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233 Thais stranded at Don Mueang Airport


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Bangkok:- A total of 233 Thai tourists have been left stranded at the Don Mueang International Airport as their charter flight has not received a permission to fly to Japan.


The Thais were scheduled to leave the airport at 1:40 am Saturday on Asian Air’s Flight DM464 to Sapporo but the chartered flight has not been approved by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB).


By 1 am after the plight was shared on online social networks, reporters rushed to the airport and found most of the passengers gathering on the third floor of the airport in front of the out-passenger international terminal.


They were complaining and cursing the airline and the tour company. They said they bought a tour package from Pro Asia Travel for Bt55,000.


Later on, Asian Air president David Srichai-udom came to the scene and the passengers swarmed him, asking for explanation and compensation.


They used harsh words to criticize David because they said the airline officials had confirmed with them that the airline had got the permission from the JCAB to fly the flight to Sapporo.


Chartered flights to Japan have been affected after the International Civil Aviation Organization has concluded that the Thai Civil Aviation Department failed to meet international safety standards.


David promised to pay compensation to the passengers for the waste of time and offered hotel accommodation for them. He offered to repay the fare within seven days.


Wichit Ua-wirawat, 65, one of the passengers, said he and ten friends bought the package.


Wichit said he was told by the tour company to check it at 9 pm Friday but no airline officials turned up to process the check-in. They leaned at 11 pm that the airline did not get a permission to fly the chartered flight.


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>>They used harsh words to criticize David because they said the airline officials had confirmed with them that the airline had got the permission from the JCAB to fly the flight to Sapporo.<< Quote

In a similar situation, I would have more than "harsh words".

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So what really happened, It's been reported elsewhere that it is simply a matter of the Airlines submitting flight paperwork too late.

About ten years too late I believe!

Edited by Oziex1
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Thailand now has something in common with Russia: Its discount tour operators have similar problems except, the Russian planes breakdown stranding pax. I feel sorry for those Thai pax, but as pointed out above, this should not have been a surprise.

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Seriously are we expats the only ones in Thailand that pay attention to what is going on around us ?

Not one person scheduled for that flight was aware of the problem with Japan, S. Korea, etc. restricting Thai charter flights, which has been reported here and in both the English language newspapers for the last two weeks ?

The article states: "They used harsh words to criticize David because they said the airline officials had confirmed with them that the airline had got the permission from the JCAB to fly the flight to Sapporo."

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The cursing and harsh words probably didn't offend Khun David. The 2 Thai's that knew English were drowned out by the remaining 231. "Sticks and stone may break my bones but Thai words will never hurt me"

David Srichai-udom, good chance he understands Thai language also if he was farrang in a senior position he would be required to understand the local language, don''t you think.

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This should be investigated. Why were the passengers informed at the airport and not days in advance. For a lot of them this was the trip of their lifetime. Every Thai wants to go to Japan at the moment and with complete tour packages for 'only' 55k very tempting. I've seen the chaotic scenes at a Japan fair at Siam Paragon where these packages were sold. I feel deeply sorry for those who had to return home. They should have been informed much earlier.

And for us, Internationals, its easy to say that they could have known, but Thai media is not known for its global scopes or issues where Thailand faces criticism.

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Seriously are we expats the only ones in Thailand that pay attention to what is going on around us ?

Not one person scheduled for that flight was aware of the problem with Japan, S. Korea, etc. restricting Thai charter flights, which has been reported here and in both the English language newspapers for the last two weeks ?

The English language papers also carried stories claiming that the Japanese had relented and were now allowing charter flights.

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Seriously are we expats the only ones in Thailand that pay attention to what is going on around us ?

Not one person scheduled for that flight was aware of the problem with Japan, S. Korea, etc. restricting Thai charter flights, which has been reported here and in both the English language newspapers for the last two weeks ?

The English language papers also carried stories claiming that the Japanese had relented and were now allowing charter flights.

Exactly, the order of business was that the Japanese were imposing a ban, then came ' negotiators ' had been sent to explain why, after so many years of inaction, a suspension of the ban was needed then came the announcement that it had been agreed to.

I cannot remember any Japanese source being quoted only officials here.

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So, what about the OTHER Thai charter flights to Japan??? Presumably, there have been at least some other charters scheduled out of DM to Japan since the early Sat debacle. Anyone heard or seen anything about whether those have departed, or likewise are getting held?

I see the BKK Post website has an article from yesterday saying there were 3 Japan flights out of DM that got scrubbed -- two from Asian Air and another from NokScoot. And a Thai DCA official claiming the reason was the airlines failed to get their "safety inspection reports" to the Japanese CAB far enough ahead of those flights.

No mention at all in that article about Korea...which if I recall right still has its ban in place.

Edited by TallGuyJohninBKK
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So, what about the OTHER Thai charter flights to Japan??? Presumably, there have been at least some other charters scheduled out of DM to Japan since the early Sat debacle. Anyone heard or seen anything about whether those have departed, or likewise are getting held?

Good point.

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So, what about the OTHER Thai charter flights to Japan??? Presumably, there have been at least some other charters scheduled out of DM to Japan since the early Sat debacle. Anyone heard or seen anything about whether those have departed, or likewise are getting held?

Interesting point, maybe just maybe they have accepted the umpires decision and canceled.

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