A Chinese passenger was allegedly caught red-handed on Monday stealing money from another passenger on a flight to Bangkok from Istanbul.
Qiquan Ma, 45, a native of Henan province in China, was arrested by Tourist Police at Suvarnabhumi after Turkish Airlines flight TK064 came arrived at the airport from the Turkish capital.
Pol Col Nitithorn Jintanakanon, deputy commander of the Tourist Police Division at the airport, said the Chinese passenger faces charges of theft on an airplane in the case to be handled by the Suvarnabhumi airport police station.
Mr Ma is accused of stealing 5,050 euro and other foreign currencies in cash from the bag of Harald Amming, a Danish passenger. The bag was left in the overhead compartment.
A Turkish passenger sitting seven rows behind the Chinese man used a mobile phone to record him apparently stealing the money before alerting the crew.
The video clip was key evidence for police to take legal action on the man, the officer said.
Police also found his return ticket to Istanbul on the same airline scheduled for Tuesday and speculated that Mr Ma had planned to leave Bangkok as soon as possible to avoid arrest.