Phi Phi - Phuket speedboat rams fishing boat off Koh Yao, three of 40 passengers lost at sea

[12DrinkMore]

How do you not see a fishing boat ? The mind boggles ! I very much doubt any of the passengers were wearing a lifejacket. These so called accidents keep happening yet nothing gets done about them.

How do you not see a fishing boat? For some reason it brings this to mind:

During construction of Thai Muang Golf Course back in '93, the shaper (dozer driver) was traveling by bus full speed on the highway into Phuket on his day off and suddenly noticed the driver was perched on the very edge of the seat not paying much attention to the highway with both hands at nine o'clock on the steering wheel, his right leg stretched diagonally so his toe just reached the gas pedal.

The nervous shaper began to feel queasy observing the relative calm of all the passengers whilst the driver teetered on the fringes of control.

The shaper queried a person nearby, who saw nothing wrong with the driver. When pressed to look again at how the driver was not behind the wheel but to the side and paying little attention to the highway, the person nearby smiled and said nothing to worry about, he's just letting Buddha drive.

With that, the shaper moved to the right side rear of the bus where he could no longer see the driver, and broke immediately into a cold sweat.

True story.

I wonder why arrowsdawdle decided that some proclaimed "true event" over 20 years ago, but not witnessed by him, was really relevant to the OP and totally worth the use of his keyboard.

Maybe it is just me, but TV seems to have been taken over by a tsunami of 90% worthless uninformative posts.

It was not this bad a few years ago.

What has happened?

[Xonax]

Speedboat drivers in Thailand always go full speed ahead, no matter how the weather conditions is. I wonder how much they have to pay, to get upgraded from jet ski driver to speedboat driver?

[SGD]

Probably on a group tour, semi forced to attend or having prepaid, they (and the staff) were somewhat committed to the trip.

Sad, but it takes quite a person to walk away from something they have already paid for with no possibility of a refund and the Thai staff are going to be equally beholding to their employer.

[atyclb]

ya suppose theres any use in getting back to kissinger and requesting they be allowed to be a bit smarter?

[atyclb]

"UPDATE (7pm): Reports surfacing that the collision happened at 4pm, but rescue teams weren't notified until 5pm."

In Broad Daylight.

Imbeciles.

"World Class Tourist Destination"?

Absolutely clueless...

not exactly an enlightened society, or even "aware" one.

surely there were burmese on the fishing boat they can blame.

[Mikki Nyman]

Thailand has become real life survival arena, tourists are dying daily and leaders of this failed state are not willing to learn!

[CBR650]

Why would they be expected to drive their boats any different to their cars, motorbikes, scooters, buses, minivans.

[CBR650]

Thailand has become real life survival arena, tourists are dying daily and leaders of this failed state are not willing to learn!

Learning is best avoided, it highlights that you didn't know everything in the first place.

[Torrens54]

Clowns.

No. Clowns are amusing, they are supposed to make us laugh.

These incidents are No Laughing Matter.

[bino]

Hope they are found safe ... They must be scared to death if they are still alive......

Indeed... one of the most terrifying things imaginable.

Fighting for your life with no relief in sight and knowing that death by drowning is almost certain.

The chance of recovery and being found decrease exponentially by every minute.

God help their souls tonight. I will be praying for them.

[smedly]

How do you not see a fishing boat ? The mind boggles ! I very much doubt any of the passengers were wearing a lifejacket. These so called accidents keep happening yet nothing gets done about them.

I must admit it is astonishing how a speedboat could possibly hit a slow moving fishing boat in open water - it is beyond comprehension, I've seen some real stupid stuff on a busy road but at sea - I hope the person responsible for steering is sent to jail

[NelsonHubbucks]

Yet another sad story Involving a speed boat being driven recklessly whilst conveying foreign tourists. I do hope that the missing can be found and RIP to them if not

The safety laws in this country are never enforced and any form of public transport is a gamble here and the odds are not in the users favor.

One thing is for certain. The driver of the boat had NO chance of "running away" from this disaster and should be severely punished if he survived.

[Pattaya28]

How can 3 people be "lost" at sea ??

In a huge ocean, how could a speedboat not see the fishing vessel ??

Scary !!

Edited October 19, 2014 by Pattaya28

[Thai at Heart]

Every week another tourist catastrophe

It is like a social experiment to test how many years it is going to take until the Thais learn to take care of their guests.

[Lex Talionis]

Thailand has become real life survival arena, tourists are dying daily and leaders of this failed state are not willing to learn!

