Homeless Man Found Drifting on Homemade Plastic Bottle Raft Off Pattaya Coast

[webfact]

 

Pattaya —A homeless man was safely rescued from the Pattaya sea after he tried to sail to Koh Larn on a raft he built himself out of plastic bottles.

The incident was reported to the Pattaya Marine Disaster Prevention around 11:00 AM on Tuesday, March 12th, 2024, by a group of speedboat operators. The operators reported seeing a man sitting on a plastic bottle raft in the middle of the sea, approximately 2.4 kilometers away from Bali Hai Pier.

 

Upon reaching the location, authorities found a Thai man, identified only as Uncle Somkiat (53), sitting on an 80×300 cm raft made from several plastic bottles. The man, whose full name was not known, brought with him some clothes, beverages, and food. He was exhausted and unable to paddle back to shore due to strong currents. The rescue team assisted him onto their boat and towed the makeshift raft back to safety.

 

By Aim Tanakorn

 

Full story: THE PATTAYA NEWS 2024-03-13

 

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[petermik]

Spoilsports...

[soi3eddie]

New recruit for The Royal Thai Navy?

 

[topt]

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

made from several plastic bottles.

Just a few...........

[JoePai]

22 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

New recruit for The Royal Thai Navy?

 

At least it floats

[Seppius]

He was looking for the English Channel

[simon43]

He was trying to get to Koh Larn.  Could the Navy chaps not have dropped him off on that island, rather than bringing back to the mainland?  Now he will only go and try again!

[Woof999]

3 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

New recruit for The Royal Thai Navy?

 

 

A few more hours and he would have been ripe for their submarine.

[RobU]

Respect to the man, he tried with no resources. Shame they didn't just take him to his destination 

[Colabamumbai]

Recycling lesson here. 

[hotchilli]

17 hours ago, simon43 said:

He was trying to get to Koh Larn.  Could the Navy chaps not have dropped him off on that island, rather than bringing back to the mainland?  Now he will only go and try again!

Collect more bottles, sell them and get a ticket.

[hotchilli]

14 minutes ago, Colabamumbai said:

Recycling lesson here. 

Re-paddling?

[gargamon]

What happened to Wilson? 

[mikebell]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

The rescue team assisted him onto their boat and towed the makeshift raft back to safety.

Where it was promptly weighed in and the owner received 63 baht.

[Srikcir]

19 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

New recruit for The Royal Thai Navy?

 

No. The raft didn't sink.

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, RobU said:

Respect to the man, he tried with no resources. Shame they didn't just take him to his destination 

He's living the dream

[sirineou]

These homeless people are a problem. I don't know why they just don't go home. 

[AverageAussie]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Collect more bottles, sell them and get a ticket.

 

I was thinking much the same.

 

In most of Australia we have a 10¢ deposit on drink containers now. There has to be 50-100 empties there. Even at the lower end of the scale that's potentially about $5 to be cashed in - or almost ฿120 at today's exchange rate.

 

How much is the ferry ticket?

[AverageAussie]

15 minutes ago, sirineou said:

These homeless people are a problem. I don't know why they just don't go home. 

 

There is no "groan" button. 

 

Maybe he was trying to find one on Koh Larn?

[RobU]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

He's living the dream

Yes, the bad dream of poverty and homelessness

[Denim]

He was heard shouting 

 

' Wilson , I'm sorry '

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

These homeless people are a problem. I don't know why they just don't go home. 

Who says he is homeless? He's living on a houseboat.

[soalbundy]

26 minutes ago, RobU said:

Yes, the bad dream of poverty and homelessness

Poverty has a lot of levels, a 'poverty' income in Europe would class him as comfortably off. Being homeless in Thailand is a lot more comfortable than being homeless in Europe, if one is resourceful a Thai wont starve.

[brianthainess]

3 hours ago, gargamon said:

What happened to Wilson? 

He made it ashore and skinned one up.

21 hours ago, webfact said:

The man, whose full name was not known,

[sirineou]

I would have at least put all these bottles in some bags to keep them together(like those strong bags the use ifor seed or fertilizer) , and then tied tha bags together. . 

[RayWright]

Enterprising young man. Obviously doing a visibility study before he launches his Car Ferry service.