Speedboat propellor kills Indian tourist off Pattaya coast

[Emdog]

A few remarks: this was not bather/boat accident (for once), but tow boat reeling in the parasailer. Yes, the boat should not have taken the lady out. And she should have noticed the bad weather and not have gone. These accidents are quite common here, and I suggest that Mr Omigod could pay more attention to local news. I just googled "Pattaya parasailing accidents" and got plenty of hits. I would never go out on one of those parasailing trips here even in perfect weather and no wind. Same for jetskis, besides fact I do not want to support that sort of pollution, noise and otherwise. Beaches and road navigation give me as much adrenaline as I may ever wish for.

[wellred]

And here is the reason to not do this in Thailand. Sitting on various beaches in Phuket last I was always slightly reluctant to give this a go. I'm glad I did.

Still through I don't see the value in having to mention she was unrecognisable after the incident. Do these people just lack empathy full stop?

[samjaidee]

The British embassy are about as much use as a chocolate spoon ,dont know why they bother having one here.

Although I get your point, you must remember that the Consular Department is only a small part of the Embassy and, in fact, the Embassy do a lot of work dealing with inter-governmental communications and working to get the best trade positions for UK businesses trading with Thailand.

All Embassies are a lot more than a Consular Department. Most of us only ever see the part that deals with individuals, be they UK citizens or overseas nationals looking for visas.

In conclusion, the Consular Department sucks!

[atyclb]

Short of mandating and enforcing "water jet propulsion" for towing boats nothing will change. Sea and land accidents will continue to occur as a function of and result of the education system and "sabai sabai" culture. I have noticed because early education does not turn on the "brain switch" a high % of society simply do not know how to learn or how to think. What seems very basic trivial low level cognition is simply "absent" in many educated under the 18th century feudalistic rote system. It is not necessarily the fault of the boat driver but rather a symptom of society.

What a terrible way to see your spouse die, newlyweds to boot.

[shaurene]

due to adverse weather conditions

The escape clause has been inserted.

He did a u turn to pick her up and the para lines snagged on the Prop, wonder how they will put that down to adverse weather conditions, My God what next, Thailand better than Coronation Street, can't wait for the next episode. It was a horrible death my deepest condolences to the Husband.

[kannot]

A warning for anyone coming to Thailand who often think it has the same precautions and back up as "home" where the Police will help you and everyone is reasonably competent, where greed and financial gain is not No1 and hwere there is virtually zero training where Mickey Mouse can start a school of anything.

Instead of notices warning people about bringing or using drugs in Thailand they should explain more about the lack of safety etc, of course this would not be liked by the authorities at all here.

The Guy must be distraught.

[somtampet]

Sickening. This will only stop when the authorities put safety before money. What training and certification did the boat driver have? Did he have insurance? Had the boat and parasailing equipment been inspected regularly by an independent inspector?

If this was a one off event you could say it was an unfortunate accident. But when tourists are dying at sea every few weeks there's something wrong with the system.

Can't you just say it was a tragic accident and leave it at that! What use would insurance be or equipment inspections in preventing the accident? In 10 years of living in Patts, I've never heard about a similar accident and what, maybe a million sails without incident.

Condolences to the husband on his tragic loss.

Got to agree with your comments,a tragic accident,must have been horrific for the hubby,we all hope this type of accident never happens again

[SOTIRIOS]

..the objective is to obtain the tourist's money...at any and all costs..to the tourist.

...then..if something goes wrong...deny it.....or make some excuse to deflect responsibility..if you cannot.....apologize.

...then everything is okay... and back to work tomorrow...

Edited October 3, 2013 by SOTIRIOS

[Lite Beer]

PATTAYA
Indian woman killed in Thai parasailing accident

PATTAYA: -- An Indian tourist celebrating her wedding anniversary was killed in a parasailing accident off Thailand's coast, police said Thursday.

Shilpi Agarwal, 36, and her husband had hired a speedboat to parasail Wednesday near Pattaya’s beach but it failed to launch, said Col. Suwan Cheawnavinthavat, police commander in the popular seaside town.

The woman fell into the water and the driver told police he was backing up the boat to retrieve her, Suwam said. Agarwal was immediately killed by the boat’s rotating blade.

Suwan said police planned to press charges for causing death by careless action, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years or a fine of 20,000 baht ($638).

"I wish to see tour operators be more careful,’’ Suwan. ``It was raining a little bit and there was no wind. Any boat operators or drivers with experience should know that the parasail wouldn’t launch. Still, they took the tourists out to the sea.’’

Wednesday’s accident came shortly after the Thai prime minister encouraged government agencies to help ensure safety of tourists using jet skis, speed boats and taxis.

