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from Diva Asia's website

http://www.diveasia.com/blog/2009/03/mv-di...cidentfrom.html :

Accident Chronology

On the 8th of March at about 5:30PM the MV Dive Asia departed from the

Similan Islands in perfect weather conditions for a routine return to

Phuket. There was great visibility, very light winds with no noticeable waves.

10:26PM

A guest sent an SMS to her family telling them that she was already

on the way back to Phuket, where she would disembark in the morning, and

that the weather had been perfect with no rain during the entire trip.

10:50PM

After entering a sudden thunderstorm, the boat was hit by a vortex

and capsized. There were no high waves. The wind was why the boat capsized.

This happened so quickly and without warning that not even an alarm could be

sounded. On board were 30 people:

8 Thai Crew

3 Dive Guides

19 Guests of various nationalities

The boat sank within one minute, but 23 of the 30 people on board were able

to leave the sinking ship. The two life rafts on board deployed, and after a

while, all 23 people were able to get on the life rafts.

The survivors searched for the missing people, but could not find anybody.

After about 45 minutes the sea was calm again, and the life rafts drifted.

Two sailing boats passed close to the life rafts, but did not respond to the

red signal flares fired.

March 9th 8:00AM

Benno Brandon arrived at Chalong Pier in order to meet the boat and greet

the guests, and also to have breakfast with them before they disembarked.

Arriving at the end of the pier, he saw that the boat was not there.

After calling all the boat's numbers and trying to contact the boat by

radio, he contacted his partner Juergen Schenker to check if there was any

information about why the boat arrival back to port was delayed.

Realizing that something was wrong, we notified the authorities through our

Thai Manager Ms. Wimonrat Bangthao at around 8:30AM. We then started our own

search for the boat by speed boat and also from land from the top of a

nearby mountain.

Our last contact with the boat had been around 10:00PM, and the boat had

been between the airport and Patong beach at the time. The authorities

started a search also, but with no result.

March 9th around 1:00PM

The Dive Asia office received a call from tour leader Daniel Brunner, who is

one of the survivors. He called from a fisherman's mobile phone to inform us

of his location, and that 23 survivors had been picked up by a local

fisherman. We notified the authorities, and a Thai Marine Police boat went

to pick up the survivors.

The 23 people arrived at 4:30PM in the deep seaport in Ao Makham. They were

exhausted, dehydrated and sunburned, with minor scraps and cuts, but none of

the survivors had major injuries.

Missing at the time were:

1 Thai National (our cook)

1 Japanese (Guest)

3 Austrians (Guest)

2 Swiss (Guest)

It was wrongly reported that some of the missing guests were German.

March 10th

The search for the missing 7 people continued. The body of one person was

found and returned to Ao Makham.

The approximate location where the boat sunk was pinpointed near Patong

Beach. A dive team from Deep Blue Divers checked the location and found debris

confirming that the wreck was close, but did not locate the wreck itself.

The depth is in the area is around 70 meters. Later that night, the Thai

Navy identified two possible locations and wrongly assumed that the wreck

was broken in half.

March 11th

The search for the still missing six persons continued. Joerg and Andreas

from Deep Blue Divers and Ben from the SSS chamber made a dive to confirm the

location of the wreck, as well as to check the wreck to determine how many

guests might still remain on board.

They found four people still in their cabins, but due to the depth of the

wreck and time restraints, recovery was not possible at the time.

The search for the still missing two people continued. The missing were our

Thai cook and a guest from Japan.

March 12th

A dive team consisting of Joerg and Andres from Deep Blue Divers, Ben from the SSS

Chamber and Mathew from Pro Tech Diving College made a dive and recovered

the four people found the day before, and also search the boat further for

the two still missing people. They found the Japanese guest and returned to

the surface. The Thai Marine Police returned the remains to Ao Makam.

The search for our missing cook continued.

March 13th

The dive team made a further search of the boat and the surrounding waters,

but were unable to locate our missing cook. Personal effects of the people

on board were recovered. While the dive team was still in decompression, we

were informed that a search helicopter spotted a body in the water 22 miles

south of the wreck location. A police boat was dispatched. In the evening we

were informed that the recovered body was our missing cook.

Everyone on board was accounted for. We are very sad and distraught over

this tragedy. Our hearts are with the families of the deceased, and we

grieve with them.

Many of you expressed your support for us, and we are very thankful for

this. It is heartwarming to have Mona come by our office with big bag of

sandwiches because you don't have time to eat, or to hear that Rene from Sea

Fun Divers had been filling 50% oxygen bottles for Ben in the dive team free

of charge. Also others like Franz of Blue Dolphin deserve our special thanks

for organizing and conducting their own search for the missing.

Profile from Dani's D6 (Dive Computer) On March 8

22:48 goes into dive mode

22:49 depth 2m

22:50 depth 2m

22:50:30 depth 57 meter

22:51 depth 68 meters

The whole notion of visa control on where people can and cannot live is archaic - allowing the world's population free movement wherever they wish is the only way to slowly share the wealth of the world more evenly. At the moment it is all about money and has nothing to do with peoples rights - if you are comparatively rich enough you can go to a poorer country and live like a king - if you are poor, then you are stuck where you are! Of course while people still believe that "nationality" is a good thing then each country will selfishly continue to cherry pick who they share their wealth with.

I agree 100 %

Does anyone have any advice where to buy a Luggage Trolley like the one herearound Koh Phangan or Koh Samui? I'm only looking for an empty trolly without any bag or case and like the one here it should be strong enough to carry up to 30 kgs.

Thanks for any help!

Maybe the OP's problem was that he asked for a "double entry tourist visa" and on top of that he is Swiss (a non-Schengen and non-EU country...)?

I was prepared for trouble because of the double entry tourist visa, but I didn't even have a chance to request it... The residency question was the first thing I was asked, just after I said that I was there for a tourist visa.

I don't think that being Swiss is relevant in this case, although my Swiss passport could be seen on the table. Besides that I think that the EU and Schengen are no Thai issues, Switzerland has special treaties with the EU which include free movement of people, that's why in EU airports the Swiss can use the "EU lanes" for immigration checks. Switzerland is on the way of becoming a "Schengen country".

(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland_a..._European_Union)

As a Brit.

Brussels would not, Rome did, Amsterdam said they would (but then I got it in Rome so I didn't actually try).

OK, just like in SE Asia, there seem to be "good" and "bad" Thai Embassies in Europe...

Therefore stay away from

Athens

Brussels

... where else?

And the morale of this story…

Question: Are you a resident in <country name>?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: For the duration of your stay in <country name>, even if only for a short time to visit friends, you may consider yourself a resident of that country.

--

Maestro

Yes, I very much agree and I am even thinking about trying my luck again at the Thai Embassy in Athens, hoping that next time someone else who hasn't heard my initial answer yet will ask me that residency question. ;-)

I went to the Thai Embassy in Athens, Greece in order to apply for a double entry tourist visa today. The Greek employee in the visa section there asked me if I was a resident of Greece. I am not (I am Swiss, living partly in Thailand, currently visiting friends in Greece, travelling BKK-ATH-BKK), therefore I honestly said "no" and this was already the end of my visa application, before even getting a form...:

The employee told me that there was a regulation for Europe that Thai visas could only be issued for residents of the respective country by Thai Embassies and consulates in Europe, therefore I couldn't get any visa in Athens. Only the countries surrounding Thailand would issues visas to non-residents of these countries.

I have never heard or read anything like that.

Does anyone know if this is a special Athens thing or if it is a general, rather new Thai regulation? I am quite sure that the practice isn't (or at least wasn't) the same all over Europe.