Boat captain abandons novice US divers in middle of the ocean in Thailand

[beedee]

Times like that you can say a prayer of thanks to the fishermen that killed all the sharks in the ocean and the Chinese that ate them all. Amen.

The sharks here do not eat people.

A very ignorant view on the situation.

I feel bad for the divers, I'm one myself but sharks are not a problem to the extend of eradicating them las what's happening right now.

Please inform yourself before posting and creating further misconceptions.

Shark finning is a major disaster for the seas and the planet. It should be stopped.

[somtampet]

What makes you think that it only happens in Thailand. I was on a dive in Tahiti once and although we tried to convince the dive master, a Frenchman, that we were 2 short on our trip back he ignored us until we got to the dock and the owner started to collect equipment. Guess what, they were 2 short. Fortunately they went back and found the pair floating nervously in the water over the reef. S**t happens everywhere, not only in Thailand, it's just that this website must be Thai related so you don't hear about the daily " potential disasters" all over the world. Try diving in the red sea sometime, sharks are predicable, but gators and crocks aren't.

Loads of thai haters on here mate,i ignore them now

[GentlemanJim]

You normally have a 'downline' which would generally be the anchor line.

Not explained how they got back to shore?

Click the link and read the full article. it's not difficult

Edited November 16, 2013 by GentlemanJim

[Jubes]

What's the big problem. The captain was coming back but just not when he suppose to plus his genuine Rolex had elapsed and didn't coincide with the finish of their dive

[Showbags]

You are not dealing with "the sharpest knives in the draw", intelligence, education all leave alot to be desired in many countries. People just blindly expect things to be the same wherever they go, they are not, and they dont stop to think about where they are and who they are actually dealing with.If they know what they are doing, if they are trained, if they have experience? Or is it just some local driven purely by money and has no clue as to the implications of his actions and unknowingly put lives in danger.

That national average IQ of 87 bobs up again

Is that good or bad?

[Showbags]

Confucius say ....' when diver go diving in Thailand, diver should take keys with him'

[oldsailor35]

"only in Thailand"

Really?

Maybe you should amend that to only in Thailand, the USA, and Australia. And at least these people survived. The ones in Australia weren't so lucky.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045393/2-scuba-divers-left-die-Miami-Beach-charter-boat-Key-Biscayne.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Eileen_Lonergan

The Australian diving incident was years ago and the govt has tightened up this industry to make it one of the safest in the world. So please stop your wild open ended statements until you have the facts !

[oldsailor35]

What makes you think that it only happens in Thailand. I was on a dive in Tahiti once and although we tried to convince the dive master, a Frenchman, that we were 2 short on our trip back he ignored us until we got to the dock and the owner started to collect equipment. Guess what, they were 2 short. Fortunately they went back and found the pair floating nervously in the water over the reef. S**t happens everywhere, not only in Thailand, it's just that this website must be Thai related so you don't hear about the daily " potential disasters" all over the world. Try diving in the red sea sometime, sharks are predicable, but gators and crocks aren't.

Same thing happened in Australia a few years back. It was a big scandal and they charged the Captain in court. I was on a trip on the Great \Barrier Reef and the Captain and crew were far more interested in chatting up the females on board than looking after thier customers and they nearly forgot to pick up a couple of divers. Such events happen everywhere but considering the number of divers going out on boat trips hereThailand has a pretty good record

Yes , and this brought about a massive inquiry into the dive industry in Australia, resulting in many new laws and dive regulations, making Australia one of the safest dive venues in the world. Unlike the Thai boat captain who probably was out again the next day, the Australian found himself in serious trouble.

[AngelsLariat]

You are not dealing with "the sharpest knives in the draw", intelligence, education all leave alot to be desired in many countries. People just blindly expect things to be the same wherever they go, they are not, and they dont stop to think about where they are and who they are actually dealing with.If they know what they are doing, if they are trained, if they have experience? Or is it just some local driven purely by money and has no clue as to the implications of his actions and unknowingly put lives in danger.

That national average IQ of 87 bobs up again

Is that good or bad?

It's better than in Equatorial Guinea and worse than in Singapore.

[reggaebkk]

Americans? They must have pissed him off something good.

[fabphil]

he must have forgot the som tam and sticky rice..

[GeorgeO]

I'm just looking for the comment from TAT, that this incident will have no impact on tourism......

[LennyW]

Don't be so hard on the "captain" *snort* he had engine trouble. What else could he do but start it up and putter home?

Singha-time!

Naaaaaaaaaaaaah, nothing interferes with lunch hour. ...............

Yep, when it's time for Som Tam and Sang Som - it's time for Som Tam and Sang Som!

[kannot]

Could have been the Thai version of the Bermuda Triangle

you mean a fantasy?

[nonsequitur]

I'm sympathizing with the boat's captain on this one.

He has a lot to work out here.

For instance, who wouldn't think that the divers had drowned after all that time down there?

[Patje]

Not trying to be cynical but I thought there were no sharks in Thai waters? Someone please tell me I'm wrong? Im not a diver but just thought that.

Well, you are wrong, they have Nurse sharks ( whale, leopard and tawny) and Bull sharks ( blacktip reef, whitetip reef and grey reef shark)

Nurse sharks are generally harmless to human if left undisturbed.