Pattaya, located in Chonburi province, is 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Bangkok and is a popular destination for both Thais and foreigners.

Police said Agarwal’s family will receive 200,000 baht ($6,383) from the boat’s insurance company in compensation.

-- The Nation 2013-10-03

[oldsailor35]

Who in the hell put that "brain dead" idiot in control of such a boat, the idiot obviously did'nt have the brains to cut his engine. The boat owner should be fully responsible as well as the boat driver.

[Mario2008]

1 insensitive reply and two comments to it removed.

[oldsailor35]

Parasails have been around for a few decades, I'm sure this isn't the first time such an incident has occurred.

But 25 year old Thai parasail boat driver has to learn about this the hard way - don't u-turn back on the parasail.

Was he in the boat alone ?

[oldsailor35]

I think the driver will eventually blame it on faulty brakes!

Anyway, there is some good news too. The driver did not run away, perhaps because so far there is only one guy in history who could run on water

Nah ! he will probably blame it on a unfamiliar wet road.

[Basil B]

Presume there will be another press conference at City Hall, probably a regurgitated statement of this http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/636985-transport-ministry-orders-marine-department-shakeup/

Of course do not expect to see any real action to improve boat safety.

[oldsailor35]

Sickening. This will only stop when the authorities put safety before money. What training and certification did the boat driver have? Did he have insurance? Had the boat and parasailing equipment been inspected regularly by an independent inspector?

If this was a one off event you could say it was an unfortunate accident. But when tourists are dying at sea every few weeks there's something wrong with the system.

Can't you just say it was a tragic accident and leave it at that! What use would insurance be or equipment inspections in preventing the accident? In 10 years of living in Patts, I've never heard about a similar accident and what, maybe a million sails without incident.

Condolences to the husband on his tragic loss.

Got to agree with your comments,a tragic accident,must have been horrific for the hubby,we all hope this type of accident never happens again

Dream on !

[chooka]

A terrible story and my heart goes out to the husband who had to witness the incident. My condolences to the family.

Where I come from, condolences are only given to people we know. Odd that you would say that to strangers.

Many of us wish to comment on this event, but have the decency to pay their respects to the deceased, and more important to their friends and family who grieve for them before making their point.

My apologies to circus man and others who may have been offended by my comment. It was not my intention to be insensitive or disrespectful and I was unaware of indian customs. Please accept my most sincere apology to all and family.

[transam]

Very very sad, RIP young lady.

Lack of training with this scenario probably didn't help. The guy should have shut the motor and pulled the lady in by hand. Any fool knows that line or in this case ropes can/will get picked up by the prop.

[lee b]

The British embassy are about as much use as a chocolate spoon ,dont know why they bother having one here.

100% agree with you, i mean apart from giving certificates allowing you to marry i don't think they do anything else.

[jacko45k]

The driver of the boat was just 25. I think another recent disturbing incident also involved a young driver.

You have to wonder how much training, experience and sobriety the kid had.

What a gruesome thing and I feel so sorry for the husband for his loss.

[Spalpeen]

Sickening. This will only stop when the authorities put safety before money. What training and certification did the boat driver have? Did he have insurance? Had the boat and parasailing equipment been inspected regularly by an independent inspector?

If this was a one off event you could say it was an unfortunate accident. But when tourists are dying at sea every few weeks there's something wrong with the system.

Can't you just say it was a tragic accident and leave it at that! What use would insurance be or equipment inspections in preventing the accident? In 10 years of living in Patts, I've never heard about a similar accident and what, maybe a million sails without incident.

Condolences to the husband on his tragic loss.

No. A tragic accident is one that was unforeseeable and outside anyones control. In my experience accidents are the result of an accumulation of careless acts, not just one-off events. Having insurance increases safety because if the owner is having to pay out money for insurance every year it focuses his mind on keeping a good safety record so that his premiums don't go up. As already stated, if you google 'Pattaya parasailing accidents' you'll be able to catch up on some of the news stories you missed over the years. And that's just the incidents that made the papers. You don't get to hear about the near misses, of which there are plenty.

We now know from the Nation report that the moron who killed this woman on her honeymoon did so by reversing an outboard engine towards her as she floated in the water surrounded by canopy lines. Almost certainly not the first time he's done this, just the first time he killed someone.

Edited October 3, 2013 by Spalpeen

[Adeeos]

Is it just me,, or,, wouldn't ANYONE, capable enough at operating such a, "machine",,, realize there was SOMETHING wrong,,,,, (the "reeling" her in),, and just kill the motor?.... HELLO?!?!

