Airport technology can be frustrating.
But most travelers don’t respond by kicking apart passport control equipment and getting themselves banned from an entire country.
A Chinese tourist has reportedly been banned from Thailand for life after he kicked apart an airport E-Gate at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, causing nearly $14,000 in damage.
According to multiple reports, Thai authorities identified the man as 30-year-old Zheng Liwei. He was attempting to go through automated passport control last week before boarding a flight from Bangkok to Shanghai.
And apparently things went downhill from there.
The E-Gate Mistake
Reports say Zheng repeatedly tried to use the E-Gate system incorrectly by placing his boarding pass on the scanner instead of his passport. Since you know, a boarding pass is not a passport, the gate naturally refused to open.
Video footage shows Zheng becoming increasingly frustrated as he repeatedly slammed his documents down harder and harder on the scanner, seemingly under the impression that aggression might somehow improve the technology’s reading comprehension.
Spoiler alert: it did not.
When Frustration Took Over
After several failed attempts, Zheng moved to another gate and tried again. This time he reportedly used his passport correctly — but by then the system still wouldn’t let him through.
That’s when things escalated.
Footage shows Zheng eventually kicking the barriers hard enough to break the E-Gate before walking through the damaged checkpoint.
Here’s the video, along with an additional explanation of what happened:
What Happened After He Walked Through
According to police, immigration officers immediately stopped Zheng after he bypassed the checkpoint without proper clearance.
Authorities say he then became even more aggressive, loudly insulting officers in both English and Chinese. At one point, he reportedly yelled, “Your mother is dead!” — a phrase considered highly offensive in Chinese internet slang — and also allegedly attempted to physically lash out at officers.
Reports say the situation was finally de-escalated after Zheng’s wife intervened and calmed him down.
The Charges And Lifetime Ban
Thai authorities charged Zheng with property damage, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of up to three years in prison, a fine of 60,000 baht (about $1,850 USD), or both.
He may also face an additional charge for insulting a public officer while they were performing their duties, which could add another year in prison, another fine, or both.
And then there’s the little matter of the destroyed E-Gate.
Authorities say Zheng is also responsible for paying roughly 450,000 baht (about $13,850 USD) in damages for the broken system.
Oh, and perhaps most significantly, Thai immigration officials have reportedly placed him on the country’s immigration blacklist — meaning he’s now permanently banned from re-entering Thailand.
WTG, dude!
Honestly, airport technology can absolutely be frustrating sometimes.
But most people stop at aggressively tapping the screen harder or muttering under their breath — not full-on “kick the immigration gate apart and get yourself banned from an entire country” levels of frustration.
I mean, some travel mistakes cost you a missed flight.
This one apparently cost him Thailand.
That’s a whole different category of travel meltdown. 😬
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