Local boats ignore teens and leave them to drown in Chao Phraya River

[geoman1976]

So, the boats did nothing, and the person filming did nothing. Great to see we are living in such a caring society now. Sad.

That's what I said. I cannot imagine this happening where I am from. Not only that, but I, myself, am a water guy and a boater and the number 1 maritime rule is to respond to distress calls in your proximity and anyone known to be in trouble in the water. These guys shouldn't be let back on the water for still their actions. And I guess the camera man thought the opportunity to record a tragedy and post for his own possible gain was more important than those boys' lives. If anyone of us on here discussing this incident were there those boys would still be alive. I am heartbroken and my heart goes out to the victims and their families.

[RuskiCat]

I'm sure you folk who are most adamant about Thai being heartless would have stopped your car ran out and dove into the river. Arm chair life guards.

[dutchchiangmai]

I think in any other country in the world if somebody saw children in need of help they would instantly offer assistance,

you sure?

Sickening, utterly disgusting.

[RBOP]

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Locals save foreigner from drowning.

Just found this video.... happens on a ferry to Koh Larn,

I guess, tomorrow we will read the news....

They should have threw him back. I guess he was high of something.

[soalbundy]

More Thainess than this isn't possible.

[dutchchiangmai]

There is a chance that the boat operators were not aware of the difficulties the swimmers were in, especially considering the noise of their engines.

Judging by the shadow in the very last frame, the person taking the video had companions who also ignored the boys' plight. How could they appear to be so laid back under the circumstances? I'm wondering if this is some kind of hoax. Have the bodies of the drowned boys been recovered? As the survivor swam to the shore, the head of one of the other swimmers reappears quite a distance from where he went down and then disappears again, towards the top of the frame. The camera then remains focused on the survivor. Is it possible that the others swam to safety out of view?

It wouldn't be a waste of money if some TV member get their heads checked out at the local farmacy. I even wouldn't be surprised if they eventually would find a conspiracy in their own underpants. 2 kids died at that scene. If you really feel compelled to become a private detective, I suggest you start in your own backyard.

[EyesWideOpen]

Pretty sad......The Thai apologists will have a hard time spinning this one... How in god's name

could a boat drive past a drowning person ??

In fairness, did the boats know they were drowning? Did the boats even realize the people were there?

I am not trying to excuse wrongful behaviour, but know one knows what really happened.

"Two local boats passed by as the boys were drowning, and Pongsatorn, the only survivor, said he called for help, only to be ignored."

[apiwan]

Condolences to the families.

Everyone quick to slag the thais for not doing nothing .

In London if a girl is getting beat by a guy in daylight most walk on by.

This is the society we live in.

I'd like to think I'd do something.

But can't truly say.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[English_M_in_Bkk]

So does this mean when I post a story about some Thais going out of their way to help me when I had an accidents, the 'all Thais are the same' brigade will come on here and post about those dastardly Thais helping people again! - f*ckwits!

[EyesWideOpen]

Condolences to the families.

Everyone quick to slag the thais for not doing nothing .

In London if a girl is getting beat by a guy in daylight most walk on by.

This is the society we live in.

I'd like to think I'd do something.

But can't truly say.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Chalk and cheese....... Stepping into a domestic abuse fight on the street is something

that would give pause to most people, as the outcome is uncertain. In this case it was

simply a matter of pulling the boat over to them. But yeah when it comes to apathy,

that video of the Chinese baby getting run over and then ignored by everyone, is hands

down the most sickening video I have ever seen, and I truly wish I had never seen it....

[geriatrickid]

Pretty sad......The Thai apologists will have a hard time spinning this one... How in god's name

could a boat drive past a drowning person ??

In fairness, did the boats know they were drowning? Did the boats even realize the people were there?

I am not trying to excuse wrongful behaviour, but know one knows what really happened.

"Two local boats passed by as the boys were drowning, and Pongsatorn, the only survivor, said he called for help, only to be ignored."

