In the United States, I could see a passenger trying to sue an airline for a diversion. Meanwhile in Thailand, an airline is suing a passenger for complaining about a diversion, as flagged by View from the Wing.
Traveler complains about Thai Airways diversion to Sydney
This incident happened on January 28, 2024, and involves Thai Airways flight TG465 from Bangkok (BKK) to Melbourne (MEL). The flight was operated by a roughly five-year-old Airbus A350-900 with the registration code HS-THN.
On the morning the flight was supposed to land, visibility in Melbourne wasn’t good. After some time in a holding pattern, the decision was made to divert to Sydney (SYD). The plane spent some time on the ground, and then eventually operated the short flight from Sydney to Melbourne, arriving a bit over four hours late.
The point at which this story gets interesting is that one passenger who claimed to be a regular on the route took to Facebook to complain about this diversion. He claimed the diversion was unnecessary, and accused the crew of not carrying enough fuel, and of not being assertive enough with air traffic control.
He also claimed that other flights were landing in Melbourne without issue, and that skies were clear through the windows of the aircraft. This post ended up getting quite a bit of attention, especially after a well known Thai Airways pilot on social media took time to respond to these complaints, and set the record straight.
This passenger sounds like a gargantuan knob, plain and simple. How absurd to baselessly question a pilot’s decision to divert, especially with logic like “but it was clear when looking out the windows.” That being said, if it were illegal to act like an idiot on the internet, we’d have to shut the whole thing down, no?
Well, this isn’t the end of the story…
Thai Airways sues passenger over complaint
Thailand has some of the world’s strictest defamation laws, which are often taken to the extreme. So complaining about something online can often be interpreted as defamation, and we’ve seen a countless number of these cases over the years.
Well, that’s exactly what Thai Airways is pursuing. The airline states that the crew followed international safety and security standards, and is now seeking to protect its reputation in the form of pursuing legal action against the passenger. The airline is emphasizing the importance of not misleading the public.
The airline claims that its decision to sue the passenger reflects “its commitment to maintaining a high standard of safety and security, while also safeguarding its reputation against harmful and inaccurate public perceptions.”
The airline is pursuing legal action even after the passenger retracted his post and apologized, expressing regret for his hastily written post. He even wanted to apologize to Thai Airways management in person on his next trip to Thailand.
This just seems to be how business is often done in Thailand, and I find it very strange. I don’t understand the point of drawing even more attention to this incident. And seriously, have you looked at the comments section of an airline Facebook page recently? If baselessly criticizing the airline were illegal, half of the United States would be in jail…
Bottom line
We often see Thailand’s defamation laws in action with negative hotel reviews, but in this case an airline diversion is taking center stage. A passenger criticized Thai Airways’ decision to divert a flight, which admittedly was a stupid claim to make.
The airline is now pursuing legal against the passenger, based on Thailand’s defamation laws. The airline claims that it’s doing this in order to maintain high safety standards, and safeguard its reputation.
What do you make of this Thai Airways lawsuit?
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