Best wishes flow in for wounded bomb squad officer

[webfact]

Best wishes flow in for wounded bomb squad officer

By The Nation

 

Photo Courtesy of Facebook.com/knightsouth

 

YALA: -- Best wishes are pouring in from Facebook for the swift recovery of Pol Senior Sergeant Major Worawichai Boonraksa, one of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers injured in a deadly bomb ambush in Yala on Thursday. 

 

More than 3,400 people have left upbeat comments on a post wishing Worawichai well at Facebook.com/knightsouthern and the message has been shared about 400 times.

 

Worawichai has not regained consciousness since being critically wounded in the blast. 

 

He underwent a second round of surgery late Thursday night, which left him an amputee, although it was not immediately clear which limb or limbs he lost. 

 

Worawichai’s team joined military rangers in responding to a roadside bombing and were caught in a second blast triggered by suspected insurgents. 

 

EOD officer Pol Senior Sergeant Major Aniruth Chanthawong and ranger Pol Lance Corporal Thanes Phuttho were killed. More than a dozen officers were injured.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30326747

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-09-15

[Golden Triangle]

Having previously served in this capacity I send him my heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery.

[Poppy Dave]

I was a Bomb Technician in Australia for 25 years. To the best of my knowledge Australia has never 'lost' a Bomb Technician in the line of duty. During one of my visits to Thailand I was requested by the RTP Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squad in Surin to speak with their members regarding techniques we used ( My talk to translated to them by my wife, who is Thai).

 

 After viewing several videos they showed me, that depicted RTP EOD members being injured and/or killed, I went to great lengths to emphasize that you don't need numerous other people, be they civilian/Police or other members of the team, standing around within the danger zone, however they advised me that if Senior Officers, and their attendant hangers on,  attended the scene, they had no authority to request that they clear the area. In fact it was nothing unusual for the 'bigwigs' to insist that they stand beside you whilst you attempt to render the device safe! 

      Also, not to stop searching the vicinity once a suspect item is located as this may be a 'come on' device to activate their attendance.  Once they have attended, they then become the 'target' of devices. 

       I'm sorry to say that, it appears, that much of the knowledge I imparted to them, fell on deaf ears. There is no denying the fact that the members of these EOD teams are brave men, unfortunately they are poorly trained and resoursed.

 

I truly hope and pray that all the injured parties recover. 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Poppy Dave
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