New Tourist Police Commander joins Phuket boat safety blitz

[webfact]

New Tourist Police Commander joins Phuket boat safety blitz
Phuket Gazette


Tourist Police Commander Apichai Theamart questions a passenger at Phuket's busy Rassada Pier. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- The new commander of the Tourist Police, Maj Gen Apichai Theamart, yesterday led a team of officers on a safety inspection of boats operating at Rassada Pier, on the east side of Phuket Town.

The inspection, aimed at ensuring Phuket tourists’ safety, follows a heavily overloaded ferry from Pattaya capsizing off Koh Lan, injuring many passengers and causing the deaths of seven people (story here).

Among the victims of the Pattaya ferry disaster was a 12-year-old Russian boy on holiday with his family.

Officers yesterday inspected boats, their engines, checked registration documents and the licenses of the vessels’ captains and engineering crews.

“We also asked boat operators to ensure their boats are not overloaded and that each passenger vessel has enough life vests for every person on board,” said Gen Apichai, who took up the post of Tourist Police Commander on October 1.

Commander Apichai warned operators that he had ordered his officers to take action on any breaches of marine safety regulations.

“I want to all boat operators to work under Marine Department regulations. If we find any of them not following the regulations, we will arrest them,” he said.

The safety inspection yesterday follows Police Region 8 Commander Panya Mamen leading safety inspection of his own at Rassada Pier on Monday.

Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut on Wednesday continued his campaign to boost marine safety as he inspected boats operating to and from Koh Maphrao, off Phuket’s east coast.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/New-Tourist-Police-Commander-joins-Phuket-boat-safety-blitz-22757.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2013-11-09

[pgrahmm]

Seems this guy is doing things in earnest....one year before retirement....maybe tasked to leave a legacy.......

Pattern the same in US - hatchet men tasked to make drastic changes are usually the short termers..........

Edited November 9, 2013 by pgrahmm

[JoeLing]

At least, something is done after Pattaya's disaster, if any good or not or for how long is anyones guess.

.
Officers yesterday INSPECTED boats, their engines, checked registration documents and the licenses of the vessels’ captains and engineering crews.
$$$ and good press for this seasons tourism

We also ASKET boat operators to ensure their boats are not overloaded and that each passenger vessel has enough life vests for every person on board
$ $ $ $ $ $ plus privat pension plan

When I looked at the "Next Inspection Date" labels on the life boats of Songserm, Lomprayah, Seatran or Raja Ferry most of them where sometimes between 2004 and 2008. Maybe time for an INSPECTION in Donsak? Suppose no Marina, no $$$ .

[Rorri]

So now we have the police being "qualified" marine surveyors. The other issue I have is, what happens with passenger numbers AND safety, when the Police Commander isn't at the pier. I think we all know.

[sorbormoryorhor]

A good start. Makes sure the companies have up to date paper work....and thus have made up to date payments to that provide it.

But why not share alittle???

....start annoucing substance abuse testing for the crew and 'Captains'....everybody is happy. Good publicity, increased customer confidence and greater profit.

The companies keep their customers and look clean. The uniforms can now get a cut and look like protectors. The boss gets his cream and looks like a hero in charge (with all the 'important' people supporting his political career).

Jeez..so I think I can do better!....nah because I couldn't sleep at night, dreading the next time!....which there will be. This is the diffence, the thing, the something, the (lack of?) extra that warrents the cynical but observant poster.

[cekipa]

New Tourist Police Commander joins Phuket boat safety blitz

..... “We also asked boat operators to ensure their boats are not overloaded and that each passenger vessel has enough life vests for every person on board,”........... “I want to all boat operators to work under Marine Department regulations.....”

Boat operators to ensure ? If a ferry has license for 120 people on board, there must be at least 120 life vests. Who is supposed to check this ?

[spidermike007]

We also asked boat operators to ensure their boats are not overloaded and that each passenger vessel has enough life vests for every person on board, said Gen Apichai, who took up the post of Tourist Police Commander on October 1.

Commander Apichai warned operators that he had ordered his officers to take action on any breaches of marine safety regulations.

I want to all boat operators to work under Marine Department regulations. If we find any of them not following the regulations, we will arrest them, he said.

All that is fine, but you have to back this up with real enforcement, major fines, and major jail terms for offenders. Without a deterrent things may never change. I suggest fines starting at 100,000 baht, and going up from there. If the company which owned the boat was fined 1,000,000 baht per passenger who died, that might make a difference. If the directors of these companies were charged with manslaughter, and forced to spend years in prison when people on their boats died due to negligence, that might make a difference. Some action needs to be taken, besides lip service. Something, for God's sake do something. Inertia can be a very ugly thing. One does not want Thailand to become known as the world capital of inertia. They currently are running that risk.

