Today, we have another sad animal smuggling story from Southeast Asia as a passenger flying VietJet was caught red-handed smuggling a bunch of exotic animals, including turtles and a rat in her carry-on baggage.
During the flight from Bangkok to Taipei, the animals managed to free themselves from captivity in the bag and escape, running through the plane.
As the crew attempted to capture the creatures, one of the crew members was bitten in the hand by the rat and had to receive medical attention after reaching the destination at Taipei’s Taoyuan Airport.
The situation has caused quite a stir on multiple fronts as aside from the chaos that ensued on board, it was also a big question how the security screeners at Bangkok Airport could miss the animals in the passenger’s baggage.
It’s not the first time that Thai security staff was found to be neglecting professional standards, and it is one of the reasons why the country was downgraded in its aviation safety rating.
As reported by the Bangkok Post, the officers had already been suspended from duty.
A baggage-screening worker at Suvarnabhumi airport has been suspended for failing to search a bag that turned out to be filled with smuggled animals, some of which got loose and caused chaos on a Bangkok-Taipei
flight. Management of Suvarnabhumi airport said on Thursday that CCTV video showed the employee of AOT Aviation Security Co failed to open a bag that had been flagged as suspicious by a colleague monitoring an X-ray screening unit. Two foreigners carried the bag past the X-ray unit at about 1.45pm on Wednesday. They boarded a Thai VietJet Air flight that departed at 3.32pm the same day.
According to witness reports, the trouble onboard the plane began shortly after takeoff when a passenger noticed a rat while walking to the toilet. Cabin staff then searched the plane and found an otter under a passenger’s seat.
Meanwhile, a male flight attendant was able to catch the rat — after being bitten on the finger — and place it in a box in the galley. Cabin staff made an announcement asking anyone who had brought animals onto the plane to identify themselves. A woman acknowledged she was responsible, and a subsequent search turned up a black tote bag containing more animals under her seat.
Officials at Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei found the bag contained 20 Burmese star tortoises, a snake, two otters, a prairie dog and two black giant squirrels. It had been carried into the passenger cabin but no passengers claimed it when the plane landed.
The suspect was reportedly being questioned by police in Taiwan and could be fined up to NT$ 1 million (1.15 million baht).
It shouldn’t be too hard to identify who is the owner of the bag, and I’m surprised the authorities wouldn’t keep every detained until the ownership of the suspicious packages was cleared up. At the very least, the authorities in Bangkok should be able to supply CCTV showing who carried this bag/package onto the plane.
Cruelty aside, it’s well known that many animals usually don’t survive the transport, and news reports already said that the surviving animals will most likely be euthanized by the animal control/customs service in Taiwan.
It’s absolutely insane to me that in 2023 people are still resorting to these cruel and despicable smuggling methods, especially between Bangkok and Taiwan. WHY? Hopefully, the authorities throw the book at this person.
Meanwhile, Airports of Thailand have issued the following press release:
A loose translation of this text:
Regarding to the information published on social media, a case of smuggling passenger carrying animals on board an flight of Thai Viet Jet Airlines that departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport On 4 October 2566 at 15.32 pm. Destination Taipei, Taiwan airport
We have inspected the performance of the inspection staff of Thai Airports Security Company Limited (Bro.T.) ) Which is the company that is hired by the So Po. According to security service employment contract, through reverse CCTV camera system (CCTV), it was found that the passengers carrying such animals were 2 foreigners. The bag was taken through X-Ray machine around the check point at around 13.45 pm. After an employee analyzed the suspicion, a bag was sent to another employee to open the bag, to prove whether the suspicious was a dangerous or prohibited object. But the employee said he opened the bag and then allowed the passengers to pass the checkpoint to board the flight.
We want to emphasize that the technology system that is used within the check point of the National Security Service works according to the standard and the procedure for checking the prohibited objects are clearly set. But this case is caused by the mistake of the staff, opening the bag, not following the operational procedures set by the Municipal Council. Employees performing such duties have been ordered to cease their work immediately and if investigation results are found to be a breach of standard operating procedures, penalties will be proceeded further.
We would like to remind all Thai and foreign travelers, not to break the law by smuggling. Bringing animals or carcasses, both alive and non-living, on a plane in and out of the country if you want to bring pets, make sure the permission is right. Otherwise, there will be a risk of breaking both Thai and foreign law, resulting in fines and imprisonment.
As I mentioned, this isn’t the first time that Thai security staff messed up and let things go through the checkpoint undetected. Smuggled animals are just one issue. There was also the famous case of a Thai official who was found to have a loaded firearm in his possession upon arriving at Tokyo’s Narita Airport.
The last time Thailand’s aviation safety rating was downgraded was in 2019 and the inspectors found ample reasons for that as well. Thai officials pledged improvements but as so often in Thailand, absolutely nothing happened.
Conclusion
A female passenger traveling on a Vietjet flight from Bangkok to Taipei was found smuggling exotic animals which managed to free themselves during the flight. Short after takeoff, a passenger noticed the first animal roaming free in the cabin. More were discovered later and one of the crew members ended up being bitten by a rat.
The result of this bad publicity is likely a very meticulous inspection of baggage from Thai airports in the coming months after which all staff will once again go back to their old tricks and sleep on the job.
Things like these really make me angry and I pray that Taiwanese authorities issue stiff penalties to everyone found responsible in this matter.