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?

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?

The TV news story showed someone trying to revive the kid so think it was genuine, not a hoax.

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 ??

On the other hand the Thai bashers will have a good day

That is just plain sick.

how many teenaged thai males do you know?

One of the good sides of living in Thailand, is that Thai people do not care about other people.

One of the bad sides of living in Thailand, is that Thai people do not care about other people....

TIT...''Not my family..not my problem...mai pen rai ''.

Unfortunately its all about that !

i get SIC of this Thai behaviour !!!!

I expect a lot of you guys have experienced the same thing as I have. Drive by a bad accident, want to stop and help and I'm told no, no you may have big probem. That is something I have never gotten used to here and never will.

I know what you mean only too well. My experience was in the early hours of the morning when an obviously drunk driver ahead of me going at a snails pace took an exaggerated wide track through a U-turn on a dual carriageway, over corrected and somehow slid gently into the ditch at the side of the road ending up at a crazy angle.

Any thoughts I had of stopping were cut short by my then girlfriend who said " don't stop the driver will say you ran him off the road . "

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

You just don't understand Thainess because you are not Thai.

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

You just don't understand Thainess because you are not Thai.

I know you are joking, but if that is indeed "Thainess" in action, then it's nothing to be proud of.

Where's the basic humanity ... the helping a fellow human in their time of dire need ... or does it cost too much now?

on the other newspaper, it says the bib interviewed them (boat drivers) and they said they thought the kids were just playing, they see kids everyday in the river....

I think if they looked at them they would of seen the distress on their faces. Find it hard to believe nobody heard their screams!

You can't scream with a gob full of water, believe me.. I know... I nearly drowned myself at the age of 7.

In all likelihood, even if having noticed the youngsters, the elders probably can't swim themselves!

It's another shove to make swimming lessons a legal requirement for Thai schools..... there's a pool available somewhere to all schools... even if it's a bus-trip away once a week.... There would be money in the kitty if the PTP Education dept didn't stop wasting it on 'stupid electronic pad from China' ideas and such like...

saw this on the thai news this morning, heartbreaking.

+1...Sad and unnecessary deaths.

The average Thai is not into giving and caring unless there is a benefit to them...

How many philanthropists are there in Thailand, you could probably count the number on one hand

I seem to remember a story a few years ago about some rich Thai guy getting an award for philanthropy, he had given the equivalent of $100K Kind of pales into insignificance when compared to the donations of philanthropists in the 'West'

T.I.T.....

How terrible this is and how heartbreaking it must be for the families to actually see pictures of their loved ones struggling in the river with people standing by. It must be absolute torture for them. I do not understand how those people in the boats can live with themselves knowing that they could very easily have saved those lives but just stood by and did nothing.

I also think the person taking the picture should feel terrible, in fact I think it is very poor taste for the press to use the picture.

Saw something similar to this a few years ago in Beijing where a little girl was left by the roadside after being hit by a car,, 15 people walked past the crying and bleeding girl without helping, terrible. She died of her injuries.

I did not think that this cultural anomaly existed in Thailand. It is so strange that people in any society today can stand by and let this kind of thing happen.

I am 100% sure that this would never happen in my country and almost every other country, once someone is in trouble people rally, it's the normal thing to do to help your fellow man.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families.

I think in any other country in the world if somebody saw children in need of help they would instantly offer assistance, but then again this is Thailand money comes first not children or other people only lovely money money greed nothing else is important in Thailand

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

you sure?

I do not understand how those people in the boats can live with themselves knowing that they could very easily have saved those lives but just stood by and did nothing.

I don't think the people who passed by, going about their normal daily business.. "just stood by and did nothing". They certainly didn't stand.

They told the BIB they thought the kids were playing.... and I can believe that. Thai kids playing in khlongs, rivers and any access to water everyday.

As I said above, it is very unlikely those old folks in the boats could swim.. or were carrying inflated rubber rings or safety vests.... give them a break!

Another crap headline by the media designed to draw attention to themselves.

