A disruptive passenger was forcibly removed from a Thai Lion Air flight departing Bangkok after refusing to remain in his assigned seat and demanding to be relocated to an emergency exit row, as reported by The New York Post.
The incident, which occurred on June 25, delayed the flight by nearly an hour and drew sharp criticism from fellow passengers.
According to reports from Viral Press, the unidentified male tourist from the United Kingdom insisted that he could not sit in his assigned window seat due to his size and requested to be moved to an emergency exit aisle seat, which offers more legroom.
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Flight attendants denied the request, prompting the man to become verbally combative and physically uncooperative.
“At first, I thought we couldn’t take off because the man had fallen ill,” said a fellow traveler who recorded the incident. “It turned out he just thought the economy seat was too crowded and insisted on moving to the emergency exit.”
When airline staff refused to accommodate the seat change, the man allegedly caused a scene, prompting the crew to call airport authorities.
In video footage of the event, Thai police officers are seen boarding the aircraft and attempting to remove the man, who was wearing a bright orange Garfield T-shirt.
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The passenger reportedly resisted removal by lying down in the aisle, obstructing the boarding process and infuriating others on the flight. One frustrated passenger can be heard shouting, “He is so f**king selfish,” while another yells for him to “get out of the way.”
Eventually, police were forced to physically carry the man off the plane, lifting him by his arms and legs.
The incident caused the flight to be delayed by approximately one hour before it was able to depart.
NEW: Overweight man wearing a Garfield shirt gets dragged off a plane after demanding he get an emergency exit seat due to his weight. The definition of a man-child right here. The man was reportedly from the UK and threw a tantrum on his flight departing from Bangkok when… pic.twitter.com/oLyzabhhJx
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 26, 2025
This episode follows a recent pattern of disruptive in-flight behavior. In April, two passengers on a Viva Aerobus flight in Mexico were removed after bypassing flight attendants and removing other travelers’ luggage from overhead bins.
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That same month, a New York flight bound for Milan had to return to JFK Airport after a passenger attempted to enter the cockpit, reportedly due to complaints about his in-flight meal.
No injuries were reported during the June 25 incident in Bangkok, and Thai Lion Air has not issued a public statement regarding the passenger's removal.
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