There is a time and a place for a good joke and 23-year-old Pichit Boondaeng has learned this lesson the hard way.
Yesterday afternoon, he had just boarded a Thai Lion Air flight at Don Muang bound for Hat Yai when a flight attendant started helping passengers place their luggage in the overhead lockers.
According to Pol Col Surachet Bandit, chief of Don Muang police, Mr Pichit told her to be careful as there might be a bomb in one of the cases.
Instead of laughing, the flight attendent reported the incident to the captain who promptly cancelled the flight and ordered all passengers to leave the aircraft immediately.
Explosive disposal officers were then called in to examine the case but did not find any explosives hidden inside, Pol Col Surachet said.
Police did not find Mr Phichit's joke funny either, however, and he has been charged with reporting false information, causing alarm within an aircraft.
If found guilty, he faces a maximum of five years in jail and/or a maximum fine of 200,000 baht, said Pol Lt Tossaporn Dudong, an investigator at Don Muang police station.