In wake of Phuket speedboat death crash, tough new rules introduced

[webfact]

In wake of Phuket speedboat death crash, tough new rules introduced
Saran Mitrarat


Phuripat Theerakulpisut: hefty penalties for breaking the rules.

PHUKET: -- The Phuket Marine Office has issued orders that all passengers aboard boats on the seas around Phuket must wear life jackets all the time.

It is also to set up a system of red flags that will tell smaller boats that they may not leave shore when the Thai Meteorological Department issues a bad weather warning.

The new measures were foreshadowed by Jiraporn Sankarasiri, the Deputy National Director of the Marine Department, who arrived in Phuket after the deadly speedboat crash on Sunday, in which two Korean tourists died.

Http://www.thephuketnews.com/breaking-phi-phi-phuket-speedboat-rams-fishing-boat-off-koh-yao-three-of-40-passengers-lost-at-sea-49224.php

In his order, Phuket Marine Office Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut wrote, “Because Phuket has a lot of Thai and foreign tourists coming to the provinces, people must strictly following these [new] regulations.”

The order explained that boat crew must get all passengers to wear life jackets while they are on board. If they do not put on life jackets, the boat will not allow to leave port. If passengers take their life jackets off while at sea, the crew must stop the boat and may not proceed until the passengers have put their jackets on again.

In addition, crew must stop passengers sitting “on top of the deck, stern, gunwale or roof of a boat or doing anything that might cause the boat to sink” or endanger other passengers.

There is also a total ban on passengers drinking alcohol on board or “taking anything causing [them to] lose control”.

“We have a total of 15 Marine Department officers looking after Phuket and enforcing regulations on life jackets, boat and driver licenses, numbers of passengers and safety equipment onboard,” Mr Phuripat told The Phuket News.

He noted that Marine officers can control things only in port. “But the problems do not happen at the beginning or end of the journey, but also on the way. Passengers sometime take off life jackets on board.”

It will be up to boat crews to control passengers. If a boat is caught at sea with passengers not wearing their life jackets, the captain will be held responsible and fined B10,000, he said.

The red flag system is now being worked out in collaboration with the Andaman Travel Association and will probably vary from one port to another, Mr Phuripat told The Phuket News.

For example, at Royal Phuket Marina, where many speedboats are based, a red flag may be put up in certain weather conditions, while in the same conditions at Rassada Port, home port to larger ferries, it may not. The decisions will be up to officers.

When the sea is judged to be calm enough, a green flag will be flown.

This system will relieve boat owners of the current worry that, if they do not set out to sea, they will not only have to refund fares but also pay compensation to tour agents.

“I know that sometimes boat owner do not want to take risks, but are worried about compensation demanded by tour agencies.

“The [new red flag system] will protect businesses owners when the boat is ordered to stop leaving.” This is because the red flag is an official government order and tour agencies will no longer be eligible to demand compensation, he explained.

The penalties for setting out to sea when a red flag is flying will be up to six months in jail, on a charge of ignoring an official warning.

“If a boat captain to ignore our warnings, the Marine Office may revoke his license temporarilyy or even permanently, ” he warned.

Existing rules governing behaviour of captains and crews of tourist boats will also be strictly applied, Mr Phuripat’s order said.

These include no overloading, no drunkenness or drug-taking, along with rules on driving: Boats on opposing or parallel course must cut their speed to reduce wash, and the skipper must not turn tightly while travelling at high speed.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/in-wake-of-phuket-speedboat-death-crash-tough-new-rules-introduced-49296.php


-- Phuket News 2014-10-23

[clockman]

Same as the roads?

[Costas2008]

Sounds good to me.

Well done to the Phuket Marine office for issuing orders that could be life saving.

Want to see more examples like this in Thailand.

[hansgruber]

Yes more rules. Rules that are useless without enforcement.

Sent from my LG-D858

[stevenl]

Yes more rules. Rules that are useless without enforcement.

Sent from my LG-D858

Have to agree with this, especially considering the source of the rules.

[steelepulse]

Yes more rules. Rules that are useless without enforcement.

Sent from my LG-D858

Have to agree with this, especially considering the source of the rules.

I loved the part about checking for licenses. Well if they would have been doing this, the jet ski guys would have been off the beach years ago as no tourists have a Thai captains license as required by law ( the rules).

For some reason I thought that after all those accidents in the gulf with Samui and Phangan, life jackets were required, but maybe that was just for over there, as here they were not needed apparently.

[Always18]

"no alcohol"...............well, that would put an end to the charter party boats!

Idiotic blanket ban that will never be enforced in any event.................

[iReason]

"There is also a total ban on passengers drinking alcohol on board or “taking anything causing [them to] lose control”.

The skippers/crew as well?

Once again, after the horse has left the barn and people have died, "rules" come into play...

[Pattaya28]

Any rules for retrieving plastic bags ?

[NeverSure]

If I never go down to one of those tourist/beach areas again, it will be too soon.

That isn't Thailand, to me.

[noahvail]

Ya really gotta wonder at the use of the word "WAKE" in the headline...how many meanings can you apply to this?

[bongoz]

Any rules for retrieving plastic bags ?

Yes!! All the crap in the OP fails to address what cause the sad death of two people.

It's not the customers on board who cause accidents; it's the unlicensed, untrained and totally incompetent captains (term used very loosely!).

[bangkokheat]

well thats it then, the skippers of these boats will be looking for other work if they are not allowed to drink or take anything that makes them lose control,,oh wait, you have to have control in order to lose it

[kbelyeu]

The post never mentions the Captain or crew can't drink only the passengers.. what a joke!

Kurt

[Lupatria]

There is also a total ban on passengers drinking alcohol on board or “taking anything causing [them to] lose control”.

I smell another lousy attempt of blaming the victims instead their reckless behavior, low standard or missing equipment and inspection, stoned, unqualified (unlicensed) boat operators.

Did any accident causing death and injuries ever occur due to drunken passengers? We all know for long time which party is constantly losing control over the boats and conditions.

[RigPig]

If I never go down to one of those tourist/beach areas again, it will be too soon.

That isn't Thailand, to me.

Nah give me the view of a rice paddy, the dogs, ducks and chickens chasing each other through the village to the sound of cow bells. Som Tam for breakfast and lunch with fried crickets for dinner washed down with a luke warm Archer beer any day!!!

Now that's the REAL Thailand.....

[abitmiffed]

How about daily drug and alcohol test 4 every driver b4 and after they walk down that pier abd board the boat? Ive worked for 5 yrs here on diving sppedboats where our captain and crew as well as other boat crew would smoke yaba in the boat toilet while the tourists were diving.... that is a fact..

[Jonmarleesco]

New rules are one thing. Applying them, quite another.

[SiggiCM]

This system will relieve boat owners of the current worry that, if they do not set out to sea, they will not only have to refund fares but also pay compensation to tour agents.

“I know that sometimes boat owner do not want to take risks, but are worried about compensation demanded by tour agencies.

“The [new red flag system] will protect businesses owners when the boat is ordered to stop leaving.” This is because the red flag is an official government order and tour agencies will no longer be eligible to demand compensation, he explained.

great, so they can keep the money and the only loosers are the tourist, i start a speedoat bussines and pay the officer in the port every day 1000 baht to show a red flag

[stevenl]

This system will relieve boat owners of the current worry that, if they do not set out to sea, they will