Pattaya ferry tragedy prompts safety call

[webfact]

Ferry tragedy prompts safety call
Supakorn Akkanan,
Nongnapas Maipanich
The Nation



Captain charged; governor says Pattaya must put measures in place

PATTAYA: -- IN THE WAKE of Sunday's fatal ferry accident, Chon Buri Governor Comson Ekachai has demanded the Marine Department and Pattaya City boost water-transport safety and put security guards on duty on Koh Lan around the clock.

A ferry between the island and Pattaya capsized on Sunday evening, throwing its more than 200 Thai and foreign passengers overboard, before sinking. Six people died and 24 were injured.

As of press time, 10 were still receiving treatment at hospitals in Chon Buri.

Under an insurance policy taken out by the ferry owner, the financial compensation per death is up to Bt300,000, and medical coverage per victim is up to Bt115,000.

Ferry captain Samarn Khwanmueang, 48, turned himself in to police. He said the ferry hit submerged rocks.

Police have charged Samarn with recklessness leading to the deaths and severe injury of passengers. They say preliminary lab tests indicate Samarn might have abused drugs before the accident.

Comson yesterday demanded that both the Marine Department and Pattaya City take concrete measures to boost water-transport safety.

"If anything [bad] happens, someone must take responsibility," he said.

Chon Buri Police chief Maj-General Katcha Tatusas pointed the finger at ferry operator Koh Lan Travel for failing to properly check the boat's emergency preparedness.

According to some witnesses, pumps on the ferry did not function when the crew tried to drain seawater from the damaged vessel.

"The ferry also clearly took on more passengers than its maximum capacity," Katcha said.

Marine Department director-general Sorasak Saensombat said an investigation was ongoing to determine the exact cause of the accident. He believed that the excessive number of passengers on the ferry and the limited safety equipment were among the likely causes of the loss of life.

The Marine Department convened a meeting of Pattaya-based ferry operators yesterday to press for strict compliance with safety regulations and to boost tourists' confidence in ferry and other boat services.

In addition to the charges the ferry captain faces, Sorasak said authorities had already suspended his licence for six months. "We are in the process of considering whether we should cancel the licence of the involved ferry operator too," Sorasak said.

Pattaya City Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome said that all the passengers and crew on board the boat were accounted for.


-- The Nation 2013-11-05

[sscsamui]

This is very sad. The Marian department says they will boost water-transport safety Every year. But do Nothing but talk about it… It is Time to truly do sometime about it before more people are hurt or killed…. Wake Up….

RIP….

[fakename]

Everyone is pointing fingers, but how about pointing at the Marine Department? Are they only collecting a salary, but doing nothing? Of course all these ferry and boat operators are cutting corners with safety, because they know no one is going to inspect their vessels, and even if they were inspected, just pay a few baht, and everything will be ok.

[fritzzz25]

Very misleading photo. If the ferries to Koh Larn where even remotely close to looking like that. The boats in use are way past their "best if used by" date which was about 1990....

[jvs]

If anything (bad) happens somebody must take responsibility.

Am i mistaken or is this the first time i read someone calls for responsibility?

No more blaming it on ghosts or bad luck,but does the governor not realize he should be blaming himself?

[JulesMad]

All window dressing... Nothing will change, unfortunately...

Too lazy to address all the non-sense in the article, like submerged rocks ("suddenly there were submerged rocks, I am a ferry boat captain and I sail this exciting part of the sea for many years several times a day, but these rocks really kind of jumped at me, they were never there before"), alleged drugs (drugs in Thailand??? I don't believe it). I also fail to see what security guys on Koh Lan will change in similar situations. Security for what, employed by whom?!?

"If anything [bad] happens, someone must take responsibility," he said.

NO, someone is responsible, good or bad...

RIP for all these unnecessary victims and their families

[Emdog]

""We are in the process of considering whether we should cancel the licence of the involved ferry operator too," Sorasak said." Translated: "We are waiting for a fat envelope to make things right". Another call for safety... Nobody is accepting the call.... like yelling down a well

[ricardofel]

Right, sure, hahaha….a safety call…..only a prompt and only after people die. As usual nothing will change. Just like all the mini-van crashes and deaths…same same Thailand.

[KittenKong]

"Under an insurance policy taken out by the ferry owner, the financial compensation per death is up to Bt300,000, and medical coverage per victim is up to Bt115,000."

So if I had died on that boat my bereaved family (if I had one) would have received a sum equivalent to several weeks of my income when I was still working. Wow.

And if I had merely been injured I would have got my hospital bills paid up to an amount equivalent to two dental implants. Wow again.

But what annoys me most is that the boat captain will probably be carrying the can when it is the boat owners/operators who are responsible for the boat being overloaded, not having satisfactory insurance, not being maintained correctly or not having enough life-jackets.

[little mary sunshine]

Why would you have to think about canceling the license of the Owner/Operator. It should

be canceled immediately and on any other boat they operate until they can assure the

authorities their boats are safe and operators are licensed and certified to operate

"sea worthy" boats. They could have killed 200 people...................

