Petty Officer 1st Class
Pipatpoom Srikadkao, posthumously promoted to lieutenant commander.
Patcharapol Panrak
Family members are mourning the death of a
Sattahip-based Thai sailor who died of malaria while on an international
mission in Sudan.
Petty Officer 1st Class Pipatpoom Srikadkao died Aug.
17 in the Darfur region where 800 Thai troops were working in the joint
African Union/United Nations Hybrid Operation. Pipatpoom had telephoned
his wife, Nathakmol, only days before saying he was in the hospital
suffering from the flu.
The Royal Thai Navy posthumously promoted Pipatpoom
to lieutenant commander and will compensate the family with 2.3 million
baht. He is survived by two daughters, ages 1 and 4 months, and parents
Prayong and Khumsaenkhod Srikhudkhao in the northeast province of
Kalasin
The United Nations has arranged for Pipatpoom’s body
to be transferred to Thailand within a couple of days. The Navy said it
will also undertake additional precautions for troops still serving in
Africa.
Thailand’s Army chief planned to send the second
contingent from the Thai armed forces to Sudan on a humanitarian mission
on Aug. 19 as the first batch of Thai troops have completed their
mission and are gradually returning home.
Gen Theerawat Boonyapradap, deputy
commander-in-chief, chaired the teleconference with Col Narong Suankaew,
commander of the Thai-Darfur Task Force 980 in Sudan, who is ready to
hand over the task to Lt Col Narongrit Panikabutr who led the second
unit of Thai soldiers to take over the mission on Aug 22.
The Thai-Darfur Task Force 980 left Thailand for
Sudan on Dec. 4 on a mission to join UNAMID. Thai troops were tasked
with conducting patrols, providing protection to civilians, UN
facilities, convoys and the UN and other humanitarian workers, as well
as providing medical service. Their assignments will complement the
peace process in Darfur.
Gen Prayuth Chanocha, the army chief presided over
the send-off ceremony of the second batch of 812 soldiers at the 11th
Infantry Division Aug 19. The first batch of 203 Thai soldiers moved
from Mukjar to Nyala to prepare for the trip home Aug 20-21 while the
rest of troops will return later after the second batch is oriented and
learns to carry on the mission.
The family mourns the
passing of husband and father.