Learning is best avoided, it highlights that you didn't know everything in the first place.

You 2 make quite a pair. Chicken Little (TOURISTS ARE DYING DAILY!) meets Krusty the Clown (dimwitted "sarcasm").

[peterbkk9]

We know nothing about the exact circumstances of how it happened

When the costa concordia sunk i dont remember reading so many negative comments about Italy as a country

but about the captain.

[tonysilly]

I can't believe and understand what's going on in Kho Tao, Samui and of course Puket. Please new PM get your country in order. Thailand is out of control. The whole world is watching and not for the right reason ( Chawk Dee Na Khrap )

[DogNo1]

I wonder if it's really gotten worse on public transportation. I remember lots of accidents back in the 60's in Bangkok between buses and motorcycles. Back then buses were kings of the road! They didn't obey any traffic laws and certainly didn't give way to cyclists. It seems to me that buses are driven more safely now.

[pattayasteeve]

"UPDATE (7pm): Reports surfacing that the collision happened at 4pm, but rescue teams weren't notified until 5pm."

In Broad Daylight.

Imbeciles.

"World Class Tourist Destination"?

Absolutely clueless...

yet another f--- up with the retarded primates rip to the lost

[jaywalker]

"UPDATE (7pm): Reports surfacing that the collision happened at 4pm, but rescue teams weren't notified until 5pm."

In Broad Daylight.

Imbeciles.

"World Class Tourist Destination"?

Absolutely clueless...

I was on Koh Phangan in 2005 & they had an accident that killed a few people.

The boat was rated/licensed for 2 engines, but the owner added a 3rd engine.

The boat was going wide open & the steering cable broke, causing the boat to suddenly turn sideways. It capsized.

Sounds like some kind of mechanical failure could have caused this.

Maintenance - Schmaintenance...The "M" in Thailand stands for maintenance.

[ironbark]

As someone has already pointed out it is easy for us on TV to speculate on the cause of the accident based on little or no evidence and judge all and sundry guilty.

What is evident however is that the Phuket Maritime Dept has a major problem on its hands with the boating and tourism industry being poorly regulated and supervised.

Many millions of baht are being spent on a dubious AIS system for a minority foreign cruising while the real safety issue associated with high speed tourist boats is being ignored.

I have said it before in other forums that there needs to be an enquiry into the maritime dept and the management to be held accountable.

[Yahooka]

How can 3 people be "lost" at sea ??

In a huge ocean, how could a speedboat not see the fishing vessel ??

Scary !!

The open sea is the easiest place in the world to get lost and it doesn`t take many minutes either,believe me .

[mickyboy]

Please bring on the Thai defenders,remember Google is your friend.

accident happen that why the word is in the dictionary but i know where your comming from mind you look at those 2 tankers in the suez canal how did they hit oh yes it takes 2 miles to stop them and half a mile to turn round

[cookee68]

Developed country within 9 years.

that will never happen in 900 years, more like under developed, I hope they find the missing people soon, and I too think that it should be put on the travel awareness, as safety is their weakest link

[diehard60]

How do you fit 46 people in a speed boat?

[RTH10260]

We know nothing about the exact circumstances of how it happened

When the costa concordia sunk i dont remember reading so many negative comments about Italy as a country

but about the captain.

Difference is that Italy has fairly well enforced standards while Thailand needs first to adapt to western standards and then enforce them.

[KarenBravo]

From another news source, the "fishing boat" was actually a long-tail.

Conditions were good with nothing to impair visibility.

Edited October 19, 2014 by KarenBravo

[hansgruber]

Dont worry. The boat boy will get fired and be driving boats by next high season.

Pesky tourists dying. If they not it Thailand it wouldn't happen.

Sent from my LG-D858

[ScottGouker]

The only time I'm going to be any way surprised at local transport accidents nowadays is if a speedboat goes off a ravine in Phrae.

13/1 that it will happen before New Years.

RIP to those unfortunate enough to have entrusted their lives into the hands of the Thais.

I trust they all had maritime licenses?

How can some who is wearing their Life Jacket, be lost at sea?

Did the speed boat go down?

[Strangebrew]

How in the hell can a speed boat hit a Fishing boat in an open ocean was he aiming to hit? And what in the hell is a fishing boat doing carrying passengers? Because never heard of a forty seater speedboat. Amazing Thailand Where Passenger safety is of no concern, well just blame it on farangs, you just have to pay in advance because tourist are flocking here. Al most misspelled it And said f-cking here starting to get Thai accent lmao.