[lonelyrw]

The governement have to step in to clear all bad boats around the Coasts! Bangladesh have a better navy fleet. New ship and more safety needed!

If you like to protect and have more Tourists to Thailand. Look afte all the Jet bikes at the Jomtien beach. They are going to Quick and between the swimming people.

[Patje]

It seems to me that nr 1 rule in safety in Thailand is " give it a new coat of paint" , that will do for another year. The poorest looking ships I ever seen, except in Ha Long bay, Vietnam .

[cbluck58]

Unfortunately , as in the rest of the world, the culture of blame will stop any constructive measures being put in place to prevent a repeat.

If the Captain has his licence revoked and is fined or imprisoned, everyone will think that justice has been done when in fact the correct justice would be for the Marine Department to be forced out of it's sloth and become proactive in enforcing safety regulations.

This of course will not happen.

[Jip99]

Rearrange the following words into a popular phrase or saying:-

GOAT

SCAPE

RIP the victims.

[GAZZPA]

Trains, planes, buses, cars, motorbikes and now boats. Will Thailand ever realise that safe and reliable transport means infrastructure and economic growth. We are now at the point where people seem to be regularly "dying" due to lack of control, maintenance and safety measures. Will they ever wake up!

The effects will eventually mean economic disaster, fewer tourists and the reputation of Thailand being an "unsafe country to travel in" which will take decades to shift.

Other developing Asian countries are continually investing in transport infrastructure and the EU and USA are permitting tax benefits (GSP) on exports from developing countries to allow this investment, growth and development to happen. But Thailand is running their basic infrastructure into the ground and seemingly doing nothing to address the constant concerns.

The end result can only mean 1 thing, Thailand will fall behind other countries, it will lose it's position as number 2 growing country in Asia and the economic effect will be a disaster for Thai people. Somebody needs to wake up now!

[Pattaya46]

The governement have to step in to clear all bad boats around the Coasts!

Bad boats are not the reason of all recent boat accidents, but men/drivers/captains are...

Sure a big modern ferry with an European trained staff is a lot of safer;

the "Concordia" certainly can prove that ...

[shaurene]

Where did they get the pictures from, the island ferries do not look any where like this.

A bit of pressure for couple weeks and back to normal as always.

Very lucky so few deaths. The skipper pissed off prob because he knew he would be found either drunk of effected by some sort of drug and if he left it for a day it would have left his body.

Hope their are none accounted for and speedy recovery for the others.

[Lupatria]

"If anything [bad] happens, someone must take responsibility," he said.

Has Mr.Canson any idea in which country he lives?

[webfact]

PM to follow up on Pattaya ferry accident during Chonburi visit

CHONBURI, 5 November 2013 (NNT) – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will visit Chonburi province today (November 5) to follow up on the case of the sunk ferry in Pattaya that has claimed the lives of 6 tourists.

A ship operated by the Koh Lan Travel company sank off the coast of Pattaya on Sunday evening, after it departed from Koh Lan with around 200 passengers. At least 16 passengers suffered injuries.

Saman Khwanmueang, the ferry's captain, asserted that the boat did not run into reefs and was not overloaded. The man said he believed the bottom of the vessel was damaged by violent waves.

Marine Department Director-General Sorasak Saensombat said ships operated by Koh Lan Travel are being grounded pending re-inspection of their condition. Permits for the company's remaining 6 vessels will be cancelled if the ships fail to pass the inspection.


-- NNT 2013-11-05

[petedk]

Where did they get the pictures from, the island ferries do not look any where like this.

A bit of pressure for couple weeks and back to normal as always.

Very lucky so few deaths. The skipper pissed off prob because he knew he would be found either drunk of effected by some sort of drug and if he left it for a day it would have left his body.

Hope their are none accounted for and speedy recovery for the others.

The other paper reports that the captain was on drugs. The boat hit a rock and damaged the hull so that water rushed in. The captain stopped the motor and pumps in order to try and fix it without telling passengers why.

People panicked when they saw the water and went up to the upper deck. The boat then sank.

if this is true then the condition of the boat has nothing to do with the accident but is "human error".

[petedk]

PM to follow up on Pattaya ferry accident during Chonburi visit

CHONBURI, 5 November 2013 (NNT) – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will visit Chonburi province today (November 5) to follow up on the case of the sunk ferry in Pattaya that has claimed the lives of 6 tourists.

A ship operated by the Koh Lan Travel company sank off the coast of Pattaya on Sunday evening, after it departed from Koh Lan with around 200 passengers. At least 16 passengers suffered injuries.

Saman Khwanmueang, the ferry's captain, asserted that the boat did not run into reefs and was not overloaded. The man said he believed the bottom of the vessel was damaged by violent waves.

Marine Department Director-General Sorasak Saensombat said ships operated by Koh Lan Travel are being grounded pending re-inspection of their condition. Permits for the company's remaining 6 vessels will be cancelled if the ships fail to pass the inspection.

