Bizarre Bangkok Bust: Man Caught with Otters and Prairie Dog in His Underwear

A customs officer in Bangkok found themselves asking a passenger, ‘Is that two otters in your pants or are you just happy to be here?’

The passenger departing Bangkok was arrested attempting to smuggle “a prairie dog and two otters in his pants” out of the country on Thai Airways flight 632 to Taipei.

He caught the eye of authorities because of “the unusually large bulge in his pants that was wiggling around.” The man was scanned and then strip searched, “revealing the two Asian small-clawed otters and a prairie dog that he had tried to hide in his underwear.”

The suspect is now facing a slew of charges brought under Thailand’s Customs Act, Animal Epidemics Act, and Animal Conservation and Protection Act.

“Thailand is not a gateway to smuggle exotic animals out of the country,” explained Phanthong Loykulnant, a spokesperson for Thailand’s customs department. “We will catch anyone who tries to take animals on planes.”


Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

Otters are a surprisingly common animal to smuggle at the Bangkok airport, both in luggage and in a passenger’s pants.

If you’re going to smuggle otters and a prarie dog, surely there are better ways of doing it than sticking it in your pants.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Hope he fed them well before shoving them down there. Maybe that will be my new pickup line. “You otter see what’s in my pants!”

  2. Otters can be aggressive and they bite. Not to be trusted in your pants. Also smuggling animals should result a hefty punishment for spreading diseases from non-native critters.

  3. Some jokes just write themselves. “Is that a prairie dog in your pants or are you just happy to see me?”

  4. Sometime I wake up thinking I’ve seen it all and am ready to leave this wonderful world. Then I read stories like this and realize I haven’t seen jack.

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