Mysterious Containers

[Apecks]

Pattaya One News:-

Further update on the mysterious containers off the coast of Sattahip.

We have a further update for you now regarding the ongoing mystery which surrounds the discovery of containers on the sea-bed off the coast of Sattahip. Rumors suggest that they are full of skeletal remains, possibly as a result of the May 1992 uprising which occurred in Bangkok. Some suggest that the people killed in the uprising were placed inside the containers which were left in this remote location. An exclusion zone has now been set up around one of the containers and it has been confirmed that there is no chemical leakages from the container, although they cannot be sure that no dangerous chemicals are inside. There are still no definitive plans to remove the containers from the sea bed or even open the containers under the sea at this time and the delay is making locals more suspicious as time goes on.

 

[bjexpat]

Thanks for the update. This is fascinating.

I don't fully understand Thai buddhist spirituality but I'm wonder what the reaction will be if these turn out to be skeletal remains. Will boat captains steer away from the area? Will diving be off limits in the area? Will it be "bad luck" to fish there?

In China, the locals here are very superstitious about death etc. I've seen numerous examples here where people won't buy the apartment of someone who died..even if it wasn't in the apartment. I'm just curious how Thai culture reconciles things like this.

 

[limbo]

Thai fisherman have supposedly been digging up skulls and bones over a couple of years already, so it can't be that much of bad luck. Just keep in mind, I'm not applying Thai logic here!

 

[Apecks]

Survey of Sunken Container to Resume

Authorities are preparing to resume examining the sunken shipping container found off the coast of Chonburi after the government approved a budget.

The government has allocated up to 7 million baht to examine and possibly retrieve the shipping container on the floor of the Gulf of Thailand. The container is believed by many to contain human skeletons, and relatives of those missing from the 1992 Black May military crackdown believe they might hold the remains of their loved ones.

Only one container has been discovered, but there are rumors of others located in the same area.

Meanwhile, the Director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunan, today informed officials during a meeting of related agencies that tests conducted by the Office of the Atomic Energy for Peace found no radioactive substances or other types of toxic materials on the barnacles on the surface of the container.

Meanwhile, the Navy has arranged for the H.T.M.S PHARUEHATSABODI warship, a mine-sweeper, and a number of its staff to support the examination of the container.

Initially, the survey team will examine only the physical conditions of the container's exterior because the nature of its contents is unknown, and therefore presents unknown risks to those involved.

The meeting of related agencies today also resulted in the Department of Special Investigation being assigned to take over the investigation of the container if it is found to contain toxic waste.

 

[Bowmouth]

=Only one container has been discovered, but there are rumors of others located in the same area.

This is getting more and more interesting. Last week they were talking about 8 containers and had underwater video shots on tv of several different containers.
Here some articles I posted last week on another thread about this story.



A disturbing story now from Sattahip District involving the discovery of containers thought to contain dead bodies.
The story first broke last week on Thai TV Channel 3 following the discovery of a container surrounded by reportedly hundreds of skeletons. This discovery was made almost two months ago but remained a closely guarded secret until the story was leaked to the press last week..
We understand that a total of 8 containers have been found in three separate locations between Phie Island and Pram Island and 30 nautical miles off the Coast of Juang Island which are all located in the Gulf of Thailand.
For many years fishermen have reported the capture of skeletal remains in their fishing nets, however many cases have remained unreported.
There is a suggestion some of the containers have been at the locations for up to 20 years. Now that the exact locations of the containers have been identified and a full report has been made to the Police, it is thought these containers will now be recovered and the contents will be revealed.
Locals fear the worse and suggest the containers are full of bodies, but this cannot be confirmed until the containers are recovered.


MYSTERIOUS CONTAINERS
Tiny camera to be used to see inside containers : Dr Pornthip


A tiny underwater camera may soon slip through a hole in a mysterious container on the seabed off Chon Buri's Sattahip district to check what is inside.
"We have found a hole on the container through which groupers swim in and swim out," Central Institute of Forensic Science director Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan revealed Monday.

She said she would have a meeting with representatives from the Customs Department, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), marine archaeologists and noted marine biologist Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat on Tuesday to discuss possible means of checking what's inside the container and where the container came from.

"Representatives from underwatercamera companies will attend the meeting too," Porntip said.

Porntip has been assigned to look into the containers after they caught the media spotlight and rumours spread the bodies of those who died in the Black May incident were inside.

Porntip's team has already located one of the containers.

Porntip has ruled out lifting the container from the sea for examination because the process would require a huge budget.

The Pollution Control Department (PCD), meanwhile, has voiced opposition against any plan to cut open the container underwater.

"If toxic waste is inside, cutting the container open in the sea would cause farflung environmental impacts," PCD director general Dr Supat Wangwongwattana said.

Nevertheless, he doubts the container harbours toxic waste because coral reefs and fishes would have been affected.

Officials have now suggested the container has rested on the seabed off Chon Buri for more than 20 years, judging by the barnacles found on it.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as well as many highprofile figures have pointed out the mysterious container could not be related to the Black May incident, which took place 17 years ago.

 

[Vie]

"Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has allocated seven million baht from the central fund for the investigation of the contents of a container on the seabed off Chon Buri's Sattahip district, Central Institute of Forensic Science director Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan said."

Bangkok Post : B7m budget to examine mystery seabed containers

Amazing how this "containers full of skeletons" rumour just keeps on going...

 

[Vie]

Oops, double post.

 

[Apecks]

7 million baht! You can get a lot of fills & lift bags for that

I agree with you though Bowmouth, this does apper to be turning into a typical thai cover up.

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

Here's the latest story I've seen from Friday's Pattaya Mail

Fishing boats have been ordered to keep out of an area off the coast of Sattahip where eight shipping containers and their unknown contents were found, but whose exact locations are again unknown because the buoy marking their resting place was lost.

Navy aircraft have been told to adjust their patrol routes to again locate the containers, which were first discovered in the early 1990s, but became front-page news last month when divers near Juang Island, 30 nautical miles off Sattahip, found a number of human skulls around the containers.

The find sparked wild speculation that the cargo boxes contained everything from bodies felled in the deadly 1992 Black May uprising in Bangkok to toxic waste to illegal cargo dumped overboard by shipping companies. Put off by the high costs of raising the containers and wary of opening the tightly sealed units for fear they do indeed contain toxic chemicals, the government was attempting to locate all of the containers and study them while still submerged.

That effort, however, stalled when the buoy marking the spot around which the eight containers are widely scattered disappeared.

Assuming the buoy’s line was severed by a fishing trawler, Navy officials have ordered fishing boats out of the area for fear that a net might accidentally snag and damage one of the containers, releasing their potentially dangerous contents into the surrounding waters.

Pornthip Rojanasunan, director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, said samples of plants and soil from the seabed around some of the containers showed no toxic contamination. But because the items inside the sealed units have not been examined, she refused to confirm or deny the containers held toxic materials or skeletal remains.

After again locating the containers, the Navy will take exact global positioning satellite coordinates and launch a new survey of the sunken cargo boxes.

 

[Bowmouth]

After again locating the containers, the Navy will take exact global positioning satellite coordinates and launch a new survey of the sunken cargo boxes.

What a dorks!!!
The FIRST thing they should have done was to take GPS marks of those containers and not just install a mooring buoy. I also find it unbelievable that they didn't write down the GPS points of those containers from the fishermen who obviously have known of those containers for many-many years now and keep extensive GPS mark records on their vessels.