3 Thai army choppers taken down by "fierce guardian spirits"?

An army officer inspects the charred wreckage of the Bell 212 helicopter which went down yesterday morning about 12km from the office of the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi. It was the third helicopter to have crashed in eight days. It had been sent to assist in the search and recovery operation of two helicopters which earlier crashed in the area. PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD

Superstitions haunt forest

Some residents say the signs of another helicopter accident were there

25/07/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post

With three army helicopters crashing in just eight days, questions are being asked as to whether the tragedies were the result of accidents, a conspiracy _ or supernatural powers.

A number of soldiers, officers and civilians working or living in Kaeng Krachan National Park, the site of the initial stranding of a group of officers, journalists and encroachment suspects which prompted the disastrous chain of fatal rescue and retrieval operations, believe bad omens are to blame.

"The guardian spirits here are very fierce," said one resident of Ban Panern Thung village in Phetchaburi's Kaeng Krachan district.

An army pilot who was not connected with the three fatal helicopter missions said a colleague had told of a fortune teller who predicted the third crash.

He said his colleague, from Lop Buri, visited a respect clairvoyant on Saturday and was warned that a third helicopter crash would occur near the Thai-Burmese border.

This was almost certainly a reference to Kaeng Krachan, which runs right up to the border in Phetchaburi province.

In line with the prediction, a Bell 212 helicopter yesterday come down on the Burmese side, killing three of the soldiers on board and critically injuring another.

This brought the tally of deaths from the three disasters to 17, following the five who were killed when a Huey helicopter crashed in Kaeng Krachan on July 16 and the nine who perished when a Black Hawk came down just over the border three days later.

Referring to the fortune teller's prediction, the pilot said: "At first we didn't believe it.

"But when his prediction came true, we felt shocked."

An army lieutenant colonel attached to Kaeng Krachan special warfare camp in Phetchaburi said the Tanaosi range in the national park comprised more than 300 densely forested mountains.

He too believes in supernatural powers and said the camp holds a ceremony every month to appease the guardian spirits in a bid to ensure the soldiers' safety.

Royal Thai Army Aviation commander Maj Gen Pitaya Krajangwon yesterday said several pilots held superstitious beliefs and the triple tragedy had badly shaken their morale.

"We pilots must not be perturbed by those stories [of supernatural forces at play]," he said.

"We must be mentally strong, as it's our duty to fly. If pilots fear, who will fly?"

However, First Army commander Lt-Gen Udomdet Seetabut said the possibility of supernatural involvement should not be dismissed.

Lt Thanarat Sripamorn, head of the helicopter repair unit, which is attached to the army's flight centre in Lop Buri, said he was devastated because many of the officers who died were his subordinates.

He said the crashes had left him feeling depressed and apprehensive about piloting helicopters. However, he assured that he would put his fears aside and perform his duties if instructed.

Kaeng Krachan National Park head Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn said he felt bad vibes were emanating from the forest.

"I'm getting goose bumps. Everyone here is speechless," he said.

Natural resources permanent secretary Chote Trachoo attended a rite yesterday to present food offerings near Kaeng Krachan reservoir to ward off bad omens.

But Jaran Khaonum, a forest ranger, said he did not believe in supernatural forces.

He said the locations of the first two crashes are valleys with intense wind patterns which could have caused the helicopters to abruptly lose altitude.