[sorbormoryorhor]

Apologies, additional. At what point does this address the cause....(w)recklessness

Ofcourse!...the boat was at fault.

TIT

[cbluck58]

Any attempt to improve safety must be viewed as a step in the right direction however I have to ask once again.

Would you send a Sea Captain to supervise a murder enquiry ?

Then why send a land based policeman to inspect a boat ?

Why have we not seen any articles pertaining to increased activity from the Marine dept. ?

[silent]

So now we have the police being "qualified" marine surveyors. The other issue I have is, what happens with passenger numbers AND safety, when the Police Commander isn't at the pier. I think we all know.

hardly worth even commenting this much. More than an anal mouth, one or two eyes and half a brain is about all it takes.

[captnhoy]

Any attempt to improve safety must be viewed as a step in the right direction however I have to ask once again.

Would you send a Sea Captain to supervise a murder enquiry ?

Then why send a land based policeman to inspect a boat ?

Why have we not seen any articles pertaining to increased activity from the Marine dept. ?

Exactly. I was under the impression that the Marine Police were the closest to a Coast Guard that Thailand has. I am a boat owner here for the past 7 years. My boat was safety inspected and I was asked for my Captain's license one time in those years. The boat is inspected each year at license renewal but it's not as thorough as you'd see the US Coast Guard doing. Still, I'm in favor of accountability - I just don't understand where the Marine Police fit into this.

[Alwyn]

It seems to me that whatever any of the authorities try to do improve safety or improve anything come to that - the TV herds get straight onto the old keyboards and rehash the same old stuff "yes, just before tourist season =$$$" yes, just after tourist season - $$$" seems to most people here the police, marine authorities only ever do anything if there's a payback in $$$. Such pessimism, scepticism etc.. something stopping all the nay-sayers from going back to their squeaky clean countries? Give it a rest

[Carl64]

Good to see they are trying.

Pitty that the Thai government is very reactive rather than proactive.

[kannot]

It seems to me that whatever any of the authorities try to do improve safety or improve anything come to that - the TV herds get straight onto the old keyboards and rehash the same old stuff "yes, just before tourist season =$$$" yes, just after tourist season - $$$" seems to most people here the police, marine authorities only ever do anything if there's a payback in $$$. Such pessimism, scepticism etc.. something stopping all the nay-sayers from going back to their squeaky clean countries? Give it a rest

Yet the boats still capsize................some of us dont fall for the crap the govt dishes out here, some assimilate totally..........which category do you fit into??

[Alwyn]

It seems to me that whatever any of the authorities try to do improve safety or improve anything come to that - the TV herds get straight onto the old keyboards and rehash the same old stuff "yes, just before tourist season =$$$" yes, just after tourist season - $$$" seems to most people here the police, marine authorities only ever do anything if there's a payback in $$$. Such pessimism, scepticism etc.. something stopping all the nay-sayers from going back to their squeaky clean countries? Give it a rest

Yet the boats still capsize................some of us dont fall for the crap the govt dishes out here, some assimilate totally..........which category do you fit into??

I don't fall into any category. Governments all over the World dish out crap as an entree to the next big shafting the population is about to receive. Unless I see something with my own eyes or hear it first hand with my own ears, it really means nothing to me. The thing is that whatever Thai authorities do or try to do, there's a huge population here on TV that barfs up the same old bilge about backhanders, graft, earners, corruption etc as if they are privvy to meetings that go on behind closed doors.... Don't you get tired of reading the same old bo* every time a Thai authority tries to put something to how it should be? It's not just here they go over is it? Ital. Holland and so on

[Halion]

Makes for good press, however, I doubt if they have the knowledge or competency to conduct such inspections. Furthermore they would need to keep records of all firefighting ,and life preserving data regarding expiry dates.

Can not even begin to imagine what they do with an engine room inspection. At best this is all a cosmetic exercise for the media and little will improve long term.

Overcrowding which is a most serious and common issue has been dealt with by warning the captains that this is naughty.

[trihent]

The Marine Department has been very lax in doing inspections and has been for as long as I've been in Thailand (19yrs) If I understand correctly. technically the Tourist Police (tourist related issues) really don't have authority to do this but if they are good on them. It really takes a person with specific knowledge of marine equipment to do a proper inspection something I think The tourist police lack. So these checks are just PR the easy and obvious problems. Thailand really needs to combine the Marine Department into/with the Coast Guard so that inspections are funded and kept up to date.