By Zach Hope
Bangkok: Australian man Keith Davis, an injured passenger from the ill-fated Singapore Airlines flight 321, is stuck in Bangkok with neither answers nor a voice.
His wife has been in intensive care since the flight from London to Singapore was forced to make an emergency landing in Thailand on Tuesday following the death of a passenger in extreme turbulence.
Keith Davis, centre, is whisked away, prevented from talking to reporters at Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday.Credit: AP
Davis hopes to have her medically evacuated to Adelaide, where they live.
“We’ve had no information from Singapore. Not a single word,” he says of the airline, which has maintained a heavy presence at Bangkok’s Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital since the emergency that injured close to half of the 211 passengers.
“I need to know: Am I going through my insurance? I’ve got no idea.”
Davis wished to speak more openly about his concerns with the ABC’s Bill Birtles on Thursday but was not allowed to by officials for reasons that were not explained.
The interior of Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 after the emergency landing at Bangkok Airport.Credit: Reuters
In extraordinary scenes at a public cafe inside the hospital, staff surrounded Davis when it became apparent he was about to speak.
Not satisfied with their own guard, they called security to reinforce their numbers.
Davis, who is using a wheelchair and has visible facial injuries, told them that he knew Birtles and wished to buy him a cup of tea or coffee. This request was emphatically rejected.
Birtles suggested it was his shout for coffee anyway and handed money to the stunned cashier. Staff then snatched the money from the cashier’s hand.
Soon after, they commandeered Davis’ wheelchair and rushed him towards the elevator as he attempted to speak into reporters’ microphones. He accepted the business card of a Wall Street Journal reporter, but this, too, was ripped away.
The staff in question, who identified as being from the hospital, said they had been ordered to stop patients from speaking to the media.
Before the apparent lockdown policy, most passengers who have shared their experiences – mostly on the condition of anonymity – have been complimentary of the airline and the hospital.
It was this glowing endorsement of Singapore Airlines that prompted Davis’ attempt to speak out.
Media from all over the world have converged on the Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, which is treating most of the injured from the flight. Though all interactions with patients witnessed by this masthead have been respectful, the sheer number of cameras and microphones in the designated public area could be taken by some as threatening.
Three Australians remain in intensive care. A further nine are in other wards.
When informed of the incident on Thursday, a hospital spokesman expressed concern but said staff were there to protect patients’ welfare. He said he would investigate, adding that no order came from Singapore Airlines.
Singapore Airlines have been contacted for comment. Its senior leadership is due to visit Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital tomorrow.
Davis, a coffee man, never did get his long-black and was forced to settle for a cappuccino.
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