Chef who went for one drink after flight was delayed ended up on 43-day bender

04 November 2023 , 10:16

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The hapless chef was eventually rescued by two kind-hearted Russian locals (Image: ViralPress)

A man who went for a single drink in an airport bar while waiting for a connecting flight ended up going missing on a 43-day bender.

Chef Uthai Waenbarb, 36, who had been working at a restaurant in Budapest, Hungary, boarded a flight back to his home in Thailand, but his flight stopped in Moscow where he was told he had to wait five days for the next flight to Bangkok. He decided to drink at the airport's bars but was soon kicked out by staff.

Uthai, who only had a 30-day visa to stay in the country, kept his binge going after he was dumped onto the streets and said during that time, about which he remembers very little, he lost his passport and belongings. He had been detained at the airport to sober up and was then released.

Uthai Waenbarb eventually made it home after his drunken adventure (ViralPress)

He was then arrested by police. He later found work as a rubbish collector to save enough money for another ticket back to Thailand. Uthai's family filed missing person's reports in Hungary, Thailand and Russia as they were unable to make contact with him.

Uthai said he slept rough, continued drinking and found work as a garbage collector. Luckily, two locals eventually found him roaming the streets and took him to the Thai Embassy in Moscow.

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After being found in Khimki city, around 27km from Moscow's airport, Uthai said: "I was so upset after being told by the airline to wait for five days, I decided to drink and after that I cannot remember anything but losing my passport. I have no idea how I went to Khimki, I just remember I was arrested by police a couple times. I was also lent some money by a Thai woman who is married to a Russian guy and I was working as a garbage collector to try to save money for a new ticket.''

His family said he could not speak Russian and only understood a little English. Uthai's sister-in-law Prapudson Promcharroen, 32, said she began searching for the missing man five days after his flight should have landed.

She said: "My brother-in-law informed the family that he would visit a friend in Thailand for a while when he landed, but after five days of his arrival date he was not home yet. Initially we thought he was missing in Thailand, so we contacted his friend and found out that he never showed up.

''We were so worried because we checked and knew he had taken the flight from Hungary but not the flight in Moscow. He can't speak Russian, Hungarian and only a little English. I don't know how he survived.''

Paul Donald