A London woman had her suitcase confiscated at Bangkok airport and held for 24 hours after she packed an intimate item in her checked luggage. Oliwia Krol, 24, from Abbey Wood, South East London, was left panicking when she landed and saw airport staff holding a sign with her name on it, with no sign of her bags.
Escorted to an Office
Oliwia was escorted to an office and was convinced she was about to be arrested after replaying memories of old episodes of Border Force in her mind. She said: “I was panicking as I didn't understand what was happening and was thinking I was in a lot of trouble for something. In my head, I had different scenarios playing out, scaring me after watching the Border Force growing up. They take me into an office and tell me my bag couldn't be loaded onto the plane. I had no idea what it could be and I thought I was in trouble.”
Prohibited Item Flagged
Oliwia had flown from Koh Samui to Bangkok while travelling around Thailand on May 6. Her suitcase was not loaded onto the plane due to a prohibited item that staff thought could be a cigarette lighter. When she was taken into the office at Bangkok airport, she was informed that they needed her to sign documents to give them permission to search the bag.
She said: “At first they weren’t completely clear about what had flagged the bag. They mentioned it could either be a lighter or possibly an intimate item. I knew straight away it wasn’t a lighter because I didn’t have one in there, so that made things a little awkward. I’ll be honest, I did have a slight thought before flying that maybe I should put the item in checked luggage just in case. But I genuinely didn’t think it would cause any issue.”
Item Identified as Sex Toy
The item was a sex toy, and once she had signed the documents, staff were able to search the bag. She was left without her suitcase for 24 hours when she received an email informing her she could return to the airport to retrieve her bag.
Oliwia said: “My friends found the whole thing hilarious afterwards and haven’t let me forget it since. Looking back now, it’s more funny than anything, just a very unexpected travel experience.”
