N. Korea Aircraft Makes Emergency Landing At Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport

[ReThai]

5 men from Belarus, flying from N.Korea - which is north east of thailand, and Belarus is North West of Thailand, where were the flying to? only place in the N.Korea over Thailand direction (following a straight line past thailand) would be Sri Lanka, and past that would be south african areas... certainly not Belarus...

[LuckyLew]

Story seems to be changing quickly as time goes by

Will end up being cesna going from Chang Mai to Phuket

made emergency landing, cargo of water guns was seized

[dom samui]

Channel now says going to SriLanka!

[dom samui]

Channel 7 Sorry.

[kuffki]

Well according to UN sanctions, this airplane now would have to stay in Thailand. But does anyone want to bet it will be released shortly?

1. Is Thailand strong enough to say NO to N Korea?

2. How much "tea" money would it be to release it? guards can always fall asleep while the plane dissapears and 3 weeks later will be found in N.Korea(something like the hippo story)

[george]

Thai authorities impound airplane carrying weapons - Update

BANGKOK: -- Thai authorities on Saturday impounded an airplane from and unnamed Eastern European country that was found to be carrying war weapons, a government spokesman said. The pilot of the airplane had requested an emergency landing at Bangkok's Don Muang Airport to refuel Saturday morning.

"When authorities boarded the plane they found it was filled with war weapons," government spokesman Panitan Wattanayankorn said.

The captain and crew were from Georgia and Belarus, he said.

The exact origin of the plane and its destination remain unclear.

"What I can say is that it was a charter flight and the plane was from an Eastern European country," Panitan said.

Officials could not confirm speculation that the aircraft was bound for Pyongyang, North Korea.

Thai police were expected to provide further details later Saturday.

-- Agencies 2009-12-12

[kennalder]

Is that a lot? 35 tonnes?? Sounds like it.

Um, yeah, you could say that.

It's approximately 9,200 AK47 rifles (no ammunition).

Or it's about 13,400 RPG rounds (single stage HEAT - 2.6kg each) (no launchers).

Or it's about 5,000 light machine guns ...

Or a combination of various bits and pieces. Enough to outfit a few hundred soldiers perhaps ...

The article talks about HEAVY WEAPONS... what you mention is dinky toys in warfare...

Yes, but let's not assume they got the description correct. "Heavy" might mean, um... too much for me to carry.

[mrdome]

Someone must have messed up big time here regarding the flight planning.

Waiting for N. Korea to release a scathing demand to get the loot back pronto.

[macduff]

Probably a cargo of fully armed water pistols for songran.Christmas come early it seems

[jensonmcm]

Is that a lot? 35 tonnes?? Sounds like it.

About the same as forty-one 1953 Volkswagen Beetles. (840 kg each) or 1,750 twenty kg bags of Jasmine Rice. 

Edited December 12, 2009 by jensonmcm

[moskito]

the plane was going to korea, thai will have to release them (crew and cargo) shortly, even if airport authorities were not informed beforehand

Hmmm, I was pretty good in geographics at school and with a plane FROM Ukraine, TO North-Korea via Thailand is not necessarily the shortest way

[321niti123]

What was the country of departure for this aircraft?

Ukraine, according to Thai TV channel .

I heard sri lanka on thai tv too, but I'm not sure perhaps i heard wrong.

I also heard that they got a warning from the US.

35 tonnes is a lot of weapons and i also heard that there was a nuclear warhead on board..but then again its from the same tv channel so im not sure whether i can trust it.

[Screws]

Story seems to be changing quickly as time goes by

Will end up being cesna going from Chang Mai to Phuket

made emergency landing, cargo of water guns was seized

Keep Songkran outa this -

[george]

Bangkok Post and other sources reports:

Pol Lt Gen Thangai Prasajaksattru, commander of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), confirmed that five men from eastern Europe had been detained, but he did not yet know their nationalities.

"There were a lot of weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), missiles and other war weapons," he said.

Air Force spokesman Captain Montol Suchookorn and special branch police said that the chartered cargo plane originated in North Korea's capital Pyongyang.

"According to my information, the flight originated from North Korea. It was a cargo flight that requested to land at the civilian side of the airport," Montol said, adding that the Air Force was continuing to guard the aircraft.

AoT, the airport operator, said Don Mueang airport remained open to passengers.

-- Agencies & Bangkok Post 2009-12-12

[torrenova]

OK, emergency landing, but if to refuel, then unless they sprung a leak, they were intending to land somewhere very close to Bangkok in the first place ?

[Orac]

the plane was going to korea, thai will have to release them (crew and cargo) shortly, even if airport authorities were not informed beforehand

Hmmm, I was pretty good in geographics at school and with a plane FROM Ukraine, TO North-Korea via Thailand is not necessarily the shortest way

Maybe thats why they ran out of fuel

[Steve2UK]

Hmmm, I was pretty good in geographics at school and with a plane FROM Ukraine, TO North-Korea via Thailand is not necessarily the shortest way

1) Maybe they heard about all those great deals from King Power and wanted to stop off for a few bargains.

