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Hostages recall fears during embass

Subject: Hostages recall fears during embassy crisis

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<font size=5>Hostages recall fears during embassy crisis<br>
</font><font size=3>BEING in the wrong place at the wrong time meant the
fate of 38 people held hostage in the Burmese embassy hung in the balance
under the guns of their captors for 25 hours, during which they feared
they might never get out alive. <br>
At the height of the crisis, their chances of survival depended
precariously on the mercy of the group's leader, whose temperament
constantly fluctuated in the volatile situation. <br>
One of the Thai hostages, however, became quietly convinced that he and
the others would survive when he heard something one of the captors said.
<br>
''He told me he was sorry for scaring us. He said the group would not
harm Thai hostages because 'we have the same father, His Majesty the
King''', recalled Chaiya Lohayanajaree, an employee of Thai Airways
International. <br>
Chaiya was among 38 people who were taken hostage when a group of armed
Burmese students raided Rangoon's embassy in central Bangkok in broad
daylight last Friday. Another 51 people had hidden in the compound, too
frightened to leave before the gunmen left and the drama had ended. 
<br>
He said he had not been sure about his safety until he heard what one of
the captors, who used the Thai name ''Preeda'', told him about his group
sharing with the Thai people a high respect for the King. <br>
Chaiya and three other hostages -- Prasert Leung-aramvej, Noppadol
Saengsurat and Babi Tin, a Burmese woman -- yesterday recounted their
ordeal to ''The Nation News Talk'' TV programme. <br>
Chaiya described Preeda as a young man with a good humour, who liked to
say funny things and tease his friends. <br>
''He seemed to be No 2 after the group leader, Johnny,'' he said. <br>
Chaiya said the situation was initially tense with the captors obviously
stressed and nervous. The tension gradually eased after some
conversations between the group and the hostages, he said. <br>
On the night of the hostage drama, hand grenades carried by Johnny and
Preeda accidentally dropped on the carpeted floor several times, leaving
all the captives frightened, Chaiya recounted. <br>
''We were badly scared, fearing the grenades would go off. Fortunately,
they didn't and Preeda once told us that they would not explode,'' he
said. <br>
Chaiya added that the captors and the hostages they held in one of the
embassy buildings had not been aware that there were many other people
hiding in other buildings in the compound. <br>
''They only learned that there were many other people in the embassy when
they were leaving the next morning and they saw them coming out,'' he
said. <br>
Prasert, manager of Shinta Trading 1971 Co Ltd, said five armed men had
held him and other people hostage at the embassy, but the captors told
them that they were part of a group of 12. <br>
The captors later said there were only five of them when they agreed to
free the hostages in exchange for a helicopter flight to the Thai-Burmese
border. <br>
''Some of us first thought of persuading other hostages to overpower the
five and flee, but we didn't do that since we feared the other seven they
claimed could be downstairs,'' Prasert recounted. <br>
Prasert, who helped liaise between the captors and the Thai authorities,
described Johnny as having a mercurial temperament and being in full
command of the group. <br>
''He seemed to be the only one in the group with weaponry skills. His
temper changed quickly and he became irritated and moody easily,'' he
said. <br>
In the embassy building that night, the situation became tense when
somebody faxed a note written in Thai threatening to kill the group of
students instead of capturing them alive. One of the students tried to
reach the sender by calling the number showed on the copy but failed to
make contact, Prasert said. <br>
The most critical moment of the entire drama, Prasert said, was when the
hostage-takers were anxiously waiting for the helicopter to pick them up
at the embassy. The landing place was first changed to the nearby Bangkok
Christian College, and finally to the Armed Forces Preparatory School at
Sathorn Intersection after the chopper was unable to land at the embassy.
<br>
''The students were so nervous, thinking they had been tricked to come
out in the open. Johnny then pulled out the safety pin of a hand grenade
and said he was ready for a gun battle,'' Prasert continued. <br>
In a fit of anger, Johnny punched and broke a glass window in the embassy
building. However, this crucial moment passed without any further
incident after the helicopter pilot hovered over the embassy lawn to show
the hijackers that the space was too small for landing, according to
Prasert. <br>
He said he had once asked Preeda whether he feared for his life in
defying the Thai authorities and seizing the embassy. The man said he was
prepared to die fighting for democracy in Burma. <br>
''He said his real target was Burmese diplomats, not other hostages. And
some of the hostages later became sympathetic with the students,''
Prasert said. <br>
Prasert said he and the other captives had spent a sleepless night at the
embassy as they feared that police commandos would storm the compound.
<br>
''That means both sides would have exchanged fire and some hostages could
have been killed. Fortunately, it did not happen,'' he said. <br>
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