Passengers had their luggage removed, the cabin door was closed, and the aircraft departed, leaving more than 20 Chinese travelers stranded outside the boarding gate of their flight home. Today, the topic "Thai Airways Denies Boarding to Over 20 Chinese Passengers" has surged to the top of multiple trending lists, sparking widespread discussion.

According to reports, on the evening of July 29, during the boarding process for Thai Airways flight TG674 at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, over 20 Chinese passengers were ordered to exit the boarding bridge, and their luggage was unloaded, while the flight departed normally. The incident also involved a controversy where airport security personnel were filmed making what appeared to be discriminatory gestures. On the evening of August 4, Suvarnabhumi Airport issued a statement publicly apologizing for the incident involving the security officer and disciplining the employee involved.

In response to this situation, a staff member from the Thai Airways China office, when contacted by a consumer inquiry, stated: "The airport has already issued a report. The main issue is that these fans were not allowed to board due to concerns about potential disruption to flight safety during the journey." When asked about the possibility of future denials of boarding for Chinese passengers flying with Thai Airways, the staff member replied: "This incident occurred because these individuals were deemed likely to affect flight safety, so they were denied boarding. If you purchase a ticket normally and follow the rules, you will certainly not be denied boarding."

According to a social media poll, 46% of netizens "questioned Thailand's sincerity," while nearly 30% "condemned the fans' behavior."

Airport Apologizes for Denial of Boarding, Nearly Half of Netizens Question Sincerity

According to media reports, a passenger on the flight stated that they had completed check-in, security screening, and arrived at the boarding area on time. However, during the boarding process, staff suddenly ordered a group of passengers to exit the boarding bridge, resulting in over 20 Chinese passengers being denied boarding. On the evening of August 4, Suvarnabhumi Airport issued a statement publicly apologizing for the incident where a security officer was filmed making a gesture perceived as discriminatory, and disciplining the employee involved. The statement explained that around 11:00 PM on July 29, a group of Chinese fans who were flying on Thai Airways flight TG674 followed a Chinese celebrity they were accompanying into the VIP lounge without authorization, and were asked to leave by staff. The fans then continued to follow the celebrity into the boarding area. During document verification, they refused to cooperate and attempted to board the plane with the celebrity. To prevent unauthorized individuals from entering the cabin, the airline temporarily closed the aircraft door, and security personnel escorted the individuals back to the departure hall. The statement noted that the airline assessed that these fans had not complied with safety regulations and were concerned they might continue to cause disruption after takeoff, making the situation difficult to control. Therefore, the airline decided to deny boarding to 22 individuals, which caused a delay. Suvarnabhumi Airport stated that 12 of them agreed to have their checked luggage unloaded, while the other 10 refused to cooperate and expressed dissatisfaction with being denied boarding. During the process, they provoked staff, leading to a conflict. The airport said that security personnel's actions in blocking passengers were intended to maintain aviation safety, but acknowledged that some employees' conduct and language were inappropriate, failing to meet service standards. Those involved have been disciplined, and a formal apology has been issued for the incident.

Data from the Feichangzhun app shows that Thai Airways flight TG674 was originally scheduled to depart from Suvarnabhumi Airport at 11:50 PM on July 29, but actually took off at 1:06 AM the next day, a delay of approximately 76 minutes. The flight arrived at Beijing Capital Airport at 6:31 AM on July 30. Following the controversy, a summary from Weibo indicated that 46% of users "questioned Thailand's sincerity," expressing doubt about the airport's apology and disciplinary measures, believing they lacked sincerity or even carried discriminatory overtones. 28% of netizens "condemned the fans' behavior," stating that some Chinese fans' actions, such as following the celebrity and forcing their way into restricted areas, severely disrupted public order. Another 26% of netizens advocated for a "rational view of the incident," arguing that the fans' prior violation of rules justified the denial of boarding, but also noted that the security personnel's improper conduct should be penalized, calling for rational analysis and civilized travel.

