A tourist from China found himself unable to step into Thailand forever after a viral clip showed him taking his frustration out on an auto-gate gantry at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
According to Thai media outlet Khaosod, the incident occurred on May 13 at about 2:35pm and the man was identified as 30-year-old Zheng Liwei.
Kicked auto-gate open
Khaosod also reported that Zheng was supposed to board a Spring Airlines flight bound for Shanghai at the time.
In the clip, it showed Zheng approaching the auto-gate gantry and slamming his passport against the reader.
After several failed attempts to make the auto-gate open by scanning his passport, Zheng decided to take his anger out on it by kicking its right door open, startling another man nearby.
Zheng then tried to scan his passport again and when that failed, he proceeded to kick the left door of the auto-gate before forcing his way through.
Verbally abused officers
When Thai immigration officers tried to arrest Zheng, he became belligerent and resisted, all while hurling offensive comments at them in Mandarin and English, with one going “Your mother is dead”.
In the end, Zheng’s wife had to step in and restrain him before he was handed over to Thai airport police.
He was later seen surrounded by officials in a photo, along with a woman donned in a blue vest that had a Chinese flag and the words, “airport interpreter” on it.
Banned
Thai police revealed the reason why the auto-gate didn’t open was because Zheng had incorrectly placed his passport on the reader.
In the end, he had to pay a hefty price for his reckless behaviour in the form of a 450,000 baht (approx. RM54,500) compensation for damaging the auto-gate.
On top of that, Zheng was also placed into the Thai immigration blacklist and banned from entering the country forever.
He was also charged with property damage as well as verbally abusing an official on duty.
Watch the clip here:
Chinese Tourist Blacklisted for Life After Damaging Suvarnabhumi Auto Gate
— Thai Enquirer (@ThaiEnquirer) May 14, 2026
Thai immigration authorities have revoked the visa of a Chinese tourist and imposed a lifetime ban after he damaged an automated passport control gate and verbally abused officers at Suvarnabhumi Airport.… pic.twitter.com/ECMPtynXfj
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