front-line employees for outing Khun Wallop.

Edited December 19, 2009 by lomatopo

[catmac]

Lucky he didn't face a customs probe. Not sure they change the rubber gloves here.

Good one, Harry!

However, if he had 260kg of fruit stuffed up where I think you're suggesting, I don't think the customs would need their rubber gloves!

Nice to see some factual proof of the ghastly "above the law" attitude that pervades the hi-so elite in Bangkok. Shades of Santika, and all that.

[bangon04]

Lucky he didn't face a customs probe. Not sure they change the rubber gloves here.

Not sure an internal is even possible in the circumstances. The Customs officer would be too busy wai-ing and scraping his face on the floor that he would have no free hands.....

Maybe if you appoint a proxy wai-er to face the boss, then you can save face while massaging the prostate of somebody of higher status...

Maybe only the Chairman of the Thai customs service is of sufficient status to get his hands dirty in this case... Let's face it - they probably went to school together.

I know, I know, Farang just cannot appreciate the nuances of Thai social etiquette....

Edited December 19, 2009 by bangon04

[TAWP]

Off with his head!

I'm serious.

[BangkokJazz]

Off with his head!

I'm serious.

Seconded - He should be canned post haste. I remember Wallop commenting once in the "newspaper that must not be named" that "there isn't any contract that can't be broken or renegotiated. That tells you all you need to know about Wallop in one statement.

[khundon]

21.4Bn Baht loss. Not surprising if it takes them 3 weeks to carry out an enquiry, on something on which they already know all the facts.

If the board were all cooks, I wouldn't leave them alone with a bowl of warm water.

[Rinrada]

Wallop...by nature .....and by name....

[kurnell]

Wallop...by nature .....and by name....

Nickname 'Rod'?

[moskito]

Wallop...by nature .....and by name....

reminds me of a story one or two weeks ago, where THAIAIRWAYS charged a customer 30.000.- Baht for a little bit less then Khun Wallop transported 30kg`?

[Rinrada]

no need to say anymore.....

[geriatrickid]

Perhaps, instead of terminating the great leader, that he work off the debt by actually working at TG, say perhaps as one of the people that must clean a economy section lavatory after a flight from Bangalore or Dhaka.

[sharecropper]

Coincidentally his wife runs a souvenir stall in Bangkok seelling Japanese items..........but of course there is no link, although it seems strange that the temple in question denied ever having received anything from him.

[Artisi]

Coincidentally his wife runs a souvenir stall in Bangkok seelling Japanese items..........but of course there is no link, although it seems strange that the temple in question denied ever having received anything from him.

Now, now, mustn't tell tales out of school.

[jamesjdaly]

.......excess luggage, most of which he said was fruit destined for a famous Buddhist temple......

I know where you're going!! Con and cheat your way through this life and see what happens in the next!! Hope it's not too hot for you.

[neverdie]

The thing that amazes me about Thai Airways is that they have been running at a loss for years now, I keep hearing massive figures about a loss of xx billion of baht per quarter etc.

While 2008 was a truly horrendous year for TG, they have been profitable "for years now" so your amazement seems misplaced?

http://www.thaiair.com/about-thai/investor...ial-results.htm

___________________________________2008____2007______2006_____2005_____2004_____

2003

Profitability (Result before Tax) (Million Baht) -23,600 6,338 12,822 9,906 14,284 17,431

And I'm not saying they don't have problems.

The most amazing thing about this story is that it was made public, and is being covered extensively. Many of the other misdeeds, like the huge ticketing scam (reselling of free tickets), have rarely seen the light of day. Kudos to the front-line employees for outing Khun Wallop.

I probably should of been a bit more specific in what I said, I was well aware that 2008 was the first year of substantial loss for Thai Airways, but it would seem they havent made a dime in 2009 either, just more losses. So thats two FULL years at least at a loss, how much longer can that go on for, I wonder?

[Nordlys]

Lucky he didn't face a customs probe. Not sure they change the rubber gloves here.

Not sure an internal is even possible in the circumstances. The Customs officer would be too busy wai-ing and scraping his face on the floor that he would have no free hands.....

Maybe if you appoint a proxy wai-er to face the boss, then you can save face while massaging the prostate of somebody of higher status...

Maybe only the Chairman of the Thai customs service is of sufficient status to get his hands dirty in this case... Let's face it - they probably went to school together.

I know, I know, Farang just cannot appreciate the nuances of Thai social etiquette....

according to Bangkok Post article, they "channeled the baggage through a special route to avoid paying taxes and fees".

[salty]

Yet another example of a well off greedy Thai. He sounds like he would be ideal for any Government cabinet.