Edited April 23, 2014 by geriatrickid

[Banzai99]

Pretty sad......The Thai apologists will have a hard time spinning this one... How in god's name

could a boat drive past a drowning person ??

In fairness, did the boats know they were drowning? Did the boats even realize the people were there?

I am not trying to excuse wrongful behaviour, but know one knows what really happened.

Don't talk sense GK. it ruins the Thai bashing.

[kurtgruen]

Shocking would be an understatement. However, depending on the circumstances this sort of thing may not be that rare, even in our home countries. Here's an account of a famous incident in NYC in which a young woman, Kitty Genovese, was attacked over a period of 30 minutes - her screams were heard by numerous people but no-one came to her aid and it's not clear that any calls were made to police until quite late: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese The British among us will remember the Jamie Bulger case where a small boy was kidnapped by two older boys and taken (sometimes dragged and hit) to a railway yard to be brutally murdered (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Bulger). Almost 40 people witnessed them on the 2+ km trek (some seeing the boy kicked and punched) but no-one took an real action.

This sort of thing has come to be known as the 'Genovese Effect' or 'Bystander Effect' and is due to several factors such as the ambiguity of the situation (people aren't sure what's really happening) and diffusion of responsibility ("I'm sure someone else more capable is already taking care of it"). There's also the related idea of 'social proof': if no one else moves to act, we are less likely to do so also... we look to others to help determine what's going on and what needs to be done.

Psychologists have done a lot of experiments on US samples and find the same sort of thing. My favourite is where seminary students were rushing to another campus building to give a talk when they passed a man (really an actor) who appeared to be in physical distress, perhaps having a heart attack. If I recall, only about 10 percent stopped to help. The talk they had been assigned to give concerned the parable of the Good Samaritan!

Based on research on this phenomenon, psychologist Robert Cialdini suggests that if you ever find yourself in need of help from passersby, you should target a specific individual ("hey, you in the hat!"), indicate your specific problem ("I think I may be having a heart attack"), and specify what needs to be done ("please come here and call an ambulance for me"). Apparently, your odds are much better than simply crying out 'help' to the masses...

Thank you. It's nice to get something constructive coming out of this.

[Signature2013]

saw this on the thai news this morning, heartbreaking.

Never put yourself in a position where you need help from these people; they can't even help themselves. They can turn a blind eye in a way which we would consider a disgrace in the west.......example above.

I wouldn't believe a Thai if he/she said it was rainning outside. What they don't say is the worst, our western parents would tell us off for not speaking up.

"Up to you"; this is why Thais have no money. Lucky our bodies give us an unstoppable urge to go to the toilet otherwise the pavements of Thailand would be a mess with Thais deciding if thay want a No.1 or a No. 2!!

If I said "up to you" to my parents I would be told off as being weak and indecisive....like a Thai!!

Land Of Smiles = Land of Turn Away if Somebody is in Trouble.

[cnxdefyer]

Sad clip. The person filming is the worst. The boats, probably didn't know what was going on. Those boats are pretty loud, I believe they would have helped if they knew what was going on. The person filming on the other hand was in the best position to get help for the boys. Not exactly a good place to swim though, teenagers will be teenagers. RIP.

[Divers5]

I cannot believe this happened !!!!!

Why the boat operators did not rescue these boys is beyond belief,maybe because there is no money to be made###

Are these people religious and think they can go to temple and receive forgiveness for their sins ??????

[CIHUAHUA]

The third boy swam to the other two boys and then swam away and you could see the other boys heads above the water. Why did the third boy not help? The boys did not look like they were in the current and it looks like they should have been able to swim to the shore. It may be that they did not know how to swim. I do not think that the boat operators knew what was going on nor could they hear any cry for help above the noise of the engine. Give the Boat operators the benefit of the doubt.

[celso]

indothai, on 23 Apr 2014 - 17:08, said:

So what the hell are you guys going to do about... just bash that the Thais did nothing?!

Sitting behind your monitors and typing away bashing feels good doesn't it?

