Tourist Boat Capsized In Phuket - At Least 10 Dead

george · March 6, 2005

Most passengers on capsized boat in Phuket are Thais

PHUKET, Mar 5 (TNA) - Most passengers of a tourist boat which capsized in the high sea off Thailand's southern resort province of Phuket Saturday afternoon are Thais, according to local police and rescue officials.

The death toll from the accident had been reported around 10 as of Saturday night, while the number of those injured, who had been treated at a local hospital, had been risen to over 30, with at least three reportedly in serious conditions, said the local police and rescue officials.

"Dozens more are still missing", they disclosed.

The medium-sized tourist boat, named "Rung Roj", carrying more than 70 passengers, capsized in the high sea off Phuket at around 04:00 p.m. while it was heading from Phuket to the nearby Phang-nga Province.

The boat was facing a storm with strong wind and high waves during the journey, according to local journalists.

The fates of the missing passengers have not yet been known.

george · March 6, 2005

Two more bodies from boat mishap

PHUKET, March 6 (TNA) – Two more bodies from a boating accident have been found by marine police and navy officials early on Sunday.

The bodies – a 4-year old boy and a 6-year old girl – brings the death toll from the capsized ferry on Saturday off the southern resort island of Phuket to 12, according to a senior marine police officer.

The boat, Rungroj, capsized around a nautical mile from Yao Yai island where the water is 20 metres deep, a Phuket marine inspector, Pol. Lt. Col. Prathuang Srilamontri told TNA.

Phuket marine police and navy officials resumed their search for missing passengers on Sunday morning. The two children’s bodies are now being kept on a marine boat and will be later sent to Koh Yao Hospital in Phangnga province.

The search is continuing, although officials believe that the number of victims is unlikely to increase, Mr. Prathuang said.

Thirty-five survivors from the accident have reported to local hospitals, he said. The police believe a number of survivors may have returned to their homes or hotels after the mishap.

warriors · March 6, 2005

Nice one Police man, you just swim away from a boat full of drowning people and then walk home don't make me laugh.

Feel sorry for all involved but yet again most of the boats workers like the busers drivers in Thaland are crap.

Shall we sail or not wait maybe the waves will get bigger then we will go.

thomasjojo · March 6, 2005

sad accident.

ya, tha boats is not what I go on, I been into them around Samui and Chang, but never more in a Windy storm like yesterday.

no wonder why the boatmen earn less than I pay tax a month...

TominBangkok · March 6, 2005

Sadly, I suspect the boat may have been overloaded as usual. Until government starts to strictly enforce loading and safety requirements, more of these mishaps will occur.

ayakiawe · March 6, 2005

Most Thais are very proud people and don’t like to be told anything really, even if you are suggesting something likely to save lives and their livelihood.

For many their “face” (what ever that is?) is worth more than a few lives for sure.

If you do say something (offer just an honest suggestion) they are likely to want to hurt you at least.

So the story goes on, everyone keeps quiet while the Thai men running things mostly, normally strung out on drugs (caffeine energy drinks, nicotine, alcohol, etc…) will run the show till shit hits the fan like this time.

Then the buddy system of corruption takes over and covers things up nice and tidy (they just throw it all in the ocean sort of like) and act like nothing happened and everything is back like normal.

In the West this doesn’t happen as often because you must be responsible with what you do, here you just pay off the right person and “Walla” back in biz!

johntock · March 6, 2005

duncanm · March 6, 2005

actually having spent a lot of time on boats in thailand ( worked as a divemaster on koh tao ) I can safely say your judgement of thai people's ability with boats is offensively wrong.

possibly the boat was overloaded or in a bad state of repair, but the experience of the crew has never been an issue.

/appears like just another thread for people to express their racism, maybe they should ###### off back to such miserable countries as the us and uk?

Edited March 6, 2005 by duncanm

superdupont · March 6, 2005

Thank you Duncanm.

et Voila !

george · March 6, 2005

No more bodies found as boat pulled up

PHUKET: -- Marine police officers today recovered the sunken wreck of the tourist ferry which capsized yesterday, confirming that no more bodies remained in the boat.

But officials continued their search for the remaining victims, saying that they would not give up until this evening.

As the wreck of the Rungroj was pulled out of the water this afternoon, Pol. Lt. Col. Prathueng Sriramontree from the Phuket marine police force said that the vessel would be used as evidence to take legal action against the owner.

Crammed full with passengers, the Rungroj sank off the coast of Koh Yao Noi in heavy seas yesterday, leading to the death of at least 12 passengers.

Pol. Lt. Col. Prathueng said that marine police and naval officers would continue their search for more bodies in the vicinity of the wreck until they were certain that all the victims had been recovered.

--TNA 2005-03-06

Merlin · March 6, 2005

was it a tourist boat? [like the topic of this thread says] I saw a news report on tv and got the impression it was a regular ferry for local workers.

I know one thing for sure - I'd have a quick look around and count heads before getting on a boat in the future. Don't these boats have signs on them saying how many ppl they're supposed to be able to carry? If a boat is licenced for 30 ppl and it's already got 66 plus 10 motorbikes on board, then I'd be saying "no thanks, I'll wait for the next one"

Pattaya_Fox · March 6, 2005

What an idiotic post...This guy is trying to tell us that the experience of the crew of this boat is not an issue.

The crew sailed this boat which was greatly overloaded into a stormy sea and it capsized.

Not racism fact..the crew were stupid and crap...

The_Moog · March 6, 2005

Train shunt....paedo arrest....dodgy cop.....balcony jumper......suspicious farang murder by taxi driver.....boat accident....natural catastrophe.....farang murder by policeman.....southern killings....corrupt officials....excuses.

swiftly followed by....

