Rocket loses control, kills 2 at Sri Saket festival

[webfact]

Rocket loses control, kills 2 at Sri Saket festival
By Coconuts Bangkok



SRI SAKET: -- Two people were killed after a homemade rocket fell on them yesterday at the famous Rocket Festival in Sri Saket province.

During the last launch of the day to close the Boon Bang Fai festival, a rocket fell from the sky after launch to hit four people, killing Sukid Pongon, 51, and Soontorn Panwilai, 38, instantly.

Meanwhile, Bandit Chanpanya, 33, lost his right arm and was seriously injured while Tongsuai Simanee, 44, suffered a minor injury to her leg. They were later transferred to a hospital in Ubon Ratchathani.

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/05/18/rocket-loses-control-kills-2-sri-saket-festival


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2015-05-18

[khwaibah]

Nothing new. Happens all the time at these festivals. RIP

[siam2007]

sad sad indeed, but how come I am not surprised

Better stay clear of such alcohol-fueled events that threaten your life. There are enough other lovely local festivals in Thailand such as the PHI THA KHON ghost festival next month in Daan Sai / Loei

[wooloomooloo]

That's not a rocket, it's an intercontinental ballistic missile. Jeez.

[Pimay1]

Rocket loses control

I beg to differ. These rockets have absolutely no control. Some of them are thirty feet long packed with 265 pounds of black powder. They just light them up and hope for the best.

[dopenhagen]

I was attending the Yasothorn fest last weekend, and there were no accidents... but these festivals are popular all over Eesan, Yasothorn just happens to be a large one which is extraordinarily well promoted...

[lostinisaan]

Nothing new. Happens all the time at these festivals. RIP

I've seen quite a few blowing up, plenty of people around. It's part of the local culture, but I prefer to stay at home these days.

Was there, done it, survived. Hope they've learned a little bit through that accident. But.....hmmmm.... .

[dopenhagen]

correction, they are not using black powder but a mixture of pig shit and some other fun stuff... not saying it's not lethal, but get you facts straight before posting, there IS a difference between things in the world, no, snake, crocodile, rabbit and mongoose doesn't taste like chicken, people are just too blind and ignorant to tell the difference...

[metisdead]

A nonsense post has been removed.

[wooloomooloo]

They just light them up and hope for the best.

That's life in LOS - hoping for the best. Part of the quirkiness of the country.

[Suffinator]

Rocket scientists they are not.

[Pattaya28]

Simple physics.

Called "gravity".

What goes up, must come down, at some point.

Lessons to be learnt here ? None. Business as usual.

[Johnnie99]

Homemade, eh?

[Oziex1]

correction, they are not using black powder but a mixture of pig shit and some other fun stuff... not saying it's not lethal, but get you facts straight before posting, there IS a difference between things in the world, no, snake, crocodile, rabbit and mongoose doesn't taste like chicken, people are just too blind and ignorant to tell the difference...

huh??

[isanbirder]

When I went to the Yasothon festival some years back, a large area round the launchpads was marked "Danger.... out of bounds" or something of the sort, in Thai and English.

Several hundred people, though, were picnicking inside the danger area. Do you wonder that there are fatal accidents?

One rocket went astray, though, and whistled over the crowds not far from where I was standing (well out of danger, as I thought). Merely by luck, it didn't hit anybody.

[rayw]

I was attending the Yasothorn fest last weekend, and there were no accidents... but these festivals are popular all over Eesan, Yasothorn just happens to be a large one which is extraordinarily well promoted...

I have been to two or three of these events in Surin province over the years and loved them all and got some great photographs to prove it :-). Sure you should know the risks when you attend but come on now how much stuff that is real fun and exciting in life is truly safe ?? Most fun I have had in my life is taking some levels of known and calculated risks and that is half of the excitement and enjoyment, without that then you just are not living life to the full. I get fed up in the West with excessive health and safety measures that totally ruin the activities and indeed are often the cause of high unaffordable prices of attending too. Sure some sensible controls that do NOT detract form the fun and/or put up the costs massively are fine.

Maybe with these rockets it should be mandatory to put a parachute return to earth system on them all. Indeed I know it can easily be done as I have seen this applied especially on some of the big circular spinning rockets they use. Another way is to keep a little more distance from launch to the spectators, but that wont help with the falling burned out rockets or one losing control at launch (surprisingly not very common that). Anyway it is up to folk to choose how close to stand not to be molly coddled into being forced to stand too far away form the action.

