Solider Killed After Falling off Cliff While on Border Patrol

On Sunday, one soldier died and another was seriously injured after falling off a high cliff while on duty patrolling the border for drug traffickers near Doi Montha in northern Thailand.

Col Sirichan Ngathong, the spokesman for the armed forces in Mae Sot, said soldiers from the Naresuan Force were recently sent to search for illegal migrants on Doi Montha mountain in Ban Huai Mai Hang. The two fell off the cliff early in the morning while on patrol.

The cliff rises to a height of 1,057 metres above sea level. It took nearly four hours for a team of rescue workers to reach the fallen soldier on foot. It also took another two hours for them to reach the dead soldier on the rocks below.
During the rescue operation, the rescue team located Sgt Chakkrit Prayoon, 29, who had earlier radioed for assistance from the base and was injured. Exactly why the soldier fell is unclear.

The second soldier, Sgt Maj 1st Class Watchara Muangmee, 31, was found dead after hitting rocks 70 metres below the cliff’s edge.

Before the accident occurred, the unit was on patrol for signs of illegal drug trafficking out of Myanmar.

The army has since reached out to the soldier’s families to offer assistance.

Read: Soldiers in Chiang Rai Province Seized 5 Million Meth Pills

In other northern Thailand news, soldiers reported approximately 1,000 Myanmar migrants are camped along the Myanmar-Thailand border at various points, according to the Aid Alliance Committee, a Thai migrants group.

Since the military ousted the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb 1, the country has been in turmoil with protests and clashes between anti-junta militias and the army.

Last week, fighting erupted between the Karen National Union, Myanmar’s oldest rebel group, and the military, forcing thousands to flee the Karen state.

While some crossed the narrow river between Myanmar and Thailand by boat, others waded through chest-high water while carrying children.