A Thai airline flight attendant was arrested in Australia and immediately charged after heroin was found hidden in a bag she carried. This news attracted significant attention in Thai society as it damaged the national airline's reputation.
Recently, on the program "Evening Highlight" aired on Channel 3, Kai Pasit and Toon Parinda — both former cabin crew, a steward and a flight attendant respectively — spoke about the issue of carrying items for strangers.
Toon revealed she once worked for the same airline as Mina, the flight attendant in the news. "When I was a flight attendant, crew had separate check-in and baggage loading points from passengers. But I called a friend who is still working there, and she said now crew load baggage at the same terminal as passengers, sharing the same loading area with business class passengers and using the same X-ray machines.
There are two types of carrying items for others: first, when someone accepts unknown items to deliver to a destination; second, when the crew buys goods themselves, mostly valuables like branded bags, watches, or cosmetics, and charge a fee for carrying them. The second type is quite common, but the first type — I was a flight attendant for only three years and never saw it, nor did any friends. I asked a friend with 18 years experience still working, and she said she never saw or heard of anyone carrying items like that or any related group chats. People around me at work never did this.
Kai Pasit added that 20 years ago, being asked to carry items on board was a serious matter. There were repeated warnings about drug risks, which everyone feared, often illustrated with real cases.
Toon added that becoming a flight attendant or steward is not immediate; it requires months of training during which instructors repeatedly and emphatically stress never to accept items from anyone. She is certain the flight attendant in question knew this rule well and that it was strictly taught to them.
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