China's National Tourism Administration (NTA) announced that the four passengers who threw hot water at a Thai AirAsia attendant, leading to the flight's diversion on Thursday, have damaged the overall image of Chinese people, and the passengers' misconduct will be included in their new personal travel records.

The uncivilized behavior of the four Chinese tourists disrupted the flight and affected other passengers' routines, said the administration.

A Thai AirAsia flight bound for Nanjing, Jiangsu Province was forced to return to Bangkok, Thailand after a female passenger threw scalding hot water and instant noodles at a flight attendant on Thursday.

According to a Sina Weibo user who claims to be a witness, a Chinese couple who were part of a tour group first became angry upon discovering that they were not seated together. They were still upset after the problem was solved, and later in the flight, the woman asked for boiling water for instant noodles. When the attendant brought the water, the woman threw it in her face.

The man said that his girlfriend threw hot water at the attendant because the attendant refused to give them a receipt for buying water, China National Radio reported on Sunday.

Other witnesses said the woman threatened to jump out of the plane while her boyfriend stood up in the cabin and threatened to bomb the plane. Bangkok police boarded the plane to escort the belligerent passengers off, reported the Beijing Evening News. Two other passengers who intervened in the chaos on board were also detained and fined.

The budget airline said that the flight attendant was not seriously injured.

The involved passengers have paid 50,000 THB ($1,525) in compensation to the attendant, and the female passenger who threw the hot water was fined an additional 200 THB.The other three passengers were each fined 100 THB, reported the Sing Sian Yer Pao Daily, a Chinese-language newspaper in Thailand. The passengers were back in Nanjing after paying compensation on Friday night.

"Previously, we usually used short-term detention or fines to punish those who cause chaos on planes. This time, the NTA has created a precedent to regulate public behavior while traveling by creating a personal travel record system," Hu Xingdou, professor of economics at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told the Global Times.

Hu's views were echoed by Su Haopeng, vice dean of the Law School at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, saying that "the administration's move should be encouraged, as it is the first time they have clearly stipulated that public behavior should be not only punished by law, but also regulated by a record system."

The new system will restrict the involved passengers' travel, especially travel abroad. Specifically, they will not be allowed to participate in tour groups, Su said.

"However, the record system will only restrict passengers' travel," stressed Su.