 "Photo: Wikipedia")
Five soldiers including a regional army commander have been killed in a helicopter crash in northern Thailand, the military said on Monday, a day after the chopper went missing in bad weather.
The UH-72 helicopter lost contact on Sunday while returning from Pai district in the mountainous northwest where it had been conducting flood relief operations, said junta spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree.
The northwest has suffered flash floods caused by heavy rainfall.
Major General Nopporn Ruanchan, commander of the army's 4th Infantry Division, was on board the helicopter along with two pilots and two technicians.
All were killed in the crash, Winthai added.
The helicopter came down near the city of Chiang Mai, close to Thailand's highest peak - a region that is difficult to access.
