Bangkok Crimes

KC: Please see my previous posts on the mystery containers here, here and here. (Note: The Nation’s reports are not edited for mistakes).

The Nation

Following a fishing boats’ discovery of eight sealed containers under the sea, the government assigned Central Institute of Forensic Science director Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan to work with the Royal Thai Navy to find what was inside.

Yesterday a diving team, with media members and officials went to Chong Sam San, eight sea miles off the Sam San port to inspect one container. KC: Only one container has been located by authorities out of the possible eight. No explanation has been offered regarding the human remains found around a container on the sea-bed.

The first diving team went down with a dosimeter and detected no radiation harmful to humans. A second diving team followed to record the inspection with an underwater camera.

The container was lying sideways on the sandy seabed some 20 meters below, with a 50cmwide squareshaped hole. The camera slipped into the hole found a ladder inside, suggesting it was a containerturnedoffice space. [An office space? So that's where Jakrapob is organising his armed rebellion!] The officials also collected water samples from inside the container through a syringe, and sand samples for further testing.

After the inspection, Porntip met local residents at the Thai Island and Sea Natural History Museum to tell them of the team’s procedure and progress. Tambon Sam San residents had feared the containers might have toxins and the leaks would affect their vocations.

Porntip said she wanted opinion from the people, especially those in fishing, to make the operation more efficient, cheaper and safer.

She said they had problems finding the containers and called in the First Navy Area Command to collect information, especially from fishing boats with modern equipment.

Captain Panom Kuanpradit, deputy director of the command’s Operations Department, said attempts to locate the underwater containers were difficult and minesweeper boats were sent to search for them. Fishing boats were asked to note the location and alert the command or the Fishery Department’s radio communication centre if they spotted anything suspicious.

Tambon Sam San kamnan Pramote Thowsakul said the government had spent large sums to determine what was inside the containers -  a good thing because local people would no longer wonder about them. He said they had feared the containers might contain toxins and didn’t support the idea of drilling them open for fear of dangerous leaks into the seawater. Marine life, the fishing business and tourism would be affected, he added.

KC: So, that’s OK then, case closed! What about the human skeletons found on the sea bed? What about the other containers reportedly sighted by fishermen? And any chance of a more detailed explanation by The Nation on the container’s contents: “The camera slipped into the hole found a ladder inside, suggesting it was a containerturnedoffice space.” A ladder? An office space? The ladder suggests it was an office space? An underwater office space? The Nation’s reporting gets more and more bizarre. But on a serious note, this explanation is far from satisfactory, although one suspects it may be the final say on a story that the authorities wish would disappear.