[NomadJoe]

Times like that you can say a prayer of thanks to the fishermen that killed all the sharks in the ocean and the Chinese that ate them all. Amen.

There are no dangerous sharks in the waters around Thailand. That whole aspect of this article is <deleted>. Just the woman's imagination.

And if you were to have read the rest of the article, jaidam, you would see they in fact did see several sharks, so they aren't gone yet. Where they were diving off Phi Phi black tip reef sharks are common. Last week I had 11 of them swimming around our group the entire dive. Leapards and nurse sharks are also common, neither of which are dangerous.

True, though, that our oceans are seeing a huge decline in every species of shark, fueled largely by the Chinese desire for shark fin soup.

[little mary sunshine]

Abandonded in the "MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN" such bull sh##....Land 100 meters away.....

[moe666]

Good grief people you continue to act as if you just arrived in Thailand and no it doesn't just happen in Thailand. I believe Aussie land had a few problems that caused the deaths of several people. Grow up folks stop acting like children when things go wrong in Thailand. I mean the posters here not the victims.

[F4UCorsair]

What makes you think that it only happens in Thailand. I was on a dive in Tahiti once and although we tried to convince the dive master, a Frenchman, that we were 2 short on our trip back he ignored us until we got to the dock and the owner started to collect equipment. Guess what, they were 2 short. Fortunately they went back and found the pair floating nervously in the water over the reef. S**t happens everywhere, not only in Thailand, it's just that this website must be Thai related so you don't hear about the daily " potential disasters" all over the world. Try diving in the red sea sometime, sharks are predicable, but gators and crocks aren't.

It happened to an American couple of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, some years back, and they were never found. There must be better ways to end your time on the planet than drifting, barely conscious, until you finally die.

[kurnell]

You are not dealing with "the sharpest knives in the draw", intelligence, education all leave alot to be desired in many countries. People just blindly expect things to be the same wherever they go, they are not, and they dont stop to think about where they are and who they are actually dealing with.If they know what they are doing, if they are trained, if they have experience? Or is it just some local driven purely by money and has no clue as to the implications of his actions and unknowingly put lives in danger.

That national average IQ of 87 bobs up again

Is that good or bad?

Ask Forrest

[QualityTouristNumberOne]

Judas xxxxxxx Priest!...
where do I start?...
As a Rescue Diver who has spent more time "down on something dodgy" than Paris Hilton's current beau I must say first... THAT'S NOT ON!
that is so wrong on so many levels that I am actually gobsmacked... I just watched http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Water_(film) again the other day with Missus
and while we were watching I idly commented on how many weights I would wrap around any boat captain who abandoned me/us like that before I took him for a brisk walk off a short pier...

I've ended up in a Decompression chamber only once in 12 years of Diving and funnily enough that was in Thailand,and a result of a poorly planned and organized dive...but to just...leave because you have <deleted> engine trouble,it boggles the mind,

I'd love to know the name of the dive company,and would be totally unsurprised if it wasn't the same region where I ended up nearly dead...

Edited November 16, 2013 by metisdead
Profanity

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[Jackson86]

Amazing. But the americans shouldn't have left the boat alone. Perhaps leave 1 man behind to guard the boat at least.

[menorah]

"nearby cliffs which were too steep to climb."

So they were hardly "in the middle of the ocean" then!

There are many small rocky 'islands' with sheer rock faces jutting out of the seas around Thailand. Most of the usual scuba sites are at least 40 minutes to 1 hour by boat from the mainland. If you've ever surfaced after an hour of scuba diving and with dusk drawing in you'd fully appreciate how dangerous the situation was.

No doubt you're ex Navy Seal or SAS and swim 50 miles each day against tidal currents with a full military payload on your back ,. Wise up !

[Larry001]

LOS!!!!!

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[techboy]

"only in Thailand"

Classic Thai bashing. Capricious & ignorant!!!

[Silents]

First of all, in Thailand captain are only a captain of his boat, when people diving he have a rest or eating. Normally a diving companies rent the boat and captain have nothing to do with the dive operations. Most dive companies are operated by foreigner. When the days diving are completed, captain on the vessel get a signal to head back or change dive location.

So to blame the captain here are wrong I suppose and if captain have the responsibility for all divers, the dive operator are wrong doing.

I have been in the dive business many years and seen many divers left behind,

we always had a joke, try not to be the last boat who leave the dive site. Did we have other divers who not belong to us on our boat back to shore...yes.

So I would say, not blame the captain. The captain have nothing to do with the dive operations and should not.

So it comes back to us MR perfect Farrangs who run the dive operations, (some Thai runs shops as well)

Thailand are not any special, diver get left behind all over the world, but percentage are same I think, is just so many diving companies and divers yearly in Thailand so it comes on the map more often,

Left the business with no divers behind or death.

I see you many talk about the sharks, they are pretty harmfull, they have so many fish to hunt and don't really like people who gives a bubbling sound every few seconds. this could of course change with time and climate.

[chooka]

Unfortunately these things happen, there have been movies made about it, but it sounds like in this case the blame is easy.

Where did this happen?

leaving people in the water because you have engine trouble isn't just a slip of the mind. It would be easy to notice 6 people missing. Umm I thought there were 7 of us, oh well they must have gone back. Anyway whiskey time.