10-hour delay: Furious Chinese tourists sing the national anthem at Don Mueang Airport

[Tomtomtom69]

In 2008 after getting upgraded to business class on a Lufthansa flight from BKK to Saigon, I initially spent some time at the lounge but after noticing my flight was delayed I periodically went to the gate to check the status of my flight only to be told it would be delayed a further hour three times. After a three hour delay, some free sandwiches and drinks and finally a 300 Baht food voucher provided by the airline, we had our immigration stamps cancelled a chaotic process that took 2 hours to process for just 400 passengers that should have taken just 10-15 mins. Tempers started flaring particularly amongst the many Vietnamese passengers most of whom were tour groups attempting to return home from their Thai holiday. After a further delay we were put up at the Novotel Suvarnabhumi airport hotel given a midnight buffet dinner and then we retired to our rooms with a note from the airline we would be told about our new flight departure time around 8am in the morning. I didn't realize that the technical difficulties with that 747-400 aircraft were so major as to delay us by almost a day now but the overwhelming consensus by the passengers was better safe than sorry. Given that we were treated quite well apart from the long delays at the airport, by now everyone was happy and I too would rather wait longer for a problem to be fixed than have something bad happen. Anyway, it wasn't until midday that we checked out of the hotel for a now 2.30pm flight. But it wasn't going to be on a Lufthansa aircraft. It would be on an ancient, rickety 747 with entire rows of seats broken and no business class (so an instant downgrade for me) operated by none other than Orient Thai!!!! There was no food provided and most of us wondered if we would even make it to Saigon given how poorly maintained the aircraft appeared. I entertained my curious new Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American friends with my knowledge of aviation and plane crashes (perhaps not the right time to be talking about such things but the topic came up) all the while wishing I had caught the bus! I mean after a nearly 24 hour delay, had I driven to Aranyaprathet and then caught a cab to Phnom Penh followed by a bus to Saigon,I would have arrived by now with less stress to boot. Luckily all was well on my return flight to BKK but alas no free upgrade this time damn.

[monkey4u]

I'm just surprised anyone still flies on Orient Thai.

It appears you have to wait a while for flights

[Tomtomtom69]

If a bunch of foreigners did that in China wed probably be thrown into one of their jails...

Planes get delayed all the time and no, often you don't get a hotel room and many times they announce the flight will be delayed by a lesser extent than the truth so people don't flip out and start going crazy...

Then they just extend the delay every couple hrs without telling the truth about it and avoid paying for hotels etc

Not fun but that's the reality

I think you are greatly exaggerating. Foreigners singing at an airport in china as a protest against a delay wouldn't result in anything but curious smiles and some photos by fellow Chinese passengers.

In this case too the Chinese passengers didn't do anything more than get a bit frustrated but unlike at many Chinese airports, there were no incidents of violence.

Anyway, no way one would ever see a bunch of foreigners doing something like that in china not so much because we're more civilized or can hold our emotions better but rather because there are almost no foreigners in china. Show me anywhere in china with more than 5 foreigners in any one place and I would be so surprised that I would actually have to call the news media to make a story out of it. Plane loads of foreigners do not descend on China only plane loads of Chinese do.

The airline here was orient Thai. If they had flown with a proper airline like Thai Airways then yes they would have been put up in a hotel. All depends who you fly with. Fly with a budget carrier and you get nothing. Simple as that.

[speedtripler]

If a bunch of foreigners did that in China wed probably be thrown into one of their jails...

Planes get delayed all the time and no, often you don't get a hotel room and many times they announce the flight will be delayed by a lesser extent than the truth so people don't flip out and start going crazy...

Then they just extend the delay every couple hrs without telling the truth about it and avoid paying for hotels etc

Not fun but that's the reality

I think you are greatly exaggerating. Foreigners singing at an airport in china as a protest against a delay wouldn't result in anything but curious smiles and some photos by fellow Chinese passengers.

In this case too the Chinese passengers didn't do anything more than get a bit frustrated but unlike at many Chinese airports, there were no incidents of violence.

Anyway, no way one would ever see a bunch of foreigners doing something like that in china not so much because we're more civilized or can hold our emotions better but rather because there are almost no foreigners in china. Show me anywhere in china with more than 5 foreigners in any one place and I would be so surprised that I would actually have to call the news media to make a story out of it. Plane loads of foreigners do not descend on China only plane loads of Chinese do.

The airline here was orient Thai. If they had flown with a proper airline like Thai Airways then yes they would have been put up in a hotel. All depends who you fly with. Fly with a budget carrier and you get nothing. Simple as that.

If they only sang for ten hours, maybe but the title of article says "furious chinese" and I read that even after a flight was eventually provided, 36 of them refused to get on the plane ....

They're lucky the Thais are so tolerant, I think of the roles were reversed the Chinese wouldn't think twice about arresting protesters... Its not like they're famous for stuff like human rights lol

[fred Kubasa]

Ah Chinese ! If reports are to be believed, after serveral dies unnecessarily, several more lost

limbs, many scammed,70 or 80 injured in bus/van/tain accidents, bombing,TAT says " Chinese still

flocking to Thailand "! Would a highly respected ? agency like TAT lie ?

