A Bangkok-based flight attendant received an unusual message through TikTok early on the morning of June 18 — a series of questions from an account she didn’t recognize: “Are you flying to Australia? Do you do carry-for-hire? What is your rate?”
The 30-year-old attendant, who works for a regional budget airline, dismissed the message and moved on — until news broke that a Thai Airways flight attendant had been charged with smuggling more than one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin into Australia, hidden inside several tote bags.
“I don’t reply to strangers like this,” the attendant told Reuters, referring to the unknown account that had contacted her. She requested anonymity given the sensitive nature of the situation. “We’ve been constantly warned about this, no carry-for-hire. It’s a well-known rule.”
The account that sent the message — named “Powder is Powder” in Thai — was connected to drug trafficking operations that set up fake social media profiles to find individuals willing to move illegal substances across international borders, according to Areepak Ngernbamroong, a spokesperson for Thailand’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).
“The account has now been shut down,” Areepak said. “The ONCB is investigating, and preliminary findings indicate that the account used many different names.”
Following the flight attendant’s detention, Thai Airways issued a statement saying the airline maintains strict rules of conduct for all staff and would work fully with relevant authorities.
Thai authorities say trafficking networks bring drugs in from neighboring countries that have large production operations, then conceal them in everyday items like clothing, coffee packets, and vases before moving them through Thailand.
According to a December report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, the cultivation of opium poppies for heroin production in neighboring Myanmar reached its highest point in a decade in 2025. Myanmar, which is experiencing ongoing conflict and economic hardship, has become the world’s leading known source of illicit opium as production has declined in Afghanistan.
Police Major Suriya Singhakamol, Secretary-General of the ONCB, said trafficking rings in Thailand specifically target certain groups of travelers — including flight attendants — to carry drugs out of the country.
In the case of the arrested Thai Airways attendant, Suriya said she had initially posted in a social media group where people advertise their willingness to transport items overseas for payment. She then began communicating with a Facebook user going by the name “Rose Rose.”
“They later agreed on a fee of 8,800 baht ($265.46),” Suriya told reporters.
The heroin that was sewn into the lining of the bags she carried had an estimated street value of A$500,000 (approximately $347,150), according to the Australian Federal Police.
Suriya also revealed that similar trafficking operations had planned to ship five additional drug packages from Bangkok to Australia and Taiwan between June 30 and July 1. Those efforts were intercepted.
“But authorities seized 24.38 kilograms of heroin, concealed in traditional goods, silk clothing, coffee sachets, and winter jackets,” he said, noting that Thai agencies are working in coordination with their counterparts in Australia and Taiwan.
To date, Thai authorities have arrested two individuals — a Thai man and his Laotian wife — suspected of dispatching drug shipments from a border province to Bangkok.