Train shunt....paedo arrest....dodgy cop.....balcony jumper......suspicious farang murder by taxi driver.....boat accident....natural catastrophe.....farang murder by policeman.....southern killings....corrupt officials.....excuses.

....and this cycle repeats and repeats ad infinitum. Perhaps we have been on Planet Thailand too long.

carlthailand · March 6, 2005

Oh so true..

Shit happens ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE........

bendejo · March 6, 2005

Ghosts, that what it is. This incident makes it proof-positive. All ghosts of tsunami victims taking their wrath out on the living, especially the no-good farang ghosts!

See, all those people saying those things were right!

And this also means a stay on the avoidance of eating fish that may have feasted on human flesh.

[end of sarcasm alert]

Pattaya_Fox · March 6, 2005

oh my god ...spookey or what???

Golf · March 6, 2005

Exactly! I agree with you on this one. If the boat was loaded with "big hair" hi-society ladies, the boat driver and its owner would be prosecuted by the law quickly. Sadly, they were just regular folks and nothing special about them so they have to stay alive....with or without accidents.

Golf

capt_canada42 · March 6, 2005

Heh you people who don't know what happened! The wind came up very very very quickly a friend of mine in a sail boat not to far from the capsized boat said it totally blew his main sail out.

It blew my concrete mixing tub across my yard I was only warned of the wind coming by a friend calling me from Phung Ngha Bay area.

So don't act so high and mighty!!! These sort of things happen its sad when people are killed.

sriracha john · March 6, 2005

Is Phuket jinxed now or what?

tsunami....

ferry sinking... 12 dead...many more are still missing.

and earlier on the same day, a bus from phuket to bangkok crashes and 10 are dead, 30 injured. Just how bad is the kharma of phuket at present?

sonthaya · March 6, 2005

You hit that one right on.

jaidam · March 6, 2005

Pattayafox,

Do you really think the captain and crew have any say whatsoever whether the boat runs or not?Of course not.This is decided by the boat owners.Its quite simple really, if the captain/crew refuse to run on any day they will be imediately sacked and others roped in to take over.

I have experience about freak gusts of wind in Thailand.A boat I worked on also capsized and sank.Luckily all onboard survived with no injuries,but it could have easily been alot worse.No capain or crew error just a ###### strong gust of wind.

sun_sailor · March 7, 2005

[ I frequently sail in that area, and 3 weeks ago I saw a grossly overloaded

ferry boat on this same route as this ferry which sank.

It was narrow, more like a river boat, and was loaded with new SUV truck on top,

piled high with cargo on the deck, and was crammed with passengers..

i couldn't beleive it really. It is the local boat that takes local people out to Ko Yao noi, a mostly muslim island with almost zero tourism.

every thing I have read leads me to beleive , that this is the same boat,

that had capsized.

sun_sailor · March 7, 2005

it's not Karma, It's carelessness...we see it everyday out on the road,

overloaded and undermaintained vehicles speeding, and driving on

either side of the road..... I do sort of love the Thai's casual attitude

toward life and safety. but you put your life on the line everyday here...

sriracha john · March 7, 2005

The captain is responsible for the boat's operations. This was no "freak gust of wind"...it was heavy and rough seas that sank the grossly overloaded (passengers and cargo) boat. Heavy and rough seas that had been predicted by the weather department who issued warnings TWO days prior. It is a case of incredible negligence resulting in the deaths of people, including several children, in one of the worst possible ways of dying.

ayakiawe · March 7, 2005

Hey "sun sailor" you said it all!

I wish the pathetic creeps supporting this kind of crap would shut up and listen to you!

They realy dont have the balls to fik it out I suppose!

Not racism but pure logic which most folks here are very short of it appears

I like this one the best though!

So I post it again to make my point!

"What an idiotic post...This guy is trying to tell us that the experience of the crew of this boat is not an issue!

The crew sailed this boat which was greatly overloaded into a stormy sea and it capsized.

Not racism fact..the crew were stupid and crap..."

Edited March 7, 2005 by ayakiawe

bluie · March 7, 2005

This was a very sad incedent hopefully lessons will be learned, and I don't think

that this site should be used for frivolous comments by Frangs who have no

experience in these matters and just speculate on what just might have

happened. This won't help anyone should you have any constructive comments I

would suggest you forward them to the Thai departments involved.

Heng · March 7, 2005

ghost story:

A monk told a story recently about a song taew driver in his parrish who picked up a pair of passengers up in Khaolak in the middle of the day, but when he got to his destination, no one got off the song taew.

Either way, beleiving in ghosts or not, there are plenty of Thais buying up tours to the south, as seen by the jam packed TAT fair last month at Queen Sirikit. Will update if I see anything spooky. Will not update if my plane goes down in a ball of flames.

sriracha john · March 7, 2005

a little "tham boon dee" beforehand wouldn't hurt either....

Tornado · March 7, 2005

I feel very sorry for yet another tragedy around Phuket, but it could also be classed as nearer to Krabi actually. I have been a land owner on Koh Yao Yai for about 5 years and I no most of the local boat guys. I am lucky enough not to have to catch the ferry at all, but what I have seen with my own eyes maybe a few hundred times is, the drivers of the boats go out in any weather and anytime (depending on tides leaving from Baan Rong pier). There is no safety thought of, it is just pack em in and take the money. Although on this day, the weather changed very quickly and all of Phuket was overcome by the speed of the weather coming in. Even the Tsunami concert in Phuket was hit by a mini Tornado (happily not related )

johnh101 · March 7, 2005

Speaking of ghosts ! !

http://2bangkok.com/2bangkok/thaimediaproject/050301.shtml

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