Edited October 3, 2013 by Adeeos

[LennyW]

When i passed that boat yesterday afternoon, the amount of hilarity and general laughter from the press would have suggested that there was a mysterious big fish or something like that inside the boat, not a decapitated human being, only the fact that there must have been around 30 laughing policemen in attendance pointed to something more sinister.

Shocking behaviour from all that were there, i do hope the deceased's husband was not there at that time.

[OMGImInPattaya]

The driver of the boat was just 25. I think another recent disturbing incident also involved a young driver.

You have to wonder how much training, experience and sobriety the kid had.

What a gruesome thing and I feel so sorry for the husband for his loss.

How old does one have to be to drive a motorboat back and forth in straight lines all day? In most countries, one is considered an adult at 18 (usually can vote and serve in armed forces at that age).

I agree training standards could probably be improved and hopefully they will be after this event but all the general slagging on Thais these tragic stories bring out basically borders on racism and I'm surprised the Mods. Even allow it.

[Asiantravel]

When i passed that boat yesterday afternoon, the amount of hilarity and general laughter from the press would have suggested that there was a mysterious big fish or something like that inside the boat, not a decapitated human being, only the fact that there must have been around 30 laughing policemen in attendance pointed to something more sinister.

Shocking behaviour from all that were there, i do hope the deceased's husband was not there at that time.

Did this happen yesterday? Because this morning about 10 AM there were hordes of police and marine department officers on the beach standing with files and clipboards near the junction of beach road and pattaya klang and looking out towards the ocean. Or maybe it was a different event

[LennyW]

When i passed that boat yesterday afternoon, the amount of hilarity and general laughter from the press would have suggested that there was a mysterious big fish or something like that inside the boat, not a decapitated human being, only the fact that there must have been around 30 laughing policemen in attendance pointed to something more sinister.

Shocking behaviour from all that were there, i do hope the deceased's husband was not there at that time.

Did this happen yesterday? Because this morning about 10 AM there were hordes of police and marine department officers on the beach standing with files and clipboards near the junction of beach road and pattaya klang and looking out towards the ocean. Or maybe it was a different event

Yes around 2pm over by the sea rescue centre.

[Mises]

Terrible and condolences to the husband.

I am an experienced water skier and boat owner. For the prop to wind a person in the person would need to be very very close to the prop, the engine will stall very quickly, The prop engine should never be running when the rear of the boat is anywhere a near a person, this is common sense and should not need training but though I love the Thai people they do seem to be lacking in common sense.

Whenever I have paid for a tow in Thailand the boat crew are always mystified that I won't climb in the back of the boat until they kill the engine, they know the engine is in neutral and so think that is ok, I don't.

It is so easy to blame Thailand and Thainess but Thainess is why I like Thailand, I like the freedom from officialdom and petty rules but this does come at the cost of being more alert to ones own safety, we can't have our cake and eat it. I won't go near a bus or mini bus in Thailand and use taxis as little as possible. I avoid as far as possible any activity where I am not in control or at least partial control of my own safety, hence I will never parasail or bungy jump. Thailand and the vast majority of its people are lovely but there are downsides to their carefree attitude to life. Buyer beware.

[wimpey1946]

Sickening. This will only stop when the authorities put safety before money. What training and certification did the boat driver have? Did he have insurance? Had the boat and parasailing equipment been inspected regularly by an independent inspector?

If this was a one off event you could say it was an unfortunate accident. But when tourists are dying at sea every few weeks there's something wrong with the system.

Can't you just say it was a tragic accident and leave it at that! What use would insurance be or equipment inspections in preventing the accident? In 10 years of living in Patts, I've never heard about a similar accident and what, maybe a million sails without incident.

Condolences to the husband on his tragic loss.

the only smart quote

[transam]

Sickening. This will only stop when the authorities put safety before money. What training and certification did the boat driver have? Did he have insurance? Had the boat and parasailing equipment been inspected regularly by an independent inspector?

If this was a one off event you could say it was an unfortunate accident. But when tourists are dying at sea every few weeks there's something wrong with the system.

Can't you just say it was a tragic accident and leave it at that! What use would insurance be or equipment inspections in preventing the accident? In 10 years of living in Patts, I've never heard about a similar accident and what, maybe a million sails without incident.

Condolences to the husband on his tragic loss.

the only smart quote

You sure, I had my own deep sea angling boat for decades and I learned what you do not do when lines are astern.

[Rimmer]

One post and quoted reply removed

[wwex]

so only one person on the boat? that seems pretty stupid to me. how is a driver supposed to control a boat and get someone out of the water at the same time. even in Thailand I would have thought they would have some kind of laws regarding this. or maybe they have 2 but the second did a runner?

Edited October 3, 2013 by wwex