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Body Snatchers of Bangkok


Torneyboy

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National Geographic documentary

 

Called Body Snatchers of Bangkok

I saw the last part of this last night and wondering if anyone has some information on this service.

 

 

This group or ""unit"" of volunteers race to the scene of traffic accidents and rush the victim to hospitals.

 

They have no medical training,the doctors interviewed said they should get some training as they can do more harm than good when lifting a victim.

 

The doco focused on a girl of 13 that volunteers every night and goes to school in daytime.

 

They wore blue t-shirts with a badge on right arms,the vehicles didnt have sirens or flashing lights.

 

So when stuck in traffic some get out and run along the line of cars and have them move out of the way.

 

This young girl also cleaned up any bodies of unclaimed victims and then take the body to a temple for the Monks to bless and bury.

 

They had two utes/truck and went to many hit and runs and other traffic accidents.

 

All volunteers,where would they get the funding for this service?

 

Anyone know of this unit?

 

They also were giving food to the poor.

 

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There are two rival organisations in Bkk who split the city up into areas to work in. One is called por tek tung, forget the other. Por tek tung was founded in the 20's I think by a chinese man as a volutary group. People see it as a way of making merit by joining the patrols. In the past they have come under fire by taking photo's of bodies at the scene of accidents and selling them to newspapers, not sure if this is still the case.-peter

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Por Tek Tung and Ruam Katanyu Foundation. Por Tek has been around a long time and also runs a hospital and a university. Ruam Katanyu was founded in 1970 and also work together with certain hospital(s).

 

I read somewhere that both foundations are asked by the government to keep unclaimed bodies refrigerated for five years. They gotta have some seriously big freezers somewhere...

 

Anyhow, some more here:

 

BBC News Article

 

A google search show some more -- but not much more unfortunately...

 

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Hi Stray

 

Thanks for the info.

Only saw last 10-15 minutes and looked interesting.

Cameras followed them around and interviewd many doctors and police...as well as family members of the volunteers and victims.

Reading the link..appears there are rival groups...and fight over bodies at the scene :doah:

 

 

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It's often a wild chase to get first to the spot (or at least so it seems).

 

I saw some of it with my own eyes yesterday as some poor fellow got his head cracked open by a big Nissan on Rama IV Rd. In 15 minutes there were at 5-6 pick-ups in place. The crew from the first pick-up dumped him quickly in the truck and off they went. It all looked very unprofessional to me -- but perhaps the road victim already was as dead as one can be? ::

 

The guy that had hit him with his car was still at the scene though a bit away from the on-looker mob. He looked like 'just another day in the office', no signs of feelings what-so-ever, speaking in his cell-phone. :eek:

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Says torneyboy:

 

Crazy stuff..the guy could walk away ,sounds like the police were not at the scene. ::

 

The cops were there. They figured out the situation as follows:

 

Rich, important man = car driver.

Poor, not important man = dead

Case closed.

 

(to be fair I did see a police man jot down the cars registration number -- but no questioning of the driver or any possible witnesses)

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