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Thai Airways Flight 679’s runway excursion was probably not due to pilot or equipment error.
Unlike Asiana Flight 214’s fatal landing mishap at SFO last month, Thai Airways 679, that skidded off the runway at Suvarnabhumi a week ago Sunday, did not result in any fatalities. How each airport handled their investigation into the crashes differs too. While in San Francisco authorities immediately began looking for technical reasons for the crash, in Thailand they’ve opted for a slightly different course of action. The managing director of Thai Airways, Sorajak Kasemsuvan, has said that his company will conduct a major ceremony to appease the malevolent spirits said to be haunting Suvarnabhumi airport. The ceremony will also thank the spirits for assisting with the successful operation to salvage the Thai Airways plane from the runway. In San Francisco they are attributing their crash to pilot error. In Bangkok it’s the evil spirits who call Suvarnabhumi their home who are to blame.
Soon after the Airbus 330-300 suffered its ‘runway excursion’, a passenger claimed to have spotted a woman thought to be a cabin crew member in a traditional outfit helping evacuate people from the plane. A traditional outfit is worn by female cabin crew during flight, but they typically switch to the airline’s skirt and blouse uniform before landing. The crew of Flight 679 insist that none among them were wearing the traditional outfit when the accident took place. An Airports of Thailand (AOT) source said some airport fire brigade and emergency response personnel claimed to have seen a woman in traditional dress shuffling into and out of their office, causing crackling in their radio transmissions too.
Spirit worship is probably the oldest form of religion in the world, and when Buddhism came to Southeast Asia, it developed alongside the ancient spirit worship already in place. Today many of the beliefs remain intertwined with Buddhism and form part of everyday life for Thai people. And Suvarnabhumi is no stranger to ghostly problems.
One of eight spirit houses at Suvarnabhumi.
Chotisak Asapawiriya, the former CEO of Airports of Thailand, said that before Suvarnabhumi opened a number of airport staff saw a woman in traditional costume and heard a mysterious woman’s voice on the eastern runway where the accident happened. Chotisak says that he used to organize a regular, weekly prayer session to appease the vengeful spirits at Suvarnabhumi. Rumors of occasional ghostly sightings have been around since the first foundation brick was laid at the airport many years ago.
In response to a plague of problems during construction, back in 2006 when the airport opened the AOT held a religious rite to ward off evil spirits, replete with 99 monks chanting en masse to improve the luck of the new airport. Halfway through the rite, an official in charge of searching for explosive materials went into a trance and began to speak in a commanding voice claiming to be Phor Kae Ming, a guardian spirit of the land partially developed into the airport. The spirit demanded that a proper spirit house be built at the airport to allow for its smooth operation. Since then eight shrines have been built around Suvarnabhumi to ward off evil spirits. Expect another to be built soon.
Less spooky was the ceremony held in 2009 in preparation for the relocation of twelve giant guardian statues which had been installed in the airport’s arrival hall. The relocation, which cost $54,785, was unoffically due to complaints from airport staff who blamed the demon statues for bringing bad luck. Replicas of the yaksha demon warrior statues found at The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the status were moved to the check-in area “to give passengers and other people the chance to appreciate the statues’ beauty” according to the AOT.
Guardian demons need the right home too.
In Thailand, the spirits must always be appeased. So too with the royal family. Originally, the airport’s authorities wanted to place the Suphanahongse Royal Barge inside the airport to honor His Majesty the King. But then it was suggested that the swamp area that Suvarnabhumi was built on might not be appropriate to house the Royal Barge. The large scene of The Churning of the Milk Ocean you see when exiting the security checkpoint at the International Departures hall was erected in its place.
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Interesting story, but not quite up to the detailed analysis indicative of Fountainhall’s reports. Fortunately, I heard he has unexpectedly retired of late. Thanks for the ghost story. A Thai friend accompanied me to the old Chinese Cemetery, near Chong Nonsi BTS, but he would not enter. The cemetery monuments included photos of the departed making for an interesting experience. I enjoy talking about Phi with my friends and want to take them to see the Pee Mak movie which is an adaptation of the Mae Nak story.
LOL
Yup it must be killing him that he’s still sulking and missed a chance to post a dissertation on the safety record of the Airbus 330-300!
I tried hitting that graveyard with Noom once. It was a no go. He has no problem when there are burial spots at a wat, but refuses to go to those that are just a cemetery. Shame. I love visiting old graveyards!
“In Thailand, the spirits must always be appeased.”
Someday, if I ever get to the Kingdom, I’ll respect the spirits and pay homage to all of them at G.O.D. and Screw Boys. My spirits being Johnny Walker, Jim Beam, Jack Daniel, and, oh, what the hell, Jose Cuervo!
Phew . . thought you were gonna forget Jose there for a moment!
It really has to be a blessing if you can believe in easy solutions and it must be much less complicated then hearing technical reports and developing new materials to fix them. A shire also looks much better than a new battery or tyre.
Well geeze Dekar! They already have to repair that plane’s skin where they blacked out the logo and ID number so no one would know it was a Thai Airways plane that crashed !