EDITORIAL
Time to pull the emergency cord?
The Nation

Once again the State Railway of Thailand is trying hard to absolve itself of responsibility for a serious breach in security aboard its trains

BANGKOK: -- Just as last month's news about the rape and murder of a child aboard a night train was beginning to fade from memory, the State Railway of Thailand has hit the headlines again.

Compared with the tragic case of the girl molested and killed - a crime that sent shock waves through the country - this week's incident was minor, but it nevertheless adds to mounting evidence that this state enterprise desperately needs revamping.

On Tuesday, nine sleeping passengers on a Sungai Kolok-bound train woke up to find their mobile phones and cash missing.

The passengers in the second-class sleeping car, along with the paramilitary ranger on guard duty, suspect they were somehow rendered unconscious by foul play.

Police at Hat Yai Railway Station were called in to investigate and found that, of the 30 passengers in the car, nine had lost phones and cash.

The ranger guarding the car said the robbery was likely carried out after 3am, when he and other passengers had fallen into what they describe as an unusually deep sleep.

Railway police commander Pol Maj-General Thanang Buranont maintains that the two policemen on duty patrolled the cars properly when the train stopped at stations and made sure the doors on the sleeping cars were closed at 10pm as part of security procedures.

Thanang said no further investigation was needed because there was nothing to suggest someone from outside had entered the sleeping car after the doors were secured for the night.

Experience should have taught Thanang to wait for all the evidence before jumping to such a conclusion and hastily absolving train officials of blame. We are not suggesting that the police officers failed to carry out their routine patrol at each stop. But did it not occur to them that the robbery could have been carried out when they weren't around?

Once again the SRT has tried hard to absolve itself of responsibility. After last month's incident, the management was quick to distance itself from the employee who confessed to rape and murder. He has a long record of drug arrests and even confessed to having raped two women on the train previously. He said he had been drinking with co-workers and that he was on drugs when he molested and killed the 13-year-old girl. If this is true, there was something seriously wrong in the behaviour of SRT staff aboard this train. What were they doing while the crime unfolded - minding their own business?

Though the public has lost much trust in the SRT, the agency continues to respond to its failures with shallow statements that often land it in more hot water.

The safety of passengers is not something the SRT can afford to take lightly. It needs to probe deeper and come up with convincing solutions for this and other problems that plague its service, including the fact that the SRT is among the country's least-profitable state enterprises.

If crimes continue to occur with such frequency aboard trains, a thorough overhaul of our state railway must follow. At the end of the day, if the SRT is unable to deliver safe and efficient public transport, the entire management and board should look for other jobs.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Time-to-pull-the-emergency-cord-30240468.html

[thenation]2014-08-08[/thenation]

Pull the emergency cord ?

What's the chances one would actually work ?

 

What a nonsense article !  It proves this crime will never be solved,  well not by ' normal ' investigative means,  as everyone did their job apart from the paramilitary ranger who also fell into a mysterious deep sleep.  Anyone who has travelling by overnight transport knows that is the usual state for Thai passengers.

 

No further investigation needed as no one from the outside of the carriage could have entered so Railway Police are looking for some of those evil spirits who are responsible for all of SRT's misfortunes.

Why wait?  Sack the entire board NOW, and then appoint competent people to run the SRT.

Stupid fairytale news article.....do these people really think that everyone is an idiot.....???

So every one of the 30 passengers, including the Paramilitary Ranger security guard, in this carriage fell into a mysterious deep sleep..........

 

From what I've seen over the years here, is that as soon as Thais get on to a train, bus, ferry, whatever....they all seem to fall asleep as quick as they can...........

"Quick! Before mom and dad get home we better come up with a story to explain why we were asleep when we should have been doing our job. I got it! Secret agents filled the train sleeping gas!"

"mysterious deep sleep" . . . crap, that's the default setting for any Thai who can sleep anywhere, at any time at the drop of a hat and be completely oblivious to what goes on around them.