[rebelplatoon]

Ehm...That'll show m !?

[Srikcir]

Good for them.

Poor service deserves to be exposed.

Their little protest will cost Orient dearly. Especially in terms of Chinese business.

Brendan Began once wrote "There's no such thing as bad publicity, except your own obituary"

This song might be a funeral durge for Orient in this cut and thrust era of budget Aviation.

Well Orient was almost destroyed by Thaksin to boost his Air Asia by removing a competitor. No good airplanes, no money, no hope......

I always liked them but yes most probably they are walking dead.

Usually when you enter the airplane (which is most probably a few decades older than you) the air hostess hands out bravery medals

(I was on a flight that didn't find the NST airport.......)

So much better now that we have Thai Junta Airlines where the pilot flies "by the seat of his pants."

[quandow]

Nothing but a bunch of rude, self-absorbed twits. Like, the airlines do this on purpose? Airlines do the best they can. Give them a break and get over yourselves. I can only hope their eventual destination was GONE.

[crusader79]

Americans would never be so uncouth, mainly because few of us can remember the words to our national anthem, let alone sing the tricky thing.

[northernphil]

Were they singing the Chinese National Anthem or " Leaving on a jet plane don't know when I 'll be back again "

[GAZZPA]

Note to Thailand, they're coming back to get you !

Chinese play the face game too.

Very true, I worked in China for many years.

Also it takes very little for them to draw conclusions on things,, just a couple of bad press releases could be enough to stop them travelling altogether.

I have seem almost mass hysteria on some press releases about pretty trivial things,,, Thailand take note indeed.

[mmh8]

Just imagine the scene if the buggers ever visited heathrow or gatwick. All we would hear would be "long live the supreme commander, the supreme seer, equal to heaven but still a commie and one of use" all day every day.

surely there is actual news out there somewhere.

10 hour delay is nothing.

[Tomtomtom69]

And the reason for the delay was ............

Brakes failed and the pilot fled

LOL!!

But yeah you're probably not far off, I had the misfortune of being placed on an Orient Thai aircraft after my Lufthansa plane could not be repaired after 24 hours and I thought we weren't going to make it.

[pmarlowe]

singing the national anthem is nothing compared to this chinese guy who missed his flight...it gets really interesting starting at 1:25 minutes

on the subject of bad airlines: China Eastern and its clone, Shanghai Airlines -- you would prefer dental surgery

[wpcoe]

Could have been much worse. Picture a few dozen folks reacting like this:

[speedtripler]

singing the national anthem is nothing compared to this chinese guy who missed his flight...it gets really interesting starting at 1:25 minutes

on the subject of bad airlines: China Eastern and its clone, Shanghai Airlines -- you would prefer dental surgery

Try that shit at jfk lol

[gandalf12]

Try Kazakhstan, 10 hour delays are the norm

[Jools]

At least they didn't take over the airport and hold passengers hostage.

[Tomtomtom69]

If a bunch of foreigners did that in China wed probably be thrown into one of their jails...

Planes get delayed all the time and no, often you don't get a hotel room and many times they announce the flight will be delayed by a lesser extent than the truth so people don't flip out and start going crazy...

Then they just extend the delay every couple hrs without telling the truth about it and avoid paying for hotels etc

Not fun but that's the reality

I think you are greatly exaggerating. Foreigners singing at an airport in china as a protest against a delay wouldn't result in anything but curious smiles and some photos by fellow Chinese passengers.

In this case too the Chinese passengers didn't do anything more than get a bit frustrated but unlike at many Chinese airports, there were no incidents of violence.

Anyway, no way one would ever see a bunch of foreigners doing something like that in china not so much because we're more civilized or can hold our emotions better but rather because there are almost no foreigners in china. Show me anywhere in china with more than 5 foreigners in any one place and I would be so surprised that I would actually have to call the news media to make a story out of it. Plane loads of foreigners do not descend on China only plane loads of Chinese do.

The airline here was orient Thai. If they had flown with a proper airline like Thai Airways then yes they would have been put up in a hotel. All depends who you fly with. Fly with a budget carrier and you get nothing. Simple as that.

If they only sang for ten hours, maybe but the title of article says "furious chinese" and I read that even after a flight was eventually provided, 36 of them refused to get on the plane ....

They're lucky the Thais are so tolerant, I think of the roles were reversed the Chinese wouldn't think twice about arresting protesters... Its not like they're famous for stuff like human rights lol

Read my other story about my Lufthansa flight delay/cancellation experience that took place on July 7, 2008.

Many Vietnamese were protesting. The Thais were losing their patience, but it's all part of their work and they know it.

These kind of incidents happen VERY often in China. Just do a search or go to say Gokunming.com, the expat portal over there to see what happened when some flights were delayed out of Kunming airport as a result of bad weather in early 2014. There was a riot.

