Two CHC Security Guards Murdered

[RL77CHC]

Just heard second hand from a friend flying in Thailand for CHC that two paid CHC security guards were shot and killed at the new crew compound in Nakon yesterday:mad:!! The shootings were all caught on surveillance and the first guard was shot in the back while attempting to flee with the second guard killed at his post. CHC has completely shut down all operations in the Gulf Of Thailand until further notice. Lots of rumours flying around that the locals are not happy with the S76's buzzing back and forth fourteen hours a day............

[rotorwing]

I thought they were a relatively peaceful bunch over there except for the odd anti-Government protests. Got to be a bit more to it than a bit of helicopter noise overhead to warrant murder.

[Canadian Rotorhead]

That area of Thailand is known for mafia like issues, Much like Songkhla was when operations started there many years ago.

[Outwest]

First, CHC does not operate in Thailand. TAS (Thai Aviation Services) is the operator.

Second, the unfortunate victims were employed by a security company, not direct employees of TAS.

Third, this was a personal issue between a former security guard and his employer, nothing to indicate it had anything to do with TAS.

[RL77CHC]

First, CHC supplies 95% of the expat Captains for the operations in Thailand, 27 to be exact. TAS is the National partner that's required for CHC to operate in that particular country. TAS gets to provide copilots that are trained by CHC and spray paint their pretty logo on the side of the aircraft and that's it. Much like ACN in Nigeria, Awan Inspirasi in Malaysia and the list goes on....................

Second, who gives a rip what company shirt the two security guards wore. They were both shot to death while guarding a CHC compound with CHC pilots inside.

Third, the majority of the Thai National pilots have been wary about the move for over a year now due to the local Mafia and crime in the area. If it was a past argument with an employer why was the other guy shot? I'm sure it's not a great feeling to be on the base in the middle of nowhere, 50 km from the nearest civilization with this crap happening at the front gate.

[nbl]

Tragic though this is - you are saying CHC has no involvement with TAS at all - come on.

[1D1]

Having been there in the last couple of months I can see why the Nationals didn't want to move there. The problems are not going to go away. Nakon has been a mafia controled town for a long time and CHC/TAS knew that going in. They bowed to customer pressure and will now pay the price.

Thailand (both SKL and UTP) used to be a great place to work. I can see Nakon ending up like Pt Harcourt Nigeria. Hope the pay will reflect the conditions.

It's tragic that it takes something like this to make the management in YVR and BKK sit up and take notice. Glad I'm not there anymore.

[Outwest]

Don't get your shorts in a knot there RL77CHC ;)


First, CHC supplies 95% of the expat Captains for the operations in Thailand, 27 to be exact. TAS is the National partner that's required for CHC to operate in that particular country. TAS gets to provide copilots that are trained by CHC and spray paint their pretty logo on the side of the aircraft and that's it.

Look, I have no intention to get into a debate about this, there is nothing to debate. the FACT is, TAS is a stand alone company. TAS has the contract with Chevron. CHC and Heli-One, provide SOME of the crews and some of the a/c and some technical support. One of the a/c is wholly owned by TAS. CHC has a MINORITY share in TAS ( around 30%).

The second point I was making was to clarify the headline of this thread, the security guards were not CHC employees. But true. their job included guarding both CHC and TAS staff.

On the third point, I never said that Nahkon was not a bad spot, never said that no one (including me) wanted to go there. However THIS particular incident was in no way connected to

the locals are not happy with the S76's buzzing back and forth fourteen hours a day............

I'm in no way defending the move to Nahkon, I think this incident as well as numerous other problems there are a setback to the Thai operations.

[RL77CHC]

No sweat Outwest,

I appreciate your point of view on the matter. I also hope things get sorted out for the guys on the base over there and the investigation turns up something. I would not want to be worrying about my safety and security in the middle of nowhere.

