Phuket officials inert as fishing boat breaks apart at tourist beach

 

The Chok Mong fishing boat continues to break apart at Nai Yang Beach, with fuel and large pieces of wood being dangerously tossed ashore. Photo: Supplied

 

PHUKET:-- Officials today confirmed they will do nothing about the large pieces of wood being dangerously tossed about in the surf at Nai Yang Beach after a fishing boat foundering in strong winds and waves ran aground, broke apart and sank in the bay on Friday (July 13).

 

Marine officials confirmed on Saturday that the Chok Mong fishing boat with five people on board was pushed off its anchor and onto rocks after 11am.

 

The five on board put on life jackets and abandoned ship, jumping in to the relatively shallow water and making it safely to shore.

 

Full Story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-officials-inert-as-fishing-boat-breaks-apart-at-tourist-beach-67903.php#7tAXSpj9GKeXgGC7.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2018-7-16

Yup, too many tourists must be Thailand's problems.

 

Oh well, form another "committee" to look at the problem.

9 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

Yup, too many tourists must be Thailand's problems.

 

Oh well, form another "committee" to look at the problem.

Which is connected to the topic how?

26 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Which is connected to the topic how?

I'll spell it out for you. Something bad happens (typically due to corruption (i.e funds intended for implementation/enforcement/equipment, etc. are diverted), lack of enforcement, or just plain incompetence and instead of someone in charge taking responsibility, a "committee" is formed in order to "explore" solutions. (See the recent response to the Phoenix sinking, resulting in the deaths of ~50 tourists.) The Thais are great at blaming others/foreigners for their problems but not so good accepting blame when it's due. The best they can do is the "committee" thing. It's also a reference to a recent thread on TV where the Thais blame many of their environmental woes on too many foreign tourists.

 

Look, I love Thailand and its people, and having lived here now for just a year, I'm still a newbie, but I've been married to a Thai for 10 yrs. and I've learned a little bit. I'm no expert but know about some of the negatives of Thai culture/society, the biggest being "Face" (both the fear of losing it and causing others to lose it) resulting in the lack of progress needed for a developing country.

 

I wouldn't be so critical of the country if I didn't love it. It just saddens me to hear from old hands and to see with my own eyes, the degradation of so much of this country's natural beauty.

3 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

I'll spell it out for you. Something bad happens (typically due to corruption (i.e funds intended for implementation/enforcement/equipment, etc. are diverted), lack of enforcement, or just plain incompetence and instead of someone in charge taking responsibility, a "committee" is formed in order to "explore" solutions. (See the recent response to the Phoenix sinking, resulting in the deaths of ~50 tourists.) The Thais are great at blaming others/foreigners for their problems but not so good accepting blame when it's due. The best they can do is the "committee" thing. It's also a reference to a recent thread on TV where the Thais blame many of their environmental woes on too many foreign tourists.

 

Look, I love Thailand and its people, and having lived here now for just a year, I'm still a newbie, but I've been married to a Thai for 10 yrs. and I've learned a little bit. I'm no expert but know about some of the negatives of Thai culture/society, the biggest being "Face" (both the fear of losing it and causing others to lose it) resulting in the lack of progress needed for a developing country.

 

I wouldn't be so critical of the country if I didn't love it. It just saddens me to hear from old hands and to see with my own eyes, the degradation of so much of this country's natural beauty.

Which has all nothing to do with the topic.

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Which has all nothing to do with the topic.

If you can't see that, then the rose-tinting on your glasses has made them completely opaque.

How about pulling their finger out and trying to salvage and remove all pollutants from it.nah just let it sit there polluting and rotting in the sea and be a danger to swimmers.what a lazy bunch of people that need to be fired pronto.also the boat owner needs to be involved as he's dumped the thing there.you can't drop a ciggy but on a beach but you can dump things like this.

12 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

If you can't see that, then the rose-tinting on your glasses has made them completely opaque.

Post in some of the other topics and it would be on topic. I would disagree, but on topic.

 

10 hours ago, stevenl said:

Which has all nothing to do with the topic.

While you also post a response, (and me), that has nothing to do with the topic either!

 

Another 'El Pratto' critic!

Maybe it's just another tourist attraction in the making: 

 

"Visit our weekly Thai-style Titanic spectacle" with sinking fishing and dive boats, burning and exploding tourist boats. We are now painting some riffs in white color in order to come closer to the original.

Now hiring musicians for an on board orchestra. Only trained swimmers need to apply.  

Nai Yang popular for kite surfing this time of year.  Let's hope no serious injuries occur due to this fiasco.

This is about a fishing boat parked in the wrong place in a storm when it dragged the anchor and went aground because the crew were asleep or drunk. Fishermen have been running aground for centuries. It has nothing to do with the current tragedies involving unseaworthy tourist boats.

 

For those unfamiliar with Phuket and seasonal monsoon conditions on the west coast, boats foundering on the beaches is far from unusual. I remember some years back a pack of yachts involved in a regatta ended up on Kata Beach. And one time  a call went out on Thaivisa for members to converge on Patong Beach to help push a yacht off the sand. For the nostalgic:

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/126725-boat-aground-in-patong/

 

The problem, highlighted again with this fishing boat, is that no one will take responsibility, they generally just order the boat owners to clean up their own mess.

Neither the Marine agency nor local authorities want to get involved if there isn't a buck to be made so it just gets passed.

 

Following up on this, talked with a friend that is regularly at Nai Yang kiting.  

 

He says the fishings net are just floundering about, and has already caused a number of crashes to those kiting.  Furthermore, there has been a large number of turtles in the area, so having nets indiscriminately floating around snaring turtles and fish isn't good.  Also reports of a lot of diesel leaking from this vessel.

 

All in all, not a good scenario for the local gov't to sit on their hands and do nothing.  How about a large fine for the boat owner as would happen in most countries for something like this.  

15 hours ago, stevenl said:

Which has all nothing to do with the topic.

What you missed the first paragraph. Try reading the post not just skimming

4 hours ago, Aupee said:

What you missed the first paragraph. Try reading the post not just skimming

No, I did not.

If we just had a submarine we could torpedo it.  Job done.

 

On 7/17/2018 at 12:35 AM, stevenl said:

Which has all nothing to do with the topic.

 

"Phuket officials inert" - suggests Phuket officials are doing nothing about marine safety here, despite recent events.

 

 https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/inert