This is the dramatic moment furious passengers attacked a thief who was allegedly caught stealing cash from luggage in the overhead compartment.

The Chinese flier was said to have rummaged through bags to grab passports and money when Thai Airways flight TG600 had just landed in Hong Kong on July 21.

Footage shows the furious holidaymakers in coach class rounding on the Far Eastern passenger, with one grabbing his face, while an air hostess stood over him onboard the Boeing 777.

Passengers were kept on the plane for an hour before Hong Kong police boarded and frogmarched the suspect away.

Thai passenger Deeying Thanyasiri said: 'When the plane stopped, everyone stood up to grab their bags in the overhead compartment. This Chinese man pretended to grab his bag.

'At first, I thought it was his luggage, but an Indian woman shouted that he was stealing her friend's bag.

'Then, one of the passengers, a young man in a white shirt, started yelling and almost started fighting with the Indian group because he was upset that they were yelling and preventing him from getting off the plane.

'We were sitting nearby and were very scared.'

Thanyasiri said that she was sitting in seat 38J next to her boyfriend in 38K. When the plane landed, the Chinese man appeared to be grabbing a bag from the overhead compartment.

Initially, Thanyasiri said she thought he was retrieving his own bag. However, an Indian woman shouted that he had taken money and passports from the bag of a man in her group.

As the woman shouted, the Chinese thief allegedly threw the stolen money and passports on the floor, claiming he did not steal them.

Despite his denial, the Indian group managed to catch him and searched him to check for stolen items.

In the video, the Indian woman and man are heard saying 'open the cabin' and 'he took the money, he took the money, see' while trying to search the alleged thief.

When the flight attendant asked for further details, the man responded 'yes, he took the money'. He also told her when it happened, saying 'yes, landing', adding 'he was sitting here. He opened the cabinet'.

Looking at the Chinese man, the Indian man said: 'The police will arrest you, get the money. Give me money now.' He then said: 'They got the money.'

The incident was resolved, but passengers were stuck on the plane for around an hour after landing at noon because the airline did not open the door until Hong Kong police arrived to take the thief away.

Speaking after the incident, Thanyasiri said: 'During the flight, the flight attendant told us to be careful with our valuables, to keep them with us at all times.

'The thieves commit this as a group. I asked the flight attendant if this kind of incident happened often, and she replied yes, it used to happen and disappeared for a while.

'The cabin crew said that recently, it has become a big problem again. I don't know who he is but when the incident happened, the airline announced for everyone to check their valuables.

'They told us that if anyone lost something, they should give their statement to the police when getting off the plane.

'I saw two or three more passengers go out to give their statements to the police, so I think that their stuff went missing as well.

'When the argument happened between them, the passengers were all panicked.

'It must have been quite a lot of dollars in the bag, but I'm not sure.'

Locals in Bangkok warned they had experienced similar problems while flying on Thai Air. They warned that gangs of Chinese thieves operate in groups of five or six people.

They said one person will remove bags from the overhead compartments and go to the restroom to remove valuable items before handing them to another gang member.

This way, the one who initially took the bag will have nothing on him when searched. The method allows them to avoid getting caught by officers, as nothing is found during searches.

Other alleged victims said the thefts happen throughout the month.

In one social media group called Hong Kong Mode, it was claimed that fights between Bangkok and Hong Kong are targeted because of the number of wealthy passengers carrying designer items and cash.

Another alleged victim claimed him and his daughter had their cash stolen during flight TG 602 on July 16.