[jonwilly]

From Teakdoor a Thai website.
District Police Chief in Nakorn Sawan Murdered

UPDATE : 19 April 2011

Police officers are rushing to inspect footage from a surveillance camera in an attempt to arrest the murderer who shot the Kampangpech's Sai-Ngam District police chief in front of his home.

The incident occurred last night when two murderers shot dead Police General Kreukrit Niyomserm in front of his residence in Nakorn Sawan's Nakorn Sawantok District.


The murderers then fled the scene on motorbikes.

Investigators say a business conflict of interest or a personal dispute is the most likely motif.

Police said that Police General Kreukrit was well-known among construction business circles.

His company recently tendered millions of baht in bids in several provinces including Nakhon Sawan, Kampangpech and Uthai Thani.

They are also working under the assumption that the murderers have a very influential back up since they dared to commit such an audacious murder.

Today, police officers are investigating the surveillance camera that recorded the murderers' faces prior to the incident.

Meanwhile, inspectors are hunting down the murderers and calling for Kreukrit's relatives and close friends to provide additional information to help investigators get to the bottom of the murder.

john

[Canadian Rotorhead]

Quote:
the locals are not happy with the S76's buzzing back and forth fourteen hours a day............
I'm in no way defending the move to Nahkon, I think this incident as well as numerous other problems there are a setback to the Thai operations.

Maybe they should have the "much quieter" AW139s, eh? :E

[Outwest]

District Police Chief in Nakorn Sawan Murdered

Jonwilly, Nakorn Sawan is in NE Thailand, not to be confused with Nakhon Si Tammarat where the TAS/Chevron base is located.

[Outwest]

Maybe they should have the "much quieter" AW139s, eh?

Well that would be a start there CR :ok:

[jonwilly]

Point Taken Outwest.
It was the mention of Nakorn and the only Nakorn I could find in the Thai press was the incident mentioned.

john
Do you have the location GPS for the legendary Nakorn Nowhere ?

[Thai Pom]

That is where any "upcountry" girl that works the bars in Bangkok is from. It still remains a state secret exactly where it is but I believe it is basically the whole of the country:O

[Outwest]

One is spelt Nakorn and the other is Nakhon

Although that is never a constant in Thailand because all names are a translation from Thai and the spelling of the English version is at the discretion of the person writing it.

A good example is Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok) airport. We would pronounce that as "Soo Varn a boo MEE" when it is really pronounced in Thai as "Soo wan a poom"..........go figure :rolleyes:

[jonwilly]

Suvarnabhumi !
It was originally 'Cobra Swamp'.
The Head of State renamed it when the Taksin Government decided to build a new BKK airport.
I know the elderly yank who actually chose the site and passed on his advice to the relevant ministry in mid 60's.

john
:)

[heliski22]

Oh, I don't know, Outwest......

I mean the French pronounce Paris as Paree, while we native English speakers insist on saying Par-iss............

At the same time, the French pronounce Calias as Cal-ay while we native English-speakers insist on saying, you've guessed........well, no you haven't cos we say...........Cal-ay (?)

Now there's a "go-figure"!

On the other hand, a company belonging to the Police General had recently tendered millions of baht for contracts...........was he moonlighting as a Police General or as a businessman or does the concept of professional police officers mean something entirely different there? :E

[helihub]

Do you have the location GPS for the legendary Nakorn Nowhere ?

Checking Chevron Thailand's website found this PDF (http://www.chevronthailand.com/download/APR11_factsheet.pdf) with a useful map on the second page including the oil/gas fields and three towns including Nakhon Si Thammarat (note, another different spelling). No GPS, but Wikipedia has a page for the airport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakhon_Si_Thammarat_Airport) here and one of the links there goes to World Aero Data site here (http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=TH00005&sch=VTSF), which says

Latitude 8.539617
08° 32' 22.62" N
Longitude 99.944725
099° 56' 41.01" E

This does of course assume they operate from that airport and not a dedicated heliport!