Koh Samui: Search resumes this morning for missing Brit tourist who fell off a speedboat

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Officials in Koh Samui said that the search for a missing British tourist who fell off a speedboat while out on an island hopping tour will continue this morning.

 

The tourist was not named but is aged about 40. He was one of 8 tourists and crew who had set out from the pier at Koh Taen in Taling Ngam sub-district yesterday afternoon. 

 

Thai Rath reported that the man was sitting at the head of the speedboat without a life jacket when a wave hit and he fell in the sea.

 

District chief Kittiphop Rotdon the Koh Samui district chief and police mobilized the search after the alarm was raised around 6 pm. 

 

But as night fell darkness hampered the search operation. 

 

The search with Thai Royal Navy help including a helicopter and divers was due to resume at daybreak. 

 

Thai Rath said it was a case of negligence as tourists on boats should wear life jackets. 

 

The other tourists on the boat and the crew were helping police with their inquiries, they said. 

 

More about this as we hear of it. 

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

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2 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thai Rath said it was a case of negligence as tourists on boats should wear life jackets.  

People on motorbikes should wear helmets too, but with little enforcement they don't bother. Boat operators "should" ensure their passengers are wearing life jackets, but the same apathy towards laws and safety apply across the whole tourist industry and country.

56 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

People on motorbikes should wear helmets too, but with little enforcement they don't bother. Boat operators "should" ensure their passengers are wearing life jackets, but the same apathy towards laws and safety apply across the whole tourist industry and country.

In any situation where the passengers are in an enclosed space or cabin, wearing life jackets is effectively a death sentence. As in airplanes you should wait until actually in the sea before inflating it/putting it on. Remember the Phoenix tour boat that sank in Phuket last year? Nearly 50 people dead pinned to the ceiling of the cabin thanks to their life vests that they were told by the crew to put on when the ship started having problems in the storm.

 This is not equatable to helmets on a scooter.

@TopDeadSenter OP said he was in a speedboat.  He should have already had the lifejacket on.  Unless there was an inner compartment (completely encased).  Only then he would not have lifejacket on.

 

The real question is why didn't they stop the boat immediately as soon as the passenger fell off?????

6 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

In any situation where the passengers are in an enclosed space or cabin, wearing life jackets is effectively a death sentence. As in airplanes you should wait until actually in the sea before inflating it/putting it on. Remember the Phoenix tour boat that sank in Phuket last year? Nearly 50 people dead pinned to the ceiling of the cabin thanks to their life vests that they were told by the crew to put on when the ship started having problems in the storm.

 This is not equatable to helmets on a scooter.

I think that darksidedog makes valid judgments with which most of the expatriates that I know would agree.  Most of your post is irrelevant as it refers to persons trapped inside a boat or aircraft.  This man was said to be "sitting at the head of the speedboat" by which I presume they mean at the bow.  He was obviously not trapped inside or he would not have fallen off.

 

16 minutes ago, losername said:

I think that darksidedog makes valid judgments with which most of the expatriates that I know would agree.  Most of your post is irrelevant as it refers to persons trapped inside a boat or aircraft.  This man was said to be "sitting at the head of the speedboat" by which I presume they mean at the bow.  He was obviously not trapped inside or he would not have fallen off.

 

fair point, but I read it as a generalization. He said,quote "Boat operators "should" ensure their passengers are wearing life jackets".

 

 Can we agree, on a speedboat/open boat a life jacket should be worn. In an enclosed cabin such as Lomprayah/Seatran/Songserm/they should not be worn? So a legal rule that "all boat passengers should be wearing a life vest" would be counterproductive.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, losername said:

I think that darksidedog makes valid judgments with which most of the expatriates that I know would agree.  Most of your post is irrelevant as it refers to persons trapped inside a boat or aircraft.  This man was said to be "sitting at the head of the speedboat" by which I presume they mean at the bow.  He was obviously not trapped inside or he would not have fallen off.

 

falling off the front of a speedboat with possibly 3-4 big outboards operating at full tilt 

 

also he could have hit his head or any amount of permutations 

 

RIP

4 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

In any situation where the passengers are in an enclosed space or cabin, wearing life jackets is effectively a death sentence. As in airplanes you should wait until actually in the sea before inflating it/putting it on. Remember the Phoenix tour boat that sank in Phuket last year? Nearly 50 people dead pinned to the ceiling of the cabin thanks to their life vests that they were told by the crew to put on when the ship started having problems in the storm.

 This is not equatable to helmets on a scooter.

Regarding an airplane, partly true, you should put on your lifejacket but NOT inflate it until you are out of the plane.

 

6 hours ago, 4evermaat said:

@TopDeadSenter OP said he was in a speedboat.  He should have already had the lifejacket on.  Unless there was an inner compartment (completely encased).  Only then he would not have lifejacket on.

 

The real question is why didn't they stop the boat immediately as soon as the passenger fell off?????

They probably did but if he went under quickly they couldn't find him... after a while it might have made sense to get the others back to land before dark.
However a radio or telephone call could have got a search party underway quicker?

Probably got hit by the prop

how they couldn't immediately find him in daylight is beyond me? Unless of course he sank like a stone, which is highly unlikely

If you are driving a public vessel (speedboat) why would you allow someone to sit on the bow/front and then not notice he was gone. Maybe they nothing about boats.

9 hours ago, 4evermaat said:

@TopDeadSenter OP said he was in a speedboat.  He should have already had the lifejacket on.  Unless there was an inner compartment (completely encased).  Only then he would not have lifejacket on.

 

The real question is why didn't they stop the boat immediately as soon as the passenger fell off?????

I keep thinking I have missed something , yes why didn't they stop and pick him up , something doesn't add up.

What good do all the expert assumptions do? A fact is that TH has a miserable record in any safety aspects. Just been to a large resort in Kota Kinabalu. Daily dozends of large speed tourboats with hundreds of Asians. Very well organized tours, boarding by name, everybody safety instructed and sitting down. Prof. guides and drivers. No screaming nutcases. Clean, daily maintained and checked boats. Prof. harbormaster. It is very well possible to run an operation safely, certainly not here. RIP. MS>

Guess the safety crackdown is over?