Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered emergency confidence-building measures after a video clip showing a security guard at Don Mueang airport in a physical altercation with a Chinese tourist went viral.
Gen Prayut ordered the Tourism and Sports Ministry and other state agencies to act swiftly after details of the attack emerged, especially as it comes so soon after a fatal boat accident in Phuket.
The prime minister offered an apology for the incident on Saturday and promised to send a letter to the tourist himself via the Chinese embassy. The tourist's name was not revealed.
"Authorities at airports must control themselves and work in line with international standards. The airports are the first gateway to Thailand and those working there must be service-minded," the spokesman quoted him as saying.
"The Transport Ministry, which oversees airports, and the Royal Thai Police Office, which handles the immigration process, need to work harder to accommodate all foreign visitors," the prime minister added.
The quarrel took place on Thursday when the visitor was denied entry after he failed to present the required documents to immigration officials. The apparent assault came after the tourist refused to enter a detention room. The tourist later returned to China after being denied entry.
The security guard at Don Mueang was suspended from duty and Airports of Thailand Plc plans to terminate his employment. His name was also not provided.
Don Mueang general manager Gp Cpt Suteerawat Suwnnawat and the airport security chief have been suspended from work for 30 days.
The latest incident came as Thailand is trying to contain damage to tourism after the fatal boat tragedy in July. The Phoenix sank off the Phuket coast, killing 47 Chinese tourists.
Chinese arrivals fell 12% month-on-month in August from 983,212 to 867,461, figures from the Tourism and Sports Ministry show. But the total number of tourists from China still grew by 16% to 7.7 million from January to August over the same period last year.