-- NNT 2013-11-05

Damaged by violent waves?/??? Under the sea level?????

This guy has been watching the jet ski operators.

[little mary sunshine]

I love these old wooden boats. Never ever replace them with some fiberglass barge brought

to Thailand from Europe. I love the charm and feeling of a little Thai and SE Asia home

spun boating. They should be brought to dry dock, refurbished and made safe and keep these

old wooden masterpieces. (Of course, fire any drunk captain and train a crew for safety)

Why be in SE Asia with all it's local flavor and want to replace everything with European Stuff?????

I travel to the island weekly and will continue to do so.......

[Pattaya28]

PM to follow up on Pattaya ferry accident during Chonburi visit

CHONBURI, 5 November 2013 (NNT) – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will visit Chonburi province today (November 5) to follow up on the case of the sunk ferry in Pattaya that has claimed the lives of 6 tourists.

A ship operated by the Koh Lan Travel company sank off the coast of Pattaya on Sunday evening, after it departed from Koh Lan with around 200 passengers. At least 16 passengers suffered injuries.

Saman Khwanmueang, the ferry's captain, asserted that the boat did not run into reefs and was not overloaded. The man said he believed the bottom of the vessel was damaged by violent waves.

Marine Department Director-General Sorasak Saensombat said ships operated by Koh Lan Travel are being grounded pending re-inspection of their condition. Permits for the company's remaining 6 vessels will be cancelled if the ships fail to pass the inspection.

-- NNT 2013-11-05

What !! An inspection ? Didn't think "inspections" happened. Thought it was all linked with "saving face". All we'll get now is "lip-service" to undent Pattayas' image.

And the "wave-damage" under the boat ? That comment surely backs up the captain was high on drugs. They seem to dig a bigger hole for themselves.

[Pattaya28]

36 hours has elapsed since the tragedy.

Surprised it's not already "under-the-carpet".

[Cuban]

....someone must take responsibility...

[drdoom6996]

He has demanded people do the jobs they were hired to do. What a crock. Everything will as usual. But good headline though. Probably got television time as well. Try doing your job Governor.

[drdoom6996]

Police have charged Samarn with recklessness leading to the deaths and severe injury of passengers.

Is that a mandatory fine of 1000 baht for a Thai person?

[sawadee1947]

...hopefully air line pilots know their job and are not drug addicts as truck drivers, ship captains, bus drivers and so on.......RIP

[SantiSuk]

Self-regulation in the tourist industry will never work. Thai culture is too antithetical to rules.

Change will only happen when cleverer young Thais get involved in the industry and realise that safety can provide a marketing edge ... sometimes.

Having written that, I suspect that most of then time most consumers from any part of the world are equally stupid and would still choose by price rather than quality. As a father I would pay more for a boat trip that advertised qualified trained crew and every passenger is issued a modern lifejacket on boarding.

Pity the journos in Thailand are so cr@p. In falangland the press would be running a campaign for weeks with clandestine surveys of ferry boat compliance followed by shock horror stories and naming and shaming of owners. Here it's a case of "Next?!"

..............................................................................................................................................................................................

When getting on the longtail ferry used by Railay Bay Resort Hotel* from Ao Nam in Krabi, last weekend I immediately looked for lifejackets and noted that there was one too few for even us 6 passengers (those longtails will carry up to 20). . To be fair the one going back to the mainland seemed adequately resourced.

*sue me - I'm rich enough to take you to the cleaners

Edited November 5, 2013 by SantiSuk

[Bangel72]

I’m a regular visitor to Koh Larn, my condolences to all families impacted by this tragedy.

Assuming it was one of the regular ferry boats, I’ve been on one of those boats about 30 times this year.

I have no idea of root cause here or whether overloading actually played a part but here are a few things from my experience.

At weekends, particularly on payday weekend the island has been getting busier and busier.

The speedboats have been increasing their prices taking advantage of the crowds but at the same time pricing many more towards the ferry service.

The ferry service is financially good value and generally runs on time, for the most part I’ve seen life jackets at least available for almost every seat but there are times when the floor space is also filled with passengers and I cannot comment on whether these are covered or not. The boats I’ve been on and particularly their engines are generally fairly old.

Koh Larn is weekly seasonal, quiet during the week but packed at weekends, this market force can create an oversupply of accommodation and boats during the week but an undersupply at weekends which could lead to secondary stock being utilised.

I’ve learned to avoid peak travel periods at weekends, in fact I avoid payday weekend completely because it does get busy but I have still seen the boat crew stop people boarding when they reached a certain limit even if it means forcing people wait in the sun for a few hours.

I’m not sure if this was the last ferry of the day but if it was it would leave limited options for those who miss it, this is pure speculation but I suspect there may have been a few extra people willing to personally take an overloading risk but not really considering they were also risking everyone else.

I am in no way suggesting against service provider accountability but I am highlighting that just because you can do something, you should never just assume it is safe and you should keep your eyes wide open to potential risks particularly when you have limited options.