2) Maybe they heard about all those great scams (allegedly) run by King Power and wanted to stop off for a few pointers.

[seaeagle]

Any reports yet of one of the Belarus passports being in the name of Takki Shinegra?.

[Steve2UK]

Bangkok Post and other sources reports:

Pol Lt Gen Thangai Prasajaksattru, commander of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), confirmed that five men from eastern Europe had been detained, but he did not yet know their nationalities.

"There were a lot of weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), missiles and other war weapons," he said.

Air Force spokesman Captain Montol Suchookorn and special branch police said that the chartered cargo plane originated in North Korea's capital Pyongyang.

"According to my information, the flight originated from North Korea. It was a cargo flight that requested to land at the civilian side of the airport," Montol said, adding that the Air Force was continuing to guard the aircraft.

AoT, the airport operator, said Don Mueang airport remained open to passengers.

-- Agencies & Bangkok Post 2009-12-12

Agencies and Bangkok Post? Hey, George - a crack in the wall? Any update to report on your conversations with them?

Right now, 1,307 users reading this topic...... see what just a mention of Bangkok Post can achieve?

Edited December 12, 2009 by Steve2UK

[termad]

Thai TV Channel said one of the plane crew were from Beiruth, Belarus 1 person, and 4 persons from Kazakhstan.

Plane was on the way from Ukraine.

A North Korean plane with an all Moslem crew on the way from Ukraine? I smell something fishy.

[lordsux]

There has been speculation in the past that N.Korea has been supplying weapons and nuclear know-how to Myanmar.

Edited December 12, 2009 by lordsux

[Pseacraft]

The aircraft was a charter, from the Eastern Europe, so russian aircraft like an AN-12 most likely not certified to fly in the EU and operated by a Khazk company based in the middle east. I see them nearly everyday in the desert. They are not certified for a reason. Cheap operators who care less about their crews or aircraft and it shows.

35 tones of "heavy" weapons could be 12.5mm machine guns, mortars, manpads, rpg's etc... Think heavy weapons platoon not armor units. The flight seems to have originated in NK hence the seizure. The customer could be Sri Lanka or its a staging point for another destination more than likely.

Not a big deal really, just nice to see a UN resolution actually get enforced but too late since Kim got his pay already I am sure.

[baabaabobo]

Any reports yet of one of the Belarus passports being in the name of Takki Shinegra?.

I was thinking along the same lines... If it ran out of fuel it could have been heading to a neighbouring country, like Cambodia.

Surprised BBC have not got this story yet.

[sunnymarky]

DPRK government use these weapons to surpress their own people. nasty lot

[caf]

Any reports yet of one of the Belarus passports being in the name of Takki Shinegra?.

According to George page on facebook Thaksin is the correct name. The name Takki came from I know not what source but I prefer to trust george in this.

[brahmburgers]

Not a big deal, I agree. Weapons and drugs are the biggest illegal items traded worldwide, so 35 tons is relatively small potatoes as far as weapons shipments go.

If the plane started in Ukraine, as claimed in some earlier reports, and was on its way to N.Korea, then it might make sense to fly around Russian and Chinese airspace. To do so would require a refueling stop. Perhaps they planned to do so in a SE Asian country (halfway), but ran out of fuel earlier than planned, and had to go down in Bkk.

The details change hour by hour, so it's hard to speculate on it.

Edited December 12, 2009 by brahmburgers

[Publicus]

It'd be good if N Korea were involved because Thailand is the only country in the region which provides refugee status to escapees from N Korea, which also means the Thai government/military actively resist pressure from the PRC to capture and return N Korean refugees. N Koreans who escape their hellhole of a country have to travel via an escape network through the PRC and Laos to get to refuge and freedom in Thailand, where they then fly on to Seoul.  

A nuclear warhead on board the plane??? Get real.

Hard to believe at this point that if the plane originated in Ukraine it would be headed to N Korea. N Korea doesn't need 35 tons of arms as their 8m armed force is already fully equipped. Not many governments of this region would need such a small shipment of arms either. It sounds so far more like a lord of war type weapons shipment bound for some ethnic insurgency, or perhaps in Thailand, done on such a shoestring that not enuff fuel was provided or the plane itself was operating on the cheap. 

Waiting for more info.

Edited December 12, 2009 by Publicus

[gwynt]

Wow. I wonder where those weapons were headed for?

WOW I wonder where those weapons Come from????

[londonthai]

Pol Lt Gen Thangai Prasajaksattru, commander of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), confirmed that five men from eastern Europe had been detained, but he did not yet know their nationalities.

lucky we, that pol lt gen thaigai doesn't work in the foreign affairs - kazachstan or georgia and beirut are not exactly europe, out of the crew of 5 only one was bielorus.

as each press report is contadicting each other, maybe that's why bbc and the other major agencies don't run this story yet, before facts are known

[thaimite]

Surprised BBC have not got this story yet.

Maybe their internet conection to the ThaiVisa forums is down