PHUKET: A flight carrying Chinese tourists home from Phuket has been forced to land for reasons that have yet to be made clear, according to media reports in China.

Orient Thai airlines flight OX682, bound from Phuket to Chengdu in Sichuan province yesterday, put down in Kunming, Yunnan province, according to Western China Metropolis Daily.

According to a staff member from the airport, the flight was supposed to fly from Phuket Island directly to Chengdu and the reason why it land in Kunming is still not clear, reported easttoday.com in the English language.

A passenger on the plane said the forced landing is because one of the engines was broken, according to the local newspaper.

A photograph said to be posted by one passenger showed oxygen masks deployed and being used by passengers.

''Many passengers on the plane suffered symptoms such as ear congestion, nose bleeding or fainting,'' said the report, without being specific about what caused those problems.

A number of passengers transferred to another flight to continue the trip to Chengdu while doctors advised some to avoid more flying based on their medical conditions.

Easttoday.com reported that the airline has sent a plane to carry on the incomplete journey to Chengdu. ''Compensation has not been discussed,'' it added.

A spokesperson for Orient Thai on Phuket told Phuketwan today that they knew nothing about any incident.

Reports about what may have transpired on the flight quickly appeared online in Spanish and the Vietnamese language.

Kunming and Chengdu are 640 kilometres apart. Khunming is 1930 kilometres from Phuket.