Tragedy!

 

Logging was big business in 1984 especially
in the Mae Sariang area where many Karen lived

A few days after returning from the time in Sanklaburi, it was time to head toward the town of Mae Sariang. From there, we would drive north to a large Karen village usually called Mae Rim. At Mae Rim, we’d leave the paved road and head up into the mountains to the village of Chaw Tee (or Huay Hawm in Thai). Chaw Tee was hosting the annual gathering of the Thailand Karen Baptist Convention and Karen Baptists were traveling from all over northwest Thailand to attend.

Since Mae Rim was the end of the paved road, it was quite the gathering place and there was a “sala” located there, a kind of a roofed resting place that served as bus/freight station while people waited for rides. As it happened, this sala and gathering place was on a curve in the paved road, at the bottom of a long downhill grade.

In 1984, logging was still big business in Thailand which was especially true in the heavily forested areas around Mae Sariang. Massive trucks overloaded with large logs held in place with heavy chains would creep up the mountain roads and then struggle to contain their speed on the downhill runs.

As we and Karen church members were happily making their way toward Mae Rim to join those already gathered there, a heavily loaded logging truck was making it’s way down the long hill and approaching the curve where the Mae Rim Sala was located.  Whether the brakes failed, it was just going too fast, or the chains holding the logs were too weak, I don’t know. But as the truck entered the curve, the chains failed, the truck and load turned over, and logs, 2 – 3 ft in diameter, 30 – 50 ft long spilled out mowing down those waiting along the road.

We arrived at the scene shortly after the logs spilled out. We could see someone still trapped under some logs but the logs were heavy enough and the person was obviously crushed so there was no attempt to move them.

Not the accident described in this post but a
smaller truck that crashed which is indicative
of the the Thai roads and highways which
could be treacherous.

Rupert Nelson was driving a Land Rover that had a winch on the front. The truck driver was still alive
but trapped in the cab which had gotten crushed in the accident. Rupert was able to use the winch to pry the truck cab apart enough that the driver was able to be freed. I don’t know what injuries the driver sustained, but at least one arm was ground up like hamburger. The driver was whisked away by friends partly to get medical treatment and partly to protect him from any revenge minded villagers.

Three Karen people died including some church leaders. Several more were injured. Needless to say, it put a damper on the spirit of the Karen Baptist Convention gathering. There were services to remember and mourn the loss of their church members. But I also remember that in a land where an accidental death usually brought fear and uncertainty, these Christians also had a spirit of relief and confidence in the saving Grace of Jesus. These memorial services had a spirit of celebrating the life of those that had passed as well as hope and gratitude for the eternal life offered in Jesus.