BUT did the authorities intervene? NO. At least not until things really, really escalated. And that means broken computers and things like that, not merely shouting or abusing someone.

I've lived in China and since spent quite a bit of time there on business trips and holidays. Chinese are very good at showing their emotions when things don't go their way. The authorities, contrary to popular belief however, do NOT instantly round up people and arrest them for getting angry or for a little bit of taunting. They join in the action and often the end result is some kind of compromise that will win over the bereaved individual or group that started the problem in the first place.

Just some examples I have experienced:

October, 2014, Guilin, Guangxi. A middle aged female is so upset she isn't allowed to enter the historical park we just left and then launches a tantrum requesting her money back. The security guard and ticket seller try to explain (in different ways) that she won't be getting her money back but she can go tomorrow with the same ticket. She refuses. So she tries to grab the security guard and they shuffle back and forth. In the end, she is refunded her money and the case is settled.

In Thailand everyone would have lost face and there would be no way of settling the dispute as Thais or foreigners who ever get hot-headed here know that once you show your anger to someone, they will never speak to you again. They'll remember what happened even 5-10 years down the track. They have vicious memories here, but the loss of face thingy is so pronounced it usually results in lack of progress in many areas of society. Anyway, I digress.

Another incident in October 2011, Nanning, Guangxi. One guy starts shouting at the entrance of the China-South-East Asia trade fair. It opens at 9am but so far it's only 8am. He wants to get in now. Security doesn't let him. Another man joins the shouting match and they continue shouting and start scuffling with security. Eventually at around 8.50am everyone is let in and we also enter. I didn't check back to see what happened to those two guys especially the more forceful first guy, maybe he was eventually let in maybe not.

And of course many, many more.

[Lukecan]

A normal airline would of placed the passengers to the nearest hotel free of charge

[Tomtomtom69]

In many ways I like the Chinese way. You get a bit upset you get what you want. You could say that it's kinda similar in the west but these days they ask you to tone it down as if you raise your voice too much at a business, doctor's office etc. you can likely be refused service and ejected.

The whole patriotic thing in this case was unnecessary though, but aside from that not only are these kind of incidents fun spectacles but for me at least, it shows the human side of people and it shows that like us westerners, Chinese have emotions too.

One of the frustrating things about Thailand and Thai people is that so many of them have this passive aggressive personality. I HATE that. It makes them very difficult to work with and if you ever even so much as slightly upset a Thai, even if unintentional, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to repair the damage. You can apologize for years to come but they'll never accept your apology. Almost like spoiled brats, it's a very ugly attribute unfortunately.

Whereas just like other normal people, if I scream at my Chinese friend for losing my SIM card (true story) we can still have a beer afterwards. And we did.

[baboon]

A normal airline would of placed the passengers to the nearest hotel free of charge

It wasn't a hotel they needed, it was a clout round the head and a demand to know what on earth they were playing at, flying Orient Thai...

[slipperylobster]

should just have installed some ping pong tables, and everything would of been ok.

[Kitsune]

Have you been to Don Muang recently?

It's like you are already in China.

The terminal shop have their signs in Chinese, announcement are made in Chinese.

I am not surprised they sing the national anthem now.

[FBlue72]

I'm just surprised anyone still flies on Orient Thai.

Wow. Orient Thai are still in operation?

Intermittently it would seem.

Well Orient was almost destroyed by Thaksin to boost his Air Asia by removing a competitor. No good airplanes, no money, no hope......

I always liked them but yes most probably they are walking dead.

Usually when you enter the airplane (which is most probably a few decades older than you) the air hostess hands out bravery medals

(I was on a flight that didn't find the NST airport.......)

Just for those who may not be aware Orient Thai operated a budget airline called One-Two-Go which crashed in Phuket on Sept 16, 2007. The official reason was a lack of safety within the airline, poorly trained, fatigued pilots -the usual reasons budget airlines crash when operated in corruption prone, lack of safety-minded nations.

The Thai DCA promised upper management would be indicted, of course no one was ever held accountable and the airline simply folded into parent company Orient Thai.

Great site outlining all the details as unearthed by an American, Bonnie Rind is at www.InvestigateUdom.com. You can bet she is behind the recent downgrading of Thai air safety standards.

[JAG]

Wow. Orient Thai are still in operation?

Ten hours late is pretty good for them isn't it?

[Praematura]

Don Mueng is a human zoo with the great mass of Chinese allowing standing room only.

[Jonmarleesco]

I'm just surprised anyone still flies on Orient Thai.

They don't, at least not to a normal schedule.

[Bluespunk]

Thirty three of the passengers refused to leave [the departure hall after the others boarded.

Why?

[MiKT]

Just imagine the scene if the buggers ever visited heathrow or gatwick. All we would hear would be "long live the supreme commander, the supreme seer, equal to heaven but still a commie and one of use" all day every day.

surely there is actual news out there somewhere.

10 hour delay is nothing.

I didn't think Ken Livingston was Lord Mayor of London any more. Edited September 8, 2015 by MiKT