Policeman falls to death from helicopter on Vibhavadi Road
By Prae Sakaowan


Photos: Bygon Returns

BANGKOK: -- A police officer rehearsing a rescue today himself fell to his death from a helicopter sling on Vibhavadi Road, the most recent in a series of serious training accidents.

Senior police Sgt. Maj. Monchai Boonpairoj, 50, was dangling from a helicopter above the Vibhavadi police station as part of an emergency rescue drill at noon today, when he was accidentally dropped to his death in front of many who’d stopped to watch.

Part of the Police Aviation Division, Monchai was practicing the rescue of hospital patients in a disaster situation.

He died at Kasemrad Hospital about an hour later.

For now the cause of death is being blamed on miscommunication between Monchai and the helicopter crew. [read more...]

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/04/23/policeman-falls-death-helicopter-vibhavadi-road


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2014-04-23

Bit old for that type of carry on. RIP

Bit old for that type of carry on. RIP

Having done chopper rescue using a harness for offshore work, I am struggling to see how he fell out the harness

"For now the cause of death is being blamed on miscommunication between Monchai and the helicopter crew"

​How would a miscommunication cause him to fall out of a supposedly secure harness?

"For now the cause of death is being blamed on miscommunication between Monchai and the helicopter crew"

​How would a miscommunication cause him to fall out of a supposedly secure harness?

Are the retrieve/release words similar in Thai?

"For now the cause of death is being blamed on miscommunication between Monchai and the helicopter crew"

​How would a miscommunication cause him to fall out of a supposedly secure harness?

'Don't hit the harness release button'

'Hit the harness release button'

Also thought that he was a little ripe for such antics. But the accident is a little confusing, crewman winched down wearing a harness that surely only he can release, but then fell ! Miscommunication ? Cannot see that being relevant , perhaps chopper pilot misjudged and slammed him into the building which could have broken the harness or hit the release catch.

Whatever, not a nice way to go.

"For now the cause of death is being blamed on miscommunication between Monchai and the helicopter crew"

​How would a miscommunication cause him to fall out of a supposedly secure harness?

Are the retrieve/release words similar in Thai?

"OK, when you want us to release you and pull the harness up, just yell 'Yok', ... If you have a problem and need to abort, yell 'Yok lerk'. Got it?".

YOK .. leeeerrrrrkkkkk ....

Thailand. Hub of services' expert safety exhibitions.

<deleted> is wrong with this country's service personnel, and demonstrations?....... Oh... just don't answer.

Very sad that a man who may have a wife and children should die for no reason.

My condolences to his loved ones.

Thailand's attitude to safety: Safety first, as long as it doesn't get in the way of "kleng jai"

Seen it myself so many times in the workplace where people simply don't stop the job or question authority if it is unsafe, as this is not the "Thai way".

So sad. RIP.

All these accidents recently only go to show how disorganized and unprofessional the systems and people in charge are here. You are put in charge of something here because of who you know, not for what you know or can do. And keeping your position is based on who is in power and not on how you or those under you perform.

No legal reforms will address this. And even if laws are made to remedy this, they will just be ignored whenever convenient like so many are everyday. Reforms need to happen to the Thai mindset and mentality more so than the laws.

He was willing to risk his life to save others!

Age shouldn't be a barrier.

Jaidee mark mark!

All these accidents recently only go to show how disorganized and unprofessional the systems and people in charge are here. You are put in charge of something here because of who you know, not for what you know or can do. And keeping your position is based on who is in power and not on how you or those under you perform.

No legal reforms will address this. And even if laws are made to remedy this, they will just be ignored whenever convenient like so many are everyday. Reforms need to happen to the Thai mindset and mentality more so than the laws.

You are absolutely so right in what you've just said 101% mate.

"On Saturday 10 people were injured by an explosion of tear gas canisters at a lecture being held to discuss nothing less than the danger of tear gas canisters."

I really don't expect anything less from such an amateur country....

All these accidents recently only go to show how disorganized and unprofessional the systems and people in charge are here. You are put in charge of something here because of who you know, not for what you know or can do. And keeping your position is based on who is in power and not on how you or those under you perform.

No legal reforms will address this. And even if laws are made to remedy this, they will just be ignored whenever convenient like so many are everyday. Reforms need to happen to the Thai mindset and mentality more so than the laws.

You're right, but unfortunately this will not change in many cases, as I mentioned in my previous post, it's a cultural thing. People are supposed to respect their elders, superiors and show 'kleng jai' meaning never to question authority. So when you have a 'gung-ho cowboy' Supervisor who just tells his subordinates to get the job done and don't worry about safety then even the safest and best workers will not question his authority.

