I would be interested to know if anyone has been through a similar experience to my horrendous one.

In September, 2016, I had booked a return flight with Thai Airways from Melbourne to Phuket.

I was seated alone as the plane was not very full.

There was a fellow also seated alone directly in front of me, an elderly couple seated directly to my left and an Asian man seated directly behind them.

During the flight an air hostess walked past my seat and I went to get her attention and tap her on the lower back. This was witnessed by the four above passengers. The air hostess in question, who was overweight and covered in acne, suddenly turned around and accused me of assaulting her and touching her bottom which was not at all true. I was in shock and said I just wanted to order a drink and tapped her on the lower back.

The hostess then went to the four passengers to try and get statements from them to no avail. In fact the American man in front said don’t worry I saw the whole thing and I will back you up as you didn’t do anything wrong. The older man to my left also said it was just a misunderstanding and nothing in it as did the Asian man seated behind him.

Falling asleep I was woken by Thai police who marched me off the plane at gun point and taken to the police station at the airport threatened with jail, forced to sign a statement of apology to assaulting this woman and then pay them 20,000 Baht, AUD $800. I was not allowed to call a lawyer or the Australian Embassy for any assistance or would be thrown in jail.

After writing many letters of complaint to Thai Airways from October 2016, I finally received a response to say that they had done nothing wrong and that I was intoxicated and abusive which is a total lie.

I firmly believe this woman and Thai Airways has done this before with the assistance of corrupt Thai Police.

I will never fly with Thai Airways again nor probably go to Thailand again as just full of corruption.

I strongly advise others to do the same.

At the same time, not a good idea to touch flight attendants, even to get attention, it's not really the best. When I worked on a bar as a teenager, I hated it when people touched my arm or body to get my attention. Also noticed you've posted about Hainan Airlines in the same forum, maybe not the best place to air your frustrations because, to be honest, I doubt anyone here really cares that much. Condemning an entire country with a single brush stroke is not going to elicit very much sympathy. Yes there is corruption but I've been to Thailand multiple times and haven't had any negative experiences. As awful as your alleged experience was, maybe it's best to just let it go, you won't get any more pleasure fuming over it, especially two years later.

moorels wrote:

Falling asleep I was woken by Thai police who marched me off the plane at gun point and taken to the police station at the airport threatened with jail, forced to sign a statement of apology to assaulting this woman and then pay them 20,000 Baht, AUD $800.

Yes, major corporations, sworn police officers, and flight attendants often concoct elaborate scams to get their hands on $590USD.

Cool story, though. Especially the part about being marched off the plane at gunpoint. And after all that, you flew Thai again to go back to Australia. Good stuff.

Wow...

Did Thai even fly nonstop from MEL to HKT back then?

IPFreely wrote:

Yes, major corporations, sworn police officers, and flight attendants often concoct elaborate scams to get their hands on $590USD.

Cool story, though. Especially the part about being marched off the plane at gunpoint. And after all that, you flew Thai again to go back to Australia. Good stuff.

I've been going to the land of smiles every now and then for many, many years and his story did not even raise an eyebrow. It has to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. You can literally buy your way out of a murder charge.
Look up the story of the red bull heir who ran down someone in his sport car. There were enough witnesses that they couldn't completely bury the incident, plus, IIRC, the victim was a police officer, but the kid is still free.
The people have made an industry out of separating foreigners from their money.
Do a search on the 'net and you will find not only a list of the better known scams, but story after story of ex-pats who have been fleeced, many of their life's savings.
Travel there once, see the grand palace, etc., but other than the nightlife, there is no reason to return.