It is time for Thailand to say "rest in peace" to nine people who were on board an Army Black Hawk helicopter that went missing in Phetchaburi province on Tuesday.
Among the dead were eight soldiers and Sornwichai Kongtannikul, a Channel 5 cameraman accompanying the team on a mission to retrieve the bodies of five victims of another helicopter crash last Saturday near the ThaiBurmese border.
Since Tuesday, Thais have been hopeful that those on board the second missing chopper were safe. Sadly, those hopes have been dashed.
Members of the media are mourning a beloved colleague. Sornwichai's photos have become profile pictures for many journalists on social media. Statuses have been updated to "rest in peace", along with other words of tribute.
The eyes of political news reporters and journalists who knew him overflowed with tears when they saw the bad news on television.
"I loved him so much. I felt as if he were my younger brother. We've worked together for years," said Wanrudee Yommawan, a politicalnews reporter for Channel 5 who worked with Sornwichai when he was in charge of political news. "I'm so sad after finding out that he died."
She said the channel had lost a valuable and hardworking team member. As well as being a cameraman, he could edit video and link signals to broadcast news via satellite.
Surakit Phinyachawanit, a Channel 5 news editor, said: "I felt as if everything around me stopped and became silent right after I heard confirmation of his death."
He said a team of Channel 5 staff had been sent to bring Sornwichai's body back from the forest.
Surakit said the channel would reward Sornwichai, following its regulations.
The News Broadcasting Council of Thailand and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association issued a statement praising him and mourning his death.
