Charles Liu, National pride from last week’s military parade has carried over to vacationing Chinese tourists who protested a flight delay at Bangkok International Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand by singing the Chinese national anthem.
Chinese passengers began loudly protesting and making a commotion after their Chongqing flight was repeatedly delayed from a scheduled 5:50pm Beijing local time departure on September 4.
Weibo accounts of the incident say Bangkok airport staff attempted to herd away the delayed Chinese passengers, thereby sparking the cantankerous protest. According to the Thailand Lifestyle Guide, the singing Chinese passengers were also taken away, although no more official details have been released.
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As seen in the video of the incident (below), the protest begins with Chinese passengers simply making loud noises and howls. When women located near the person recording the video begin to sing the Chinese national anthem, many of the protesting Chinese passengers begin to join in, one by one. With the anthem growing louder and getting off-key, many of the protesting passengers are heard loudly shouting the Chinese anthem by the end of the video rather than trying to sing it.
The national anthem of the People’s Republic of China March of the Volunteers contains lyrics of rebellion and violence. The first line of the anthem is “Arise, all of you whom want to be slaves no more!” and ends with doubling a lyric that encourages singers to charge and brave enemy fire.
The national pride on display by the protesting Chinese passengers appears to be in response to perceived discrimination from Thai airport workers. One netizen who wrote about the incident said, “This isn’t just Thailand disrespecting us tourists, but also not treating us as equals.”
Another people spoke of the need for compensation. “None of us lack money, and the Chinese yuan is a currency respected worldwide. But do we want this compensation? Yes!““None of us lack money, and the Chinese yuan is a currency respected worldwide. But do we want this compensation? Yes!”
The Chinese passengers had three demands: for Bangkok Airport to give them a public apology; for a Boeing 747 to come fetch them and fly them back to China; and to receive compensation of RMB 1,000 ($157) each.
However, it does not appear that the protesting Chinese passengers got their wish. By the afternoon of September 5, all Chinese passengers are described to have returned to Chongqing on a 5am departing flight, including 33 passengers who attempted to refuse.
The name of the airline that delayed service to the passengers was not named in reports. However, it is likely that it is a domestic Chinese airliner since the passengers are not seeking compensation from their local travel agencies. As well, a Chongqing tourism bureau is investigating the incident.
Here’s the video:
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