BANGKOK, 15 September 2016: All airlines based in Thailand have now banned passengers from using Samsung smartphone Galaxy Note 7 during flights and also from depositing them in checked baggage.
Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand acting director, Chula Sukmanop, said following a global recall of the malfunctioning device, air passengers are prohibited from keeping the Galaxy Note 7 in any checked luggage or using then on flights.
Passengers must turn off the devices rather than switching to sleep mode.
“Passengers are allowed to bring the Galaxy Note 7 on board a plane, but are required to switch it off and not charge the device while on the plane…they are responsible for promptly reporting any incidents to airport authorities,” the civil aviation statement read.
The charging ban is for passengers who have storage devices used to charge a phone while on the go. No Thai airlines offer charging services on-board.
Airlines and airport officials are required to inform all passengers of the announcement, he said.
However, on a Thai Smile flight to Phuket, 13 September, the new instructions in English were read out in a manner that made it difficult to decipher the meaning, suggesting the crew had not been given adequate time to familiarise themselves with the message content to repeat it correctly.
Samsung, last week, suspended sales of its latest flagship smartphone and announced a recall of 2.5 million units already sold, after faulty batteries caused some handsets to explode during charging.
Since then, airlines or air safety agencies around the world have warned passengers against using them on flights.