Thai DCA despatches two aviation experts to examine debris at Thai beach

Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) will despatch two aviation experts to Nakhon Si Thammarat tomorrow to further analyse the suspected aircraft debris found at the southern province's coast yesterday.

Its deputy director-general, Amphawan Wannako said the department, with the support of Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) officers would also airlift the debris to Bangkok tomorrow.

She said the airlift of the debris would most probably be carried out by an RTAF aircraft, most probably on board the Hercules C-130 medium lift transport aircraft.

Local villagers living off the coast of southern Thai's province yesterday reported the discovery of a large metal object, measuring two metres wide and three metres long, suspected to originate from a plane.

The find, off the shore of southern Thailand has prompted the country's media to speculate the debris might be linked to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished during a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, two years ago.

There were 239 passengers and crew on board Flight MH370 before its flight path was believed to have ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

In Langkawi today, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said there was no confirmation yet that a suspected aircraft wreckage was found in southern Thailand.

However, he has asked Malaysian DCA director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman to contact the Thai authorities for more information and confirmation.

Meanwhile, Amphawan said, despite seeing the photos that went viral of the suspected aircraft debris in southern Thailand, she was unable to determine if the debris came from a civilian or military aircraft.

Pak Phanang's district police officer, Police Sub Lt It Paijit Pongkaew said three RTAF officers from its southern base inspected the debris this evening but did not reveal any information.