Analysts Say Chinese Passenger Flow and Orders Will Be Directly Impacted

Public information shows that Thai Airways International was founded in 1951, with the Thai Ministry of Finance as its largest shareholder. The airline is a full member of the Star Alliance and has established a route network covering dozens of countries and regions worldwide. It has long been responsible for the core cross-border passenger transport routes between China, Thailand, and Southeast Asia, and is one of the main carriers for Chinese travelers traveling to and from Thailand. Impacted by the pandemic, Thai Airways faced a financial crisis and entered bankruptcy restructuring in 2020. At that time, public data indicated that the airline had been incurring increasing losses since 2012, with a net loss of over 21 billion Thai baht in 2017, which expanded to 116 billion Thai baht in 2018 and 120 billion Thai baht in 2019. Over the seven years from 2012 to 2019, total losses amounted to 920 billion Thai baht. In 2025, Thai Airways completed its restructuring and gradually restored route capacity and normal operations. According to statistics released by Thai Airways International, the company achieved a net profit of 30.94 billion Thai baht in 2025 (January to December), turning around from a loss of 26.93 billion Thai baht the previous year. Annual revenue reached 190.277 billion Thai baht, a slight year-on-year increase of 1.2%. Passenger traffic was 16.46 million, up 2.0% year-on-year. The average load factor rose to 79.2%. The airline operated routes covering 63 cities in 27 countries and regions, with a fleet of 80 aircraft. Seat capacity and passenger traffic both exceeded the previous year. Cargo volume also grew, but the load factor slightly decreased. In fact, Thai Airways is actively seeking the return of Chinese tourists. On August 2, media reported that Thai Airways resumed double daily flights on the Guangzhou-Bangkok route, further increasing frequency on the Guangzhou route to welcome tourists from southern China. The director of the Thailand National Tourism Administration's Guangzhou office, Su Xingjie, also provided figures: from January to July 2026, Thailand received over 3 million Chinese tourists, a year-on-year increase of about 14%, maintaining China's position as Thailand's largest international source market. As of now, Thai Airways has not issued any public statement regarding the incident. No specific solutions have been announced for follow-up issues such as flight delays, baggage handling, or passenger rebooking and compensation. It is noteworthy that this denial of boarding by Thai Airways is not an isolated incident. Shortly before this event, a video of a Chinese tourist being roughly treated by staff at a book fair in Bangkok had already spread widely on social media platforms. These consecutive negative incidents have created a resonance in public opinion, with market concerns that they could further erode consumer confidence, potentially leading to medium to long-term negative impacts on Thai Airways' business in China.

Zhou Ting, director of the Keyao Research Institute, stated that the short-term impacts of this incident on Thai Airways include three main points: "First, direct damage to passenger flow and orders. The incident occurred during the peak summer travel season for outbound tourism, directly triggering emotional boycotts among Chinese tourists. In the short term, booking volumes for Thai Airways' China-originating routes will see a significant decline, with many leisure travelers switching to alternative airlines like Air China and Singapore Airlines. Second, the brand persona is rapidly disintegrating. Thai Airways' long-established 'Smile Service' brand image has been precisely impacted, with a concentrated outbreak of negative sentiment on social media platforms, causing a rapid decline in passenger trust at the general public level. Third, channel cooperation faces short-term pressure. To avoid the risk of customer complaints, domestic OTA platforms and outbound travel agencies may temporarily lower the recommendation priority of Thai Airways products, further amplifying order losses." She added that the public opinion crisis triggered by this incident could also cause medium to long-term negative impacts on the airline. "The core decision-making logic for air travel is safety and service reliability. This incident has exposed Thai Airways' shortcomings in passenger rights protection and emergency response procedures, with the loss of trust among high-end business travelers being particularly evident. This incident serves as a warning for all foreign airlines operating in the Chinese market. They must balance safety management with passenger rights, establishing standardized and humanized dispute resolution procedures. A crude 'one-size-fits-all' management approach can easily escalate from a single case dispute into a systemic brand crisis."