ID :
197867
Thu, 07/28/2011 - 13:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/197867
The shortlink copeid
First Army chief denies Thai army helicopters were shot
PETCHABURI, July 28 (TNA) - Commanding General of Thailand's First Army Area Command Lieutenant General Udomdej Sitabutr today denied media reports that the Royal Thai Army's Huey and Blackhawk helicopters--which crashed in Kaeng Krajan National Park in Thailand's upper southern Petchaburi Province along the Thai-Myanmar border and its vicinity over the past week--were shot.
Lieutenant General Udomdej quoted soldiers deployed along the Thai-Myanmar border in Petchaburi as confirming that no arms were used, and that Thai and Myanmar soldiers at operational and executive levels had good ties with each other there.
Regarding the media reports that a gunshot was heard near the crash sites, Lieutenant General Udomdej said that the shot had been heard 5-6 kilometers north of the sites, denying as well that the gunshot had come from a crash victim seeking help.
The first army area commander also expressed his support to Thai Army Commander-in-Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s call for the incoming Thai government to approve a plan to acquire a new fleet of 30 Thai army helicopters, saying, however, the new purchase does not mean that existing Thai army aircraft are in poor conditions.
Meanwhile, Colonel Doctor Pirapol Pokpong, chief of the accident and emergency ward of Pramongkutklao, King Rama V, Hospital in Bangkok reported that Sergeant Patanaporn Tonjan, the injured army flight mechanic who survived the Bell 212 helicopter crash in Petchaburi last Sunday, has his back pain much relieved for wearing a back support and can now walk around his bed, and that his doctors will decide when he will be discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU). (TNA)
Lieutenant General Udomdej quoted soldiers deployed along the Thai-Myanmar border in Petchaburi as confirming that no arms were used, and that Thai and Myanmar soldiers at operational and executive levels had good ties with each other there.
Regarding the media reports that a gunshot was heard near the crash sites, Lieutenant General Udomdej said that the shot had been heard 5-6 kilometers north of the sites, denying as well that the gunshot had come from a crash victim seeking help.
The first army area commander also expressed his support to Thai Army Commander-in-Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s call for the incoming Thai government to approve a plan to acquire a new fleet of 30 Thai army helicopters, saying, however, the new purchase does not mean that existing Thai army aircraft are in poor conditions.
Meanwhile, Colonel Doctor Pirapol Pokpong, chief of the accident and emergency ward of Pramongkutklao, King Rama V, Hospital in Bangkok reported that Sergeant Patanaporn Tonjan, the injured army flight mechanic who survived the Bell 212 helicopter crash in Petchaburi last Sunday, has his back pain much relieved for wearing a back support and can now walk around his bed, and that his doctors will decide when he will be discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU). (TNA)
