Caught on camera: Airport staff in Thailand rifling through passengers’ luggage
The incident has raised concern over the safety of check-in baggage.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh recently posted two videos on Twitter questioning the safety of luggage on flights. The videos, watched and shared widely on social media, have raised concern around the world over the security of passengers’ check-in baggage.
The videos (above and below) show a member of the staff in the luggage compartment of a Jetstar flight at Phuket International Airport, Thailand opening suitcases and rifling through the contents. Once the video went viral, the airline, Jetstar, issued this statement: “We are taking the matter very seriously. We have launched an immediate investigation and will work with Airports of Thailand, our ground handler BAGS and our local security company to ensure the security of our customers’ property on-board our flights.”
The man in the video was ultimately identified as 27-year-old Abdullah Hayee Mayeh, an employee of BAGS, a company that provides baggage services to nearly 100 airlines in Thailand. While it was uncertain from the videos whether he actually stole something in this particular instance, Mayeh confessed to stealing a bluetooth speaker, the owner of which is currently being ascertained by the airlines.