Just wait . . . the next explanation will be it was some evil spirit or a ghost . . . shortly to be followed by the short, fat, funny gay guy with the Benny Hill sound effects in the background . . .

....suspect they were somehow rendered unconscious by foul play....

 

 

That's right - blame it on the birds now! Ban on serving chicken in the dining cars.

Edited August 8, 201411 yr by Payboy

Pull the emergency cord ?

What's the chances one would actually work ?

 

What a nonsense article !  It proves this crime will never be solved,  well not by ' normal ' investigative means,  as everyone did their job apart from the paramilitary ranger who also fell into a mysterious deep sleep.  Anyone who has travelling by overnight transport knows that is the usual state for Thai passengers.

 

No further investigation needed as no one from the outside of the carriage could have entered so Railway Police are looking for some of those evil spirits who are responsible for all of SRT's misfortunes.

 

"Pull the emergency cord ?

What's the chances one would actually work ?"

 

The editorial was being metaphorical but trust you to be gratuitously negative about it and Thai people in general ( "...that is the usual state for Thai passengers.).

 

 

 

"What a nonsense article !  It proves this crime will never be solved,..."

 

Did you actually read the report?  The editorial was actually condemning SRT for it's actions so far in this case, and the previous incident, and made some very good points.  You should try reading the final 5 paragraphs of the report.

 

 

Edited August 8, 201411 yr by Zeegator

Why wait?  Sack the entire board NOW, and then appoint competent people to run the SRT.

 

My son is 10 and I think he could do the job better though he will need time for school as well.

"Quick! Before mom and dad get home we better come up with a story to explain why we were asleep when we should have been doing our job. I got it! Secret agents filled the train sleeping gas!"

 

Not a story. Wise up folks.

 

There have been several robberies committed on both tour buses and even in people's homes where robbers have used powerful anesthetic gas fumes as a means to put their victims to sleep.

Checkout Halophane,  cyclopropane, and other chemicals used for general anesthesia. They can be relatively easily purchased online, are extremely potent, and a convenient tool for the clever criminal to use.

 

Moreover, the criminal doesn't need to drug the whole bus simaltaneously... a small aerosol sized tank in a pocket feeding a pipe out of his sleeve blowing an imperceptable stream of gas over a sleepers face for a few seconds before the robbery is committed would be effective enough. The victim wouldn't know a thing...

 

"Quick! Before mom and dad get home we better come up with a story to explain why we were asleep when we should have been doing our job. I got it! Secret agents filled the train sleeping gas!"

 

Not a story. Wise up folks.

 

There have been several robberies committed on both tour buses and even in people's homes where robbers have used powerful anesthetic gas fumes as a means to put their victims to sleep.

Checkout Halophane,  cyclopropane, and other chemicals used for general anesthesia. They can be relatively easily purchased online, are extremely potent, and a convenient tool for the clever criminal to use.

 

Moreover, the criminal doesn't need to drug the whole bus simaltaneously... a small aerosol sized tank in a pocket feeding a pipe out of his sleeve blowing an imperceptable stream of gas over a sleepers face for a few seconds before the robbery is committed would be effective enough. The victim wouldn't know a thing...

 

 

I don't know if you're talking about cases here in Thailand.....but if these products are available here, then many of us have never heard of them or heard any evidence that these drugs have been used.........

Do you have any stats?

Generally, Thails are flat out buying a can of flyspray.....let alone compressed chemicals that render people unconsious....
 

Edited August 8, 201411 yr by ChrisY1

it happens on trains in  France where sleepers in the carriage are gassed and robbed

Why wait?  Sack the entire board NOW, and then appoint competent people to run the SRT.

Fair enough. However, please bear in mind that running such a large organisation on 7/11 coupons is still going to lead to crisis after crisis.
Either spend some proper money on the SRT or prepare for the gloomy headlines to continue.