Go and turn the world around, if you think you're so smart.

This is Thailand.

[timewilltell]

Maybe there are so many kids swimming, jumping off bridges and acting up in the klongs in Thailand maybe, just maybe, the boats guys thought it was all a game?

Or they are running their boats on illegal LPG cooking containers etc so don't want to attract attention. Or are not Thai, or...

What difference does race make to this - it is simple humanity and that is what is lacking here.

[timewilltell]

Pretty sad......The Thai apologists will have a hard time spinning this one... How in god's name

could a boat drive past a drowning person ??

In fairness, did the boats know they were drowning? Did the boats even realize the people were there?

I am not trying to excuse wrongful behaviour, but know one knows what really happened.

The people with the boats took a good look, but maybe they were just too stupid to know a child of 13 might be in trouble or at the least not bothered enough to make sure. I don't think that is much of an excuse personally.

[jsflynn603]

Thailand and its Thai people, as selfish a group of people I have ever met ... me me me

Not saying you are incorrect but remembering a legit story about a tourist in China who found a new-born baby girl laying on the side of a street. She took the child and gave it to a police officer who then threw it into a trash box. Then of course there are the American bankers..... seems to me they are quite a selfish lot also.

There are so many reasons for people to be selfish.

Frankly though I cannot fault the two in the boats, to me it looked as though neither saw any distress and likely saw a few kids having fun in the water.

A tragic lesson here: There should have been only one victim. It appears that the second who went to rescue the first was not experienced and possibly not a strong swimmer. I remember being told never to attempt to rescue a drowning victim because their instinct is to grab you around the neck--and hold on fiercely, dragging you under. I'm not an experienced swimmer but seem to remember that to rescue someone you must manage to come up behind them to prevent just that.

As far as the person taking the video I doubt that there was a rope or flotation device, had there been one, it would have long since been removed.

[MarkCyr]

The boat owners should be arrested and dumped right in the middle of the river at the strongest current point. Then let's film that. People like that deserve the same fate as the ones they de-facto murdered.

[mdmayes]

The ugly side of Thainess

[Scarpolo]

Negligent homicide they call it...they should be prosecuted for that, but dose any one care?

Disgusting to the highest level.... I wonder, were they smiling when the boys were drowning?

negligent homicide?

you want to prosecute people who werent responsible for three stupid kids?

[BrooklynNY]

I watched the clip and listened to the conversation among one of the survived boy and boat operators at the end of the clip, I do not blame those two passing by boat operators. Due to motor boat noise, those boat operators did not hear the cry for help and they must have thought those kids were playing around. Also based on a comment on FB that there are kids like swimming in that area despite of numerous warnings of risk drowning.

The boy who swam back to the bank asking those boat operators to helps his drowning friends but those boat operators told him that his friend were already drowned.

The person is to blame is the camera man who wanted to post this footage on social network!! He/she wanted to film this accident without bothering to go rescue those kids. He/she is more concerned of getting the "Like" on FB. I saw the original caption of the actual poster that he saw drowning victim right in front of him (but he was more interested in filming til the end).

P.S. How come I could not add image? Let me try again.

Edited April 23, 2014 by BrooklynNY

[WoopyDoo]

I watched the clip and listened to the conversation among one of the survived boy and boat operators at the end of the clip, I do not blame those two passing by boat operators. Due to motor boat noise, those boat operators did not hear the cry for help and they must have thought those kids were playing around. Also based on a comment on FB that there are kids like swimming in that area despite of numerous warnings of risk drowning.

The boy who swam back to the bank asking those boat operators to helps his drowning friends but those boat operators told him that his friend were already drown.

The person is to blame is the camera man who wanted to post this footage on social network!! He/she wanted to film this accident without bothering to go rescue those kids. He/she is more concerned of getting the "Like" on FB.

Actually..... My wife has already seen this on the news, and the locals there were interviewed.

