Thailand’s Latest Armed Resistance: Noise Fighters Of UURFAAN

If you dare to leave Thailand from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport on February 23rd, chances are you get acquainted with the “United Urban Rocket Front Against Airport Noise” (UURFAAN).

Based on the beautiful tradition of the Bun Bang Fai rocket festival in beautiful Yasothon, residents of Suvarnabhumi take Yasothon’s craft into real-life-action. They announced that they may “accidentally” shoot down commercial airliners. Unless they’re paid hard cash compensation money for noise pollution.

If you leave Bangkok on the 23rd, book a window seat, as you may witness the most spectacular pyrotechnic show of handmade rockets shooting by outside ever seen at an international airport.

As UURFAAN threatened to fire real handicrafted Isaan rockets into the airport’s sky – probably towards those deafening aircraft that rob the sleep of formerly constantly sleeping communities.

“We plan to seize the sky from our homes,” Somchart Manathamsombat said chillingly, a key leader of the 32 noise-affected UURFAAN-communities – unless residents are at long last paid the compensation money promised by the previous government for noise pollution.

After a long wait for the promised money, URFAAN decided to prod the new government with scarier weapon, local fireballs or bang fai.

Encouraged by a recent first successful resistance action, when the threat to float balloons up the flight path led to the grounding of all flights, the “time for bigger weaponry has come,” an UURFAAN resistance source was quoted as saying.

“Luckily,” the Bangkok Post reported back then, “airport authorities had observed the action. They grounded all flights for more than two hours, and diverted incoming airliners away from Suvarnabhumi. There were no lives lost.

“While in these hours rocket makers are brought in from northeastern Yasothon, whose massive bung fai are capable of soaring hundreds of meter into the sky, last minute negotiations between UURFAAN and Airports of Thailand (AoT) are aimed at preventing rocket launches with probable catastrophic consequences.

“Yes, we are concerned about the possible chaos and ruining the country’s image,” UURFAAN leader Somchart Manathamsombat told a press conference.

“Please understand that we have no authority to stop any of the residents who were told only lies by the AoT. We will not be responsible for any action that may be taken on the day. It is an individual decision to protect his or her own rights.”

Security forces are currently trying to prevent the influx of large blue PVC tubes into the resistance areas – tubes that are used as the main structure of the rockets built by the feisty farmers of Yasothon.

Government spokeswoman Supraporn Mairuulueang though seemed unimpressed: “We welcome the strong sense of justice made public by UURFAAN and the affected communities. But as time goes by they will be totally deaf. We’re therefore increasing flight traffic over the affected areas to accelerate the process of deafening.”

Khun Supraporn is confident that due to the visionary approach of the authorities “soon no further action will be needed – not even talks. As they’ll not understand anything anyway.”