"She has done a really good job. As a passenger on the same flight who witnessed the whole event, I think she has been a great role model for Chinese people," Sina Weibo user "Yanyanxiaochu" said.

Coconuts Bangkok, a local online news site in Thailand, provided detailed coverage of the incident, in which it wrote, "after the infamous noodle attack on an AirAsia flight tarnished the image of Chinese travelers, one Chinese passenger has finally stepped up and restored a bit of China's reputation."

A string of scandals involving Chinese tourists has seriously tainted the country's image abroad, and spurred a storm of criticism on the Internet.

On Dec 11, four Chinese passengers grabbed headlines for causing chaos on an AirAsia flight. One of them poured a bowl of instant noodles full of hot water on a flight attendant, forcing the aircraft to return to Thailand.

But this time, Qu Yan's heroic action helped restore the image of Chinese tourists. "The incident was a very common thing in my life. I was just following my intuition, and I'm surprised by the storm of praises," she says.

Tunte, captain of Flight OX619, says he believes most Chinese tourists are well educated and decent, and he wants more Chinese tourists to visit Thailand.

"We hope there are more people like Qu Yan who can offer help and generate a positive image for Chinese tourists," says Pang Yanyan, a tourist guide from Guangxi.