It appears that these same kids on numerous occasions have faked drowning so that people jump in to rescue them and they swim off and all there mates laugh at the idiot who jumped in the water... a harmless prank, but they cried wolf and it ended with a big som nam na.

The person who shot the video also explained that they couldn't swim and apologized.

So now you have the facts.

The kids were to blame.

[Scarpolo]

I watched the clip and listened to the conversation among one of the survived boy and boat operators at the end of the clip, I do not blame those two passing by boat operators. Due to motor boat noise, those boat operators did not hear the cry for help and they must have thought those kids were playing around. Also based on a comment on FB that there are kids like swimming in that area despite of numerous warnings of risk drowning.

The boy who swam back to the bank asking those boat operators to helps his drowning friends but those boat operators told him that his friend were already drown.

The person is to blame is the camera man who wanted to post this footage on social network!! He/she wanted to film this accident without bothering to go rescue those kids. He/she is more concerned of getting the "Like" on FB.

Actually..... My wife has already seen this on the news, and the locals there were interviewed.

It appears that these same kids on numerous occasions have faked drowning so that people jump in to rescue them and they swim off and all there mates laugh at the idiot who jumped in the water... a harmless prank, but they cried wolf and it ended with a big som nam na.

The person who shot the video also explained that they couldn't swim and apologized.

So now you have the facts.

The kids were to blame.

Asians have a philosphy that you do not interefere in another persons fate

Imagine, if the boaters dont swim either, (not unheard of in Thailand apparently) they could easily get pulled in the water by a drowning desperate person, and then what?

more dead

[BrooklynNY]

I watched the clip and listened to the conversation among one of the survived boy and boat operators at the end of the clip, I do not blame those two passing by boat operators. Due to motor boat noise, those boat operators did not hear the cry for help and they must have thought those kids were playing around. Also based on a comment on FB that there are kids like swimming in that area despite of numerous warnings of risk drowning.

The boy who swam back to the bank asking those boat operators to helps his drowning friends but those boat operators told him that his friend were already drown.

The person is to blame is the camera man who wanted to post this footage on social network!! He/she wanted to film this accident without bothering to go rescue those kids. He/she is more concerned of getting the "Like" on FB.

Actually..... My wife has already seen this on the news, and the locals there were interviewed.

It appears that these same kids on numerous occasions have faked drowning so that people jump in to rescue them and they swim off and all there mates laugh at the idiot who jumped in the water... a harmless prank, but they cried wolf and it ended with a big som nam na.

The person who shot the video also explained that they couldn't swim and apologized.

So now you have the facts.

The kids were to blame.

So it is "A boy who cried wolf" !!

Karma.

[Scarpolo]

I watched the clip and listened to the conversation among one of the survived boy and boat operators at the end of the clip, I do not blame those two passing by boat operators. Due to motor boat noise, those boat operators did not hear the cry for help and they must have thought those kids were playing around. Also based on a comment on FB that there are kids like swimming in that area despite of numerous warnings of risk drowning.

The boy who swam back to the bank asking those boat operators to helps his drowning friends but those boat operators told him that his friend were already drown.

The person is to blame is the camera man who wanted to post this footage on social network!! He/she wanted to film this accident without bothering to go rescue those kids. He/she is more concerned of getting the "Like" on FB.

Actually..... My wife has already seen this on the news, and the locals there were interviewed.

It appears that these same kids on numerous occasions have faked drowning so that people jump in to rescue them and they swim off and all there mates laugh at the idiot who jumped in the water... a harmless prank, but they cried wolf and it ended with a big som nam na.

The person who shot the video also explained that they couldn't swim and apologized.

So now you have the facts.

The kids were to blame.

So it is "A boy who cried wolf" !!

Karma.

it is a sad affair, for sure,

strong swimmers would know early if the water is too strong for safe swimming

there is also the likelihood they were weighed down by clothes, something all good swimmers would know, never to do,

if they were wearing shorts, that would be a lot of weight

these were just kids? one was 20.

that is not a kid

[metisdead]

Some rambling nonsensical and rather off topic posts have been removed.