Swedes in Thailand: Holiday Nightmare

[webfact]

20-year-old Linnea Pakermo has been traveling around Thailand for two months with her friend. For Christmas, they would spent the holiday with her friend’s family, who came to Thailand to visit.

 

But on 24 December, water started taking over the boat that was supposed to transport them to the island Koh Lanta.

 

The boat looked brand new and felt safe, Linnea told Dagbladet Express. There were big waves which hit the boat, and an hour later, passengers heard a strong sound. Water was entering the boat, causing panic on board.

 

A nightmare coming to life

Passengers were asked to wear life jackets as the boat was declared broken. Captain of the ship tried to return the boat to Koh Lipe, but the engine ended up underwater too.

 

The captain didn’t speak English too well, leaving passengers in uncertainty while they were covered in water to their hips. Even while standing on chairs. Eventually, the captain called for help, and the roof of the boat was cut open with a knife for passengers to jump out.

 

by Sofie Rønnelund

Photo: Private

 

Full story: ScandAsia 2023-12-27

 

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[2baht]

Seems the safety of tourists is still developing, they may have it worked out within the next decade, hopefully! 

[stoner]

wait.

 

people just sat there while the boat was sinking ? then stood up on chairs hoping for what ? 

 

 

[2baht]

4 minutes ago, stoner said:

then stood up on chairs hoping for what ? 

To keep their head above water!

[stoner]

21 minutes ago, 2baht said:

To keep their head above water!

pic shows them all in the water floating.

[2baht]

Just now, stoner said:

pic shows them all in the water floating.

That's the progression from standing on chairs! 

[stoner]

1 minute ago, 2baht said:

That's the progression from standing on chairs! 

 

guess i missed that part while i was waiting safely in the water. i got off the boat when i realized that i might be standing on a chair soon waiting for someone to cut the roof off.

[steven100]

I think these ferries need to carry lifeboats on board .....   as a minimum requirement.  

[stoner]

Just now, steven100 said:

I think these ferries need to carry lifeboats on board .....   as a minimum requirement.  

 

24 beers enough lifeboat for you ? 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Captain of the ship tried to return the boat to Koh Lipe, but the engine ended up underwater too.

Captain in the loosest possible terms.

Thailand safety last, as the world is starting to figure out via social media.

[2baht]

Just now, stoner said:

 

24 beers enough lifeboat for you ? 

A few bongs would be better, keeps one relaxed. 

[Gottfrid]

39 minutes ago, stoner said:

wait.

 

people just sat there while the boat was sinking ? then stood up on chairs hoping for what ? 

 

 

A sand bank? 

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, 2baht said:

Seems the safety of tourists is still developing, they may have it worked out within the next decade, hopefully! 

Decade or two at best.

[hotchilli]

40 minutes ago, stoner said:

wait.

 

people just sat there while the boat was sinking ? then stood up on chairs hoping for what ? 

 

 

Hoping to see land?

[2baht]

Just now, hotchilli said:

Captain in the loosest possible terms.

Thailand safety last, as the world is starting to figure out via social media.

But...but... it wasn't the captains fault, it was the boats!

[stoner]

Just now, 2baht said:

A few bongs would be better, keeps one relaxed. 

 

true. that suits me fine as i would drown after 15 minutes anyways. however after a few beers our dear friend steven would be a flotation device. all kinds of useful then. 

[2baht]

5 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I think these ferries need to carry lifeboats on board .....   as a minimum requirement.  

A quick call to Khun Prayut would sort that out in a flash!

[Presnock]

strange these boats go out when the weather is shaky - I heard the weather for the south was stormy with heavy rains  and flooding...then I read that 7 boats sank this week with 8 people still missing.  seems this continues to happen too often.

 

[jacko45k]

One of the reports (of the many recent boat incidents), mentioned over 70 passengers in a speedboat. Either they got the category wrong and it was something bigger, or it was overladen. 

Thailand seems to have got off lightly with respect to these incidents... many tourists from particular countries, do not swim well at all. 

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Passengers were asked to wear life jackets

 

The boat actually had life jackets?!! Or was it Bring Your Own 

[Bangkok Barry]

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Thailand seems to have got off lightly with respect to these incidents

 

Well, except for when a number of Chinese were drowned, which put a dent in arrival figures for a while - until another little problem like someone from China being shot dead by a kid while she was shopping came along. That didn't go down too well either in Beijing.

[cowellandrew]

33 minutes ago, 2baht said:

That's the progression from standing on chairs! 

What happened to the band?

😂

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Well, except for when a number of Chinese were drowned, which put a dent in arrival figures for a while - until another little problem like someone from China being shot dead by a kid while she was shopping came along. That didn't go down too well either in Beijing.

I was thinking of those of the past few days... agreed things have been worse, wasn't there also the Koh Larn ferry incident once. No lessons learned I suspect. 

[2baht]

1 minute ago, cowellandrew said:

What happened to the band?

😂

They were rescued but unfortunately their instruments were lost! 

[2baht]

1 minute ago, jacko45k said:

I was thinking of those of the past few days... agreed things have been worse, wasn't there also the Koh Larn ferry incident once. No lessons learned I suspect. 

Learned??? What's that??? Is there a cost involved???

[bkk6060]

Sounds like an interesting adventure you could tell people about the rest of your life.

[gearbox]

The old, bigger and IMO safer Tigerline ferries serving these transfers were retired and now it seems all the transfers are done with speedboats. These are fairly small, I would say most are fibreglass made, with a couple of powerful engines and a lot of passengers packed in...looks like a sea bus. With high speed and high waves the boat will thrash into the water with high force, so this one probably either had a building defect, was overloaded, or was going too fast in high waves in order to break.

 

We were early this year in the area with expedition sea kayak, we lost 5 rivet joints from constant thrashing in high waves.

 

Hopefully they got the passengers' possessions in dry bags, otherwise all the passports and phones would be gone.

[nobodysfriend]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The boat looked brand new and felt safe,

 

Sometimes older boats are just safer ...

Anyway , by that photo , they could just have swam back to the beach ...

[peter zwart]

Oh boy oh boy, how much is this country in decline.

[newbee2022]

This story was mentioned even in TV.

Not any good recommendation for safety standards in Thailand.

Probably passengers got a gift hamper when they were safe.🥴