43 foreign Phuket tourists saved after speedboat capsizes on way to Koh Phi Phi

[RJRS1301]

1 hour ago, ToddinChonburi said:

Wow they stuffed 43 people on that boat. Unreal

Hope they did not try to serve lunch or drinks on the journey, no room for a steward

[RJRS1301]

4 hours ago, apophyss said:

sam nam na !

 

 

Claims on travel insurance??

[RJRS1301]

40 minutes ago, onlybrad said:

Boating safety is atrocious in Thailand. What I would always carry on speedboats and other boats was an empty water bottle with cap. I figured if the boat was going down, one empty water bottle down my pants would provide just enough emergency buoyancy to keep me afloat until rescue.

Hope it is bloody big water bottle.

What about a life jacket??

I refuse to travel on any water transport without one

[ttrd]

9 hours ago, petedk said:

It will be interesting to see just why "water was getting into the boat". 

Overloaded or poor maintenance?

…. rather a combination of both and if we add to high speed, uncertified captain and poor trained staff then all 5 boxes are ticked and therefore an accident sooner or later was unavoidable….

Edited January 26, 2019 by ttrd

[ThaiWai]

"Ok krap, the snorkeling portion of the trip is being bumped up on the schedule, everyone grab a mask and snorkel"

[mike787]

No problem, it's just another typical day in the land of smiles...is anyone surprised they are naive.

[neeray]

12 hours ago, dpeti73 said:

All these speed boats are old piece of shit wondering not happening daily 

That’s quite a generalization on your part. I have owned and maintained boats for half a century. I think that qualifies my judgement a bit when I say that I have used these very same phi phi boats and didn’t see or experience anything that would qualify as “old piece of shit”. 

[balo]

15 hours ago, rooster59 said:

43 foreign tourists from Phuket have been saved after water started pouring into a speedboat they were travelling in and capsized on the way to Koh Phi Phi

Let me guess, they were Chinese?  

[AboutThaim]

17 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Pumps? You think they had pumps? ????

Huh?  Why you want to put pumps in boat?  Water on the outside not in boat.  Farang not smart!

[ChrisY1]

19 hours ago, petedk said:

It will be interesting to see just why "water was getting into the boat". 

Overloaded or poor maintenance?

Obviously a hole somewhere.....these things are crap from bow to stern!

[ChrisY1]

5 hours ago, neeray said:

That’s quite a generalization on your part. I have owned and maintained boats for half a century. I think that qualifies my judgement a bit when I say that I have used these very same phi phi boats and didn’t see or experience anything that would qualify as “old piece of shit”. 

Where the boats you used fibreglass or plywood?

[lonewolf99]

I looked closely at the way these "speed boats" are consrtucted in several boat builders in Jomtien/Pattaya area. Most are made of sheets of 12mm plywood covered in a thin fibreglass gel coat. If the gel coat is compromised with even a small scratch the plywood starts to suck in water and fail. The photo of the upturned boat shows a large sheet of ply has come clean off the hull

 

They should use "Marine plywood" but I doubt if they do as it is more expensive than normal household plywood. There is also no real integral strength in the design of these vessels and they end up carrying far more passengers than they are fit for.

They are also fitted with engines far too powerfull for them and driven as fast as possible into pounding waves. This is obvious when you see them aquaplaning when driven with no passengers on board at high speed. They are death traps waiting to eat their victims.

 

The main reason these boats are taken out of the water on a nightly basis is to let the plywood dry so that the boat can be used again the next day and fix any real obvious cracks with more fibreglass sheets and gel.

 

The trouble with modern "tourists" is that they find it "fun" doing things outside their boring daily lives, constantly taking selfies and never seeing the dangers around them in a place like Thailand on the roads and in the seas.

 

Lots of press coverage of the deaths of people on the roads in Thailand but I wonder if they totalled up the deaths/sinkings of marine craft they would be right up there with African ferries.......  and Africa is a continent not a small country that should do everything to protect paying visitors...........

 

 

[Bucko]

19 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Been a long time since I last heard the word plimsolls.

Maybe its about time to have Plimsoll Lines made law on these tourist boats ????

 

[bluesofa]

13 minutes ago, Bucko said:

Maybe its about time to have Plimsoll Lines made law on these tourist boats ????

 

Sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately here we can have as many laws as we like. Enforcing them is something more akin to science fiction.

 

[norfolkc]

Did this one slip through the inspection 

[ChipButty]

I have been on a few boats while living in Thailand and seen some dodgy ones and overloaded and I did get of one as it didn't look safe, now we only recommend one company to our guest and I have been on a few of their trips they are not overloaded and seem very professional in the way they run their business.

[indepth]

2 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

I have been on a few boats while living in Thailand and seen some dodgy ones and overloaded and I did get of one as it didn't look safe, now we only recommend one company to our guest and I have been on a few of their trips they are not overloaded and seem very professional in the way they run their business.

thanks for your informative post.

 

[meinphuket]

I am forced to have my car tested for road-worthiness annually, would it entirely defeat any modicum of logic to force boat operators in Phuket to do the same ?

[tifino]

1 minute ago, meinphuket said:

I am forced to have my car tested for road-worthiness annually, would it entirely defeat any modicum of logic to force boat operators in Phuket to do the same ?

to be seaworthy is a requirement,

to be floatworthy is an achievement

[bluesofa]

13 minutes ago, meinphuket said:

I am forced to have my car tested for road-worthiness annually, would it entirely defeat any modicum of logic to force boat operators in Phuket to do the same ?

How many fathoms can your car operate down to?

(sorry!)

[Old Croc]

[stevenl]

9 hours ago, lonewolf99 said:

I looked closely at the way these "speed boats" are consrtucted in several boat builders in Jomtien/Pattaya area. Most are made of sheets of 12mm plywood covered in a thin fibreglass gel coat. If the gel coat is compromised with even a small scratch the plywood starts to suck in water and fail. The photo of the upturned boat shows a large sheet of ply has come clean off the hull

 

They should use "Marine plywood" but I doubt if they do as it is more expensive than normal household plywood. There is also no real integral strength in the design of these vessels and they end up carrying far more passengers than they are fit for.

They are also fitted with engines far too powerfull for them and driven as fast as possible into pounding waves. This is obvious when you see them aquaplaning when driven with no passengers on board at high speed. They are death traps waiting to eat their victims.

 

The main reason these boats are taken out of the water on a nightly basis is to let the plywood dry so that the boat can be used again the next day and fix any real obvious cracks with more fibreglass sheets and gel.

 

The trouble with modern "tourists" is that they find it "fun" doing things outside their boring daily lives, constantly taking selfies and never seeing the dangers around them in a place like Thailand on the roads and in the seas.

 

Lots of press coverage of the deaths of people on the roads in Thailand but I wonder if they totalled up the deaths/sinkings of marine craft they would be right up there with African ferries.......  and Africa is a continent not a small country that should do everything to protect paying visitors...........

 

 

These boats are not taken out of the water at night.

You really have no clue.

[meinphuket]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

These boats are not taken out of the water at night.

You really have no clue.

Absolutely right, here in Phuket they are NEVER taken out of the water.

[chama]

On 1/26/2019 at 12:30 AM, petedk said:

It will be interesting to see just why "water was getting into the boat". 

Overloaded or poor maintenance?

I doubt we will ever know!