I did a rig visit a couple of years ago and saw this happen first hand, and I was completely shocked to see how often this happens. You can train them, but you will never change their culture.

"For now the cause of death is being blamed on miscommunication between Monchai and the helicopter crew"

​How would a miscommunication cause him to fall out of a supposedly secure harness?

Are the retrieve/release words similar in Thai?

"OK, when you want us to release you and pull the harness up, just yell 'Yok', ... If you have a problem and need to abort, yell 'Yok lerk'. Got it?".

YOK .. leeeerrrrrkkkkk ....

"yok" or "yok kheun" for retrieve/pull up and "ploy" for release. "Yok lerk" means cancel. There are other words which can be used as well. In any case, retrieve/release are NOT similar words in Thai - and like English, Thai is a language with quite a bit of subtlety (less than English, but you will still find a large array of words with similar meaning to describe any number of situations/circumstances).

In general, certain jargon is applied to specific situations/industries in Thai just as in English. For example, "mayday" in English to indicate a sense of immediate urgency on an aircraft or ship; "pan pan pan" for a critical situation that is not yet deemed an emergency. While there are dozens of other words that could be used instead, not using industry specific jargon can lead to misunderstandings and possibly serious consequences. Perhaps this was one of these cases.

Bit old for that type of carry on. RIP

Having done chopper rescue using a harness for offshore work, I am struggling to see how he fell out the harness

I think it is quite a lot to do with the Thai Independence thing, we not need anybody to show us how they do it.

An insensitive nonsense post has been removed as well as a political trolling post.

"For now the cause of death is being blamed on miscommunication between Monchai and the helicopter crew"

​How would a miscommunication cause him to fall out of a supposedly secure harness?

Are the retrieve/release words similar in Thai?

"OK, when you want us to release you and pull the harness up, just yell 'Yok', ... If you have a problem and need to abort, yell 'Yok lerk'. Got it?".

YOK .. leeeerrrrrkkkkk ....

"yok" or "yok kheun" for retrieve/pull up and "ploy" for release. "Yok lerk" means cancel. There are other words which can be used as well. In any case, retrieve/release are NOT similar words in Thai - and like English, Thai is a language with quite a bit of subtlety (less than English, but you will still find a large array of words with similar meaning to describe any number of situations/circumstances).

In general, certain jargon is applied to specific situations/industries in Thai just as in English. For example, "mayday" in English to indicate a sense of immediate urgency on an aircraft or ship; "pan pan pan" for a critical situation that is not yet deemed an emergency. While there are dozens of other words that could be used instead, not using industry specific jargon can lead to misunderstandings and possibly serious consequences. Perhaps this was one of these cases.

Yes, and the UN or Western standards are not our father. We are Thai.... we have our own way. We don't need the West, nor it's internationally acclaimed standards which are well learned from years and centuries of mistakes........ we are fine without you b'stards.

Hard bastard survived for a hour after the fall.

Seriously!? Just making a note to avoid ALL efforts at safety in the Kingdom. Did someone say "Fire Drill"? I'm off!

"For now the cause of death is being blamed on miscommunication between Monchai and the helicopter crew"

​How would a miscommunication cause him to fall out of a supposedly secure harness?

If the spotter thinks he's on the ground due to not actually having a sightline,

and says 'release the slack now', and he's really still 50 feet up, comes to mind.

Or the winch operator is in the pay of someone of much higher rank who thinks he was getting stiffed.

Simple miscommunication of tea money between source and end profiteer.

A lot of scenarios come to mind besides simple 'total incompetence'.

But the topic does bring out the cynical in me.

I just don't know how anything manages to work in this country. So many basic rules of safety and regulations are discarded or unobserved, I sometimes don't know how we avoid having the entire city collapse around our heads.

Dying in ur own time is a bummer , but dying earning ur bread (or rice ) that really sucks .

I work alot in a harnas on altitude , I can imagine how it feels when it gets disconnected and ur going down , gives me the shivers .

He was a brave man , not many people dare to do what he did .

was the harness made in Thailand ?

The official version is yet to be written.

Another observation. In the picture the deceased is in the sky dive position, this is also not normal

A policeman dropping to his death from a helicopter during a rescue drill.

Supposed tear gas cannisters exploding during a government safety demonstration.

Salvage shop workers cutting into a WW II era bomb for scrap metal and blowing the place and themselves to bits.

Not to mention all the unnecessary deaths, injuries and road carnage associated with Song Kran.

Anyone beginning to sense a trend here???

Really looks like yet another case of know one knows what they are doing.