"A Thai flight attendant who could speak Chinese came over to explain the situation, but when she turned around, the woman poured the hot water on her back," said another passenger surnamed Zhou.

Pictures on Sina Weibo show the flight attendant crying while covering her face. A video posted online by a passenger on the same flight shows a man screaming at flight attendants while threatening to bomb the aircraft.

After the air crew demanded an apology, the man's companion climbed over the back seats, threatening to jump out of the plane, all the while punching the plane windows, Wu added.

The in-flight brawl forced the plane to return to Don Muang International Airport in Bangkok, where the couple and two other passengers involved were taken away by Thai police. They were required to pay compensation of 50,000 Thai baht ($1,525) to the flight attendant, and all four passengers were fined a small amount of money.

On December 13, the China Nation Tourism Administration issued a statement, denouncing the passengers' behavior.

As a punishment, the four passengers have been blacklisted from traveling by tourism authorities of their home province of Jiangsu. The tourism agency that arranged the couple's travel has also been blamed publicly and their tour guide has had his business license suspended for a year.

Diao advised setting up a social credit report system to identify possible offenders in advance.

"In addition, tourism authorities and travel agencies should also intensify efforts to teach passengers about airline safety so as to prevent such incidents from happening," Diao said. "Every passenger must always hold safety issues in mind when flying."

According to the CAAC, the administration is stepping up efforts with airline companies and airports to improve their ability to respond to emergencies, and to publicize aviation safety guidelines and advocate good travel behavior.

Establishing new rules

In the wake of a rising number of clashes between passengers and airline staff over service in airports in recent years, the Beijing Municipal Government has put in place new rules.

The rules forbid entering an airport-controlled area without an airport pass, intruding into a taxiway, forcibly boarding and occupying an aircraft, climbing over or destroying an airports' protective fencing and other acts that threaten air transport safety and disturb airport order.

The Beijing Capital International Airport is the busiest airport in China and the world's second-busiest by turnover. Its passenger throughput amounted to 86.12 million in 2014, according to statistics. Construction on another large airport in the south of the city will begin next year and is scheduled for operation by 2019.

The new rules effective as of January 1 were part of a series of administrative measures at Beijing's civil airports released by local authorities. They also empower airport management departments to impose administrative punishments in order to deal with offenders.

"It is right for the local government to entrust airport management with administrative punishments," said Liu Weimin, Director of the Civil Aviation Management Institution of China's Aviation Law Research Center.

In fact, the State Council, China's cabinet, already released the Regulations on Civil Aviation Security in 1996. Seven acts in airports are prohibited by the regulations, including the circumstances listed in Beijing's administrative measures.

The regulations also state that offenders will be punished.

Some passengers simply do not observe the regulations when they come into conflict with airway carriers, Liu admitted. "Passengers should safeguard their rights through legal procedures," he said.

Some recent cases of encroaching on the tarmac or forcibly boarding mainly resulted from passengers' protest or demand for compensation after a flight's delay or cancellation, said a senior captain from a Chinese airline who declined to be identified.

He said that airlines sometimes adopt a no-quibble policy, so they compensate passengers who provoke conflict and discord, and no punishments will be imposed unless passengers act illegally.

Whenever many passengers are stranded, airport management departments should take action to properly accommodate the passengers, according to the new rules.

The Beijing Municipal Government has also required airport management to share flight information with local transport authorities in case large numbers of passengers are stranded owing to massive flight delays.