'Travel agent' strands over 1,000 Thais at airport

Over 1,000 Thai passengers were stranded at the capital's Suvarnabhumi Airport on Tuesday night after the staff of a company that promised them a trip to Japan did not show up.

The tourists paid between 9,700 and 20,000 baht ($281-$580) to a company called Wealth Ever for a trip to Japan between April 13 and 15.

On Tuesday night they found there was no staff of the company receiving them at the airport as promised and there was even no booked charter flight for them, Bangkok Post reported.

Many passengers left the airport after filing a complaint and realising they were not going to Japan, while others stayed at the airport because they did not have transport to return home, Xinhua news agency reported.

Thai police were gathering evidence before taking action against the company that usually sells supplement vitamins.

The police said there was another large group of people that also fell for the Wealth Ever promise of budget trips to Japan.

The Office of the Consumer Protection Board announced on Wednesday that Wealth Ever was never registered with it for any service, including sales of the supplements.

--IANS

soni/dg