Hey I will still go to these festivals as they are fun and we should all anyway be aware of the relatively small risks. If you want a miserable low on fun long boring life then just choose not to go to these type of events, simple and easy, and let those who do enjoy them carry on with it. Live and let live of course. What I truly hope we never get here is the crazy spoiling over the top regulations they have in the over protected nanny western nations. Just a few easy and common sense not intrusive safety measures, that is all that is needed, though sadly even those basic measures are all too often missing here in Thailand I will admit.

There is a sensible level of health and safety regulation measures that should be common sense. In the west though that is way way over the top these days and truly often spoiling the activities, whereas here in Thailand it is way too little a lot of the time, but have to say much more fun most the time too, albeit sometimes quite dangerous. RIP those two who did lose their life and sympathies for those injured folk too. BUT they surely DID know the risks and chose freely to take them, though very sad indeed that the risks they chose to take cost them their lives :-(

Edited May 18, 2015 by rayw

[Pimay1]

correction, they are not using black powder but a mixture of pig shit and some other fun stuff... not saying it's not lethal, but get you facts straight before posting, there IS a difference between things in the world, no, snake, crocodile, rabbit and mongoose doesn't taste like chicken, people are just too blind and ignorant to tell the difference...

They may use the ingredients you specified where you are from but here in Esaan they use black powder and that's a fact.

[lostinisaan]

correction, they are not using black powder but a mixture of pig shit and some other fun stuff... not saying it's not lethal, but get you facts straight before posting, there IS a difference between things in the world, no, snake, crocodile, rabbit and mongoose doesn't taste like chicken, people are just too blind and ignorant to tell the difference...

I assume it depends on the outer space ring that coincides with the ignition coil, which has to be attached to a waterproof vessel , which seems to be the most important part of such a rocket.

I've studied Isaan rocket science for many tears, until the Lao Khao disappeared through my nose, that I had to talk in a deep nasal monotone voice for hours.

You're right about the snakes, crocodiles and chicks. Time will show the difference.

[emilymat]

They should have had a chat to their mates in north Korea. They seemed to do OK last week.

[ToddinChonburi]

Now they can rename it the KILLER ROCKET FESTIVAL OF ISSAAN !!!!!!!

And we wonder why we have so many regulations in the West.

[lostinisaan]

Now they can rename it the KILLER ROCKET FESTIVAL OF ISSAAN !!!!!!!

And we wonder why we have so many regulations in the West.

You might consider some ultimate flight shows in such developed countries like Germany, let's take the Ramstein accident as an example.

70 died immediately hundreds with serious injuries.....

Or maybe this one from Reno:

Or perhaps a Russian one:

Or the Ohio one?

Would nobody do risky things, life would be boring.

[marko kok prong]

Hair brained fools.

[tolsti]

Seeing as the Russkies lost one the other day, and lost control of another.... Expected to return to Earth later this month.... It shows that Rocket Science is not as easy as some think.

[DaveinAsia]

RIP.

It's not called rocket science for nothing! Farmers should grow rice and scientists build rockets.

Idiom of today: Let the cobbler stick to his last

[oneday]

As someone else said in an article about a vehicle accident yesterday.............

............and the carnage continues..............

[MockingJay]

Honestly, I am amazed that no one ever put a lid on those stupid rocket festivals in Thailand. Anyone who has ever witnessed one of the bigger rockets "in action" and is not completely nuts must be in agreement... There is absolutely no way to control those monsters (some weighing 10 stones and more) when they go up and even less control when they come down. Drones, who in 99.9% of the cases reach ground safely and fully controlled are banned in Thailand for private use, and there even was the thread of death penalty to anyone lighting one of those rice paper lanterns near an airport around new year's, but shooting a 20ft long plastic tube filled with gun powder into the sky is ok... yeah, right! That makes total sense.... to a Thai

[neeray]

265 pounds of food would have gone a lot further than any rocket.

[DILLIGAD]

I e seen the u tube video of one knocking a spectators head off. That was enough for me, thanks

[Torrens54]

Well even Richard Branson's mob managed to kill off one of their Rocket Ship Pilots last year, so what can you expect from these guys?

[RasiMike]

Personally, my family and I love the bung fai festival..........but do so from a distance. Fun and tradition will come before commonsense so just sit back a bit and enjoy. TIT.