AVIATION
First-time flier could face jail for bomb joke that backfired
Supachai Petchthewee
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A 23-YEAR-OLD passenger found himself in hot water shortly after boarding his first flight on Sunday - in legal trouble for a "bomb joke" that backfired on an air stewardess.

"I wanted to tease her because she's pretty," Pichit Boondaeng said at a press conference yesterday, "I had no idea that it would cause serious damage."

The "bomb" word caused panic inside the Lion Air plane, which was preparing to take off, and eventually led to a serious flight delay.

Pichit, a State Railways employee, became the first suspect to be charged under a recently introduced law on aviation-related offences.

"I should not have said those words," Pichit said. "I had never been on an aircraft before."

Pichit boarded the Hat Yai-bound flight at Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport to attend a friend's wedding ceremony in Songkhla province. Once inside the aircraft, an air stewardess told him he needed to put his carry-on bag inside an overhead luggage bin. He responded by handing his bag to her and jokingly saying, "Be careful with the bag. It may explode."

Pol Lt General Sanit Mahathavorn, the acting metropolitan police chief, said yesterday that Pichit had been charged with spreading false information that might cause panic at an airport.

If convicted, Pichit could face up to five years in jail and a fine of up to Bt200,000.

"Penalties would be even harsher if such an offence occurred during the flight or after the aircraft had taken off," Sanit said.

Pichit has now been released on bail.

At the press conference, Pichit said he wanted to apologise for the damage and inconvenience caused. He said he was not aware that his words would cause serious consequences and that they were against the law.

"I repent. I will never do such things again," the young man said.

Sanit said police had decided to hold a press conference on the case because the law involved was relatively new.

"We would like to raise public awareness of this law and to ensure that people can learn a lesson from Pichit's case," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/First-time-flier-could-face-jail-for-bomb-joke-tha-30272116.html


-- The Nation 2015-11-03

A few months at H.M.'s pleasure should adjust his attitude even further.

He said he has a bomb because he thinks she is pretty? lol Wonder what he does when he is in love?

"I wanted to tease her because she's pretty," Pichit Boondaeng said...

Well, now who would be the pretty one in jail?

I am sure this was done in "innocence" of the consequences , however, ignorance and stupidity are no excuse.

This man has caused inconvenience to many and a big financial loss to the airline.

A period of "attitude adjustment" in the BKK Hilton is well deserved and needed.

Fist time flyer could become first and last if he is put on the aviation blacklist providing anyone bothers to do it.

It's a good pickup line..huh?

Don't touch that, it might explode !

wait a second...! Now I get it.

Seems a bit odd as I was sure as a thai citizen you could carry handguns on planes & airports without much hassle !

or is that only for scummy ex coppers !

say explode & you in big sh!t

Am i alone in thinking the general reaction is a touch Ott? A dumbarsed comment but jail,,, really ?

I realise that he did wrong but these air crews take it all to serious. Sure do not joke about bombs in airports or planes but they need to lighten up. The staff love the drama. For starters if he did have an explosive device in there do you think it would be advertised prior to take off? Security I agree with but stupidity I cannot. Mind you it was on Lion Air with thai "Beauties" that are not highly recognised world wide for their intelligence.

I realise that he did wrong but these air crews take it all to serious. Sure do not joke about bombs in airports or planes but they need to lighten up. The staff love the drama. For starters if he did have an explosive device in there do you think it would be advertised prior to take off? Security I agree with but stupidity I cannot. Mind you it was on Lion Air with thai "Beauties" that are not highly recognised world wide for their intelligence.

This law is on the statute books of many countries and it is enforced exceptionally strictly. People who think it's funny to joke about this kind of thing are usually treated to a serious review that often lasts for hours.

This chap thought it was funny but how on earth could the stewardess assess the veracity of the comment? Would you have opened the bag to check and would you be qualified to give the all clear?

As to whether Lion Air crew are smart enough: well, I wonder who you are to make such world wide pronouncements on that.

Poor, stupid little numskull. I hope he doesn't get jail time for having a bad sense of humour.

He won't make that mistake again.

The poor guy wanted to tell the flight attendant that she is a sex bomb but it came out crooked.

I realise that he did wrong but these air crews take it all to serious. Sure do not joke about bombs in airports or planes but they need to lighten up. The staff love the drama. For starters if he did have an explosive device in there do you think it would be advertised prior to take off? Security I agree with but stupidity I cannot. Mind you it was on Lion Air with thai "Beauties" that are not highly recognised world wide for their intelligence.

Suggest you attempt this "joke" at any European, American, Australian etc.airport .

I guarantee you will be held at gunpoint, stripped, handcuffed and jailed before you have time to call Mummy for help.

I supposed his joke bombed.

Edited November 3, 201510 yr by Plotholes

Good call….jail time is called for….just to send a message.

He's an SRT worker and he makes a bomb comment? <deleted> I may have to stop riding the trains.

Remember don't say anything that will make you lose face to a Thai. They can't keep anything to themselves. I empathise with the poor chap now. The stewardess knew he was joking but the chance was there to ruin the rude mans life with his stupid chat up line.

A post with profane/vulgar intent has been removed:

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Remember don't say anything that will make you lose face to a Thai. They can't keep anything to themselves. I empathise with the poor chap now. The stewardess knew he was joking but the chance was there to ruin the rude mans life with his stupid chat up line.

Yes good chance he was joking, but at 55,000ft its a bit too late to find he wasn't.