A couple of Chinese passengers that threw hot water on a flight attendant and threatened to blow up an Air Asia plane will be “severely punished” by Chinese authorities, according to state run media, which branded the passengers “barbarians”.

The Nanfang was first to report the story on Friday, when the discount carrier’s plane was forced to return to the Thai capital because of a couple of unruly Chinese passengers:

Then in flight, the woman bought a bowl of instant noodles from the flight attendants and asked for boiling water. When she got it, she splashed it on the flight attendant.

During the fracas that followed, the man threatened to blow up the plane as his girlfriend threatened to kill herself. The couple finally calmed down once other passengers became involved.

After arriving back in Bangkok, police entered the plane and took the couple away.

There were actually four passengers singled out for causing trouble, and they paid a fine of 50,000 baht (RMB 10,000) to the airline. All four are now being investigated by the Chinese tourism agency.

The agency was unclear what punishment the tourists could face for the incident. However, a statement released by the agency suggested the travel agency used by the tourists could be held accountable for failing to teach them proper behavior. Furthermore, the tourists themselves could be blacklisted.

There have been several other incidents of mainland Chinese getting into violent confrontations on international flights this year.

In March, a video was taken of a fight between Chinese passengers when one’s luggage touched the other passenger’s foot. On a flight from Thailand to Beijing this past April, a fight broke out between three Chinese passengers over loud eating sounds in which cutlery was used as weapons.

In September during a flight from Zurich, Switzerland to Beijing, an airliner had to return to the Swiss capital when a fight between two Chinese nationals occurred over the positioning of a seat rest. Later that month, a fight between two Chinese passengers over an empty seat at the back happened on a flight to Shanghai.

Here’s a video of the incident on Air Asia. Fellow Chinese passengers can be heard complaining he has “lost face”:

Photos: opsteel, my drivers