This was a case of CRY WOLF anyone who lives or works down the river will tell you that.

Boat drivers come across kids messing about every day and to these guys it was just that.

By the time they realised it wasn't just another prank it was too late.

They never left anyone to die they simply never knew but that doesn't sell newspapers does it?

I have no idea who was filming it or if that person was young, old, weak or strong and was in a position to do anything about it.

You have got to feel heart sorry for the kids and their parents who will no doubt be heartbroken.

But this idea that Thai people don't help others in trouble is a complete fallacy they care the same as anyone else.

Thai like any other race have risked their own lives 1000's of times to save people but some writes a stupid headline and suddenly they are a bunch of uncaring morons..........would make you sick reading crap like that.

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

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Amazing Thailand : it starts with the people .....

Yes. I've always said that you had better not have a serious emergency here because Thais will generally not lend a helping hand. This is a damned tragedy that could have been avoided had those a holes had a shred of decency. And I'm sure they don't feel a shred of guilt either.

I find it difficult even to imagine this happening where I am from.

I would say the same for Thailand, if it weren't common knowledge that this is part of the culture.

What I can't figure out is why this is part of the culture.

Common knowledge to who? What on earth do you know about Thai Culture? The only people it's common knowledge to is trolls with nothing better to do than knit scarves and moan about Thai people.

Maybe you missed the bit where the young man risked his life to go help his friends............I thought he was Thai.

Did an angry mob of Thais gather outside a popular Thai shopping mall to show their anger that a group could be sop heartless?

Oh wait, no........

It's a very sad this happened.

But what about the guy that made the picture / video?

Did he / she also do nothing?

Very sad.

Same in China - remember that little girl slowly driven over by a truck in broad daylight and not a single person lent a helping hand? Different there though, they are worried about the government blaming them if the child dies.

This seems to be a common attitude in Thailand - 'not my problem'. My wife pulled over on her motorbike to help a woman who looked like she was in distress and might have needed to go to the hospital. Turns out, her boyfriend was beating her. My wife tried to get people to help, several cars stopped, looked, and then drove off. My wife was several months pregnant at the time and the girl's boyfriend kicked my wife in her stomach for trying to help - still nobody stopped to help. Just kept on driving.

But Thailand is one of the largest Buddhist nations on earth!

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

you sure?

China is not quite fair play as a reference for comparison purposes......

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Thainess at it's best,what happened to TRT.Thai Rak Thai.

There's no such thing...like so many things here, a thin veneer behind which is the true uncaring, selfish, greedy, arrogant, lying Thai !

This seems to be a common attitude in Thailand - 'not my problem'. My wife pulled over on her motorbike to help a woman who looked like she was in distress and might have needed to go to the hospital. Turns out, her boyfriend was beating her. My wife tried to get people to help, several cars stopped, looked, and then drove off. My wife was several months pregnant at the time and the girl's boyfriend kicked my wife in her stomach for trying to help - still nobody stopped to help. Just kept on driving.

But Thailand is one of the largest Buddhist nations on earth!

Your girlfriend is Thai?

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...

Good point. Ask almost any Thai about this and there is every chance they'll tell you the people in the boats and the guy shooting the footage were all.....BURMESE!! or Farang.

What happened is sad, however I feel it is a bit rough to accuse the boat people of doing nothing to help. Those engines are noisy and they probably couldn't hear what the kid said, how would they know anything was wrong ? Would be interesting to see what happened after this footage ends.

I have seen the video in TV news yesterday.

To watch the film I guessed these 2 boatmen just thought the young guys are only playing. But if the survivor told he shouted for help, I can't find the words ...

Does any-one think that like me these daily aggressive, under zero IQ Thai soap movies spoil the young generations? Just yesterday I have seen around 10 minutes in TV7, something BST soap IN RUSSIA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with Thai "actors" and they shouted, fought, bit down people, used guns, and ONLY during 10 minutes.

Thai families watch this idiocy day by day, and the small children too. What can we wait for them when they are bigger? Yes, street fighter school monkeys and young murderers, abuser. Disaster.