NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: Aviation authorities are working to determine the origin of a large chunk of plane debris which washed up on the shores of Pak Phanang yesterday morning.
Big catch: Fishermen lead authorities to the debris they found yesterday morning on a beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Pak Phanang district.
While Nakhon Si Thammarat residents thought they had stumbled across a piece of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which vanished nearly two years ago, authorities said it would take another day or two to determine exactly what type of plane the piece belonged to.
Tha Phraya village chief Pramote Ruangdit said yesterday military officers would only say the piece, measuring about three metres and weighing about 100kg, was part of the nose section of an aircraft and could be large enough to belong to an international passenger jet.
Soldiers from the Wachirawut military camp inspected the object and sent photographs to air force and aviation authorities.
Pak Phanang district chief officer Thanyapat Pattikongpan said he was told the results of the investigations would be available within the next two days.
Mr Thanyapat said military officers would attempt to determine how long the part had been in the Gulf of Thailand.
The object was discovered by fishermen Wilai Charoenkhun and Somsak Sinchoo as they were preparing their boats yesterday morning.
They said the object had washed ashore about 30 metres away from their boats.
Mr Pramote said the fishermen at first thought the debris was boat wreckage, but on closer inspection they realised it was part of a plane. They moved it to a nearby house until authorities arrived.
Barnacles had accumulated on the surface of the debris, although some wiring could be seen intact. The fishermen said, based on the barnacles, they believed it had been in the water for about a year, leading them to speculate it belonged to the plane which disappeared in March 2014 with 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard.