"Put your life jacket on" - safety minded Pattaya officials act in wake of boat tragedy

 

 

Image: We Love Pattaya

 

We Love Pattaya reported on Facebook that officials at Bali Hai port in Pattaya were urging all boat passengers to wear life jackets for the trip over to Koh Lan. 

 

Boats were not allowed to leave until all passengers were properly suited and booted.

 

The move follows the Phoenix boat tragedy in Phuket when many Chinese tourists died several weeks ago.

 

The media was reporting on the long holiday weekend - it was the Asanha Bucha Buddhist holiday on Friday and Monday will be the substitution day off for HM the King's birthday today. 

 

They said that the port was full of tourists going over to Koh Lan and that prices were kept to the original 30 baht. 

 

Traffic was heavy in the whole Pattaya area and the beaches were full of tourists as families descended on the resort for the four day break. 

 

Source: We Love Pattaya

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-07-28

should of been this way from day 1

Thailand insists on'' Showboating  Optics'',with out a camera or a crowd..''why bother''

Some posters have suggested that the the life jackets in use are dangerous.

The concreate jackets works best to anchor the victims tourists securely to the boat.     

Where I  am from they have whale watching tours. All passengers on these boats have full body floatation well aboard. They could last for hours floating in the water.. The floatation is put on well still on the dock and taken off at the dock at return. They have it on the whole time they are on the boat. That is how it should be done.

Safety minded? Sorry but i do not think that condition is able to form in the Thai mind.

Bit late <deleted>, the Horse has already bolted !

Great idea, hope the life jackets are in proper working condition? TIT. 

3 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Bit late <deleted>, the Horse has already bolted !

And will continue to bolt.

Regarding the boat tragedy, wasn't one of the problems being that the lifejackets actually trapped people in the boat?  

54 minutes ago, HHTel said:

Regarding the boat tragedy, wasn't one of the problems being that the lifejackets actually trapped people in the boat?  

I think that  was more propaganda to help justify and place blame as the Thai's do so well.

Why did not the authorities enforce this 40 years ago ?   Slack

They just don't get it.... the idea of the lifejacket is to save lives.  If you have every person wearing a jacket on a vessel (as pictured) and there's  a collision / sinking or capsize the people sitting inside will more than likely go down trapped inside the vessel.  Do people traveling on ferries in countries around the world all wear lifejackets, the answer is no!  Lifejackets are made available and are usually fitted in float free boxes on the top deck.  If vessel goes down pax are able to egress to the water and then grab a jacket. Talk about knee jerk reaction form the authorities and as usual no thinking involved, just put everyone in a jacket and problem solved!

What you see on boats in Thailand  are only Buoyancy aids,

not true  life jackets. 

I wonder how many that die in these  accidents in the warm waters around Thailand are non swimmers ? most i would guess.

 

Ps. you don't need to swim if you have a real life jacket on.

 

Edited July 28, 20187 yr by stanleycoin

47 minutes ago, pattayadgw said:

They just don't get it.... the idea of the lifejacket is to save lives.  If you have every person wearing a jacket on a vessel (as pictured) and there's  a collision / sinking or capsize the people sitting inside will more than likely go down trapped inside the vessel.  Do people traveling on ferries in countries around the world all wear lifejackets, the answer is no!  Lifejackets are made available and are usually fitted in float free boxes on the top deck.  If vessel goes down pax are able to egress to the water and then grab a jacket. Talk about knee jerk reaction form the authorities and as usual no thinking involved, just put everyone in a jacket and problem solved!

 

In other words some officials make statements about where / when etc., of wearing lifejackets but know nothing whatever about the subject.

 

In fact I wonder if they did any research on this point? The answer is probably NO.

 

And is there an expect in the associated ministries, in any position on the subject? Doubtful.

 

And what happens tomorrow, next week, next month? Will there be any officers permenantly on hand at all these ports to actively monitor the subject? If not how can there be any check 'no lifejackets - cannot leave port'?

13 hours ago, lovelomsak said:

I think that  was more propaganda to help justify and place blame as the Thai's do so well.

It's quite accurate. Life jackets shouldn't be worn unless you are outside on the open deck.

If next time you're near a pool and there's a life jacket handy try putting it on, get in the pool and try to dive to the bottom.

Picture an enclosed boat doing a capsize and you'll get the idea of everyone stuck against the floor that is now the ceiling with the door below the surface.

Plus these life jackets have too much flotation on the back compared to the front meaning they are always trying to turn you face down inthe water. Not a good idea.

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by overherebc

14 minutes ago, overherebc said:

It's quite accurate. Life jackets shouldn't be worn unless you are outside on the open deck.

You ever been on a boat? It is not like being at your condo just take the lifejacket off at the door.. You put it on and wear it when need arises to do other wise is dangerous and life threatening. Also try putting on a life jacket when the sea is throwing you all over the boat. Hard enough just to orientate   where you can stand. No concept of the real sea conditions and life on a boat huh. 

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by lovelomsak

14 hours ago, HHTel said:

Regarding the boat tragedy, wasn't one of the problems being that the lifejackets actually trapped people in the boat?  

Maybe could happen if there was not an easy way out from the cabin structure. Perhaps bouyancy aids that would deploy immediately as an alternative? BUT for a boat where you are not restricted within a cabin e.g. a longboat, then I would definitely prefer to be wearing a suitable working life jacket.

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by lvr181
Spelling correction

39 minutes ago, lovelomsak said:

You ever been on a boat? It is not like being at your condo just take the lifejacket off at the door.. You put it on and wear it when need arises to do other wise is dangerous and life threatening. Also try putting on a life jacket when the sea is throwing you all over the boat. Hard enough just to orientate   where you can stand. No concept of the real sea conditions and life on a boat huh. 

None, no experience in any way.

Well there was one time living and sailing on a sea going yacht, small one though, only 8 metres long 4 berth for a period of about 8 months.

Oh nearly forgot, helicopter escape course a couple of times for North Sea work.

Stardard rules sunshine, inside no jacket but leave in easy reach, outside jacket on.

On a plane with inflatable jacket 'don't inflate until you are outside the ditched plane,'  I wonder why?

53 minutes ago, lvr181 said:

Maybe could happen if there was not an easy way out from the cabin structure. Perhaps bouyancy aids that would deploy immediately as an alternative? BUT for a boat where you are not restricted within a cabin e.g. a longboat, then I would definitely prefer to be wearing a suitable working life jacket.

As supplied on a plane, but the average dipsh-t tourist on a boat would put it on and immediately pull the tabs.

2 hours ago, overherebc said:

As supplied on a plane, but the average dipsh-t tourist on a boat would put it on and immediately pull the tabs.

Yes and guess what ?

Yes,  you got it, Nothing would happen.

Somchai, has sold off the C02 cartridge for scrap.

and used the salt tablet in the trigger ( auto inflation model ) on his Somtam. 

17 minutes ago, stanleycoin said:

Yes and guess what ?

Yes,  you got it, Nothing would happen.

Somchai, has sold off the C02 cartridge for scrap.

and used the salt tablet in the trigger ( auto inflation model ) on his Somtam. 

Or the captain used the cartridges to power the soda syphon to go with his JWB.

?

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by overherebc

On 7/28/2018 at 11:24 AM, lovelomsak said:

Where I  am from they have whale watching tours. All passengers on these boats have full body floatation well aboard. They could last for hours floating in the water.. The floatation is put on well still on the dock and taken off at the dock at return. They have it on the whole time they are on the boat. That is how it should be done.

In an open boat yes.

14 hours ago, natway09 said:

Why did not the authorities enforce this 40 years ago ?   Slack

Why couldn't people figure this out for themselves?

2 hours ago, Vacuum said:

Why couldn't people figure this out for themselves?

Because they are on holiday and nothing bad ever happens on holiday, does it?

OK, it might, but only to other people.

Making tourists don buoyancy aids before setting sale means the captain has less space aboard to cram victims in.

On 7/28/2018 at 11:50 AM, HHTel said:

Regarding the boat tragedy, wasn't one of the problems being that the lifejackets actually trapped people in the boat?  

Yes they can be dangerous if worn in a confined space or the boat overturns trapping them under a up-turned hull...

 

very rarely does a boat sink so quickly that passengers and crew have no time to put on life preservers, also in hot weather one is likely to perspire a lot more and do you think they will wash them before the next sailing???

 

The answer is:

1. There are more life preservers than the maximum number of passengers the boat is allowed to carry.

2. They have to be checked every day.

3. Safety briefing before every sailing.

4. During rough weather they must be worn.

5. Any incident passengers should be immediately instructed to put on life preservers straight away as a precaution.

6. boats should have Life preserver for children, people with special needs, and infants.

7. Most importantly boats should display a notice detailing the maximum number of passengers (also detailing the number infants,children and persons with special needs) and minimum crew requirements, also detailing the number of life preservers where they are stowed on the boat.

 

For crews failing to comply with the above, mega fines, loss of operator, Skipper and crew licences, boat impounded and even imprisonment. 

 

Inspections should be regular, random as well as intelligence lead, with facilities for passengers to make complaints to the authorities regarding any safety violation they see. 

They did the same thing after the passengerboat to Koh Larn sunk a few years ago.

 

We took another boat after that accident and ALL passengers had to wear their lifejacket before the boat would leave shore.

 

So in the few years after that they stopped wearing the jackets untill the next big disaster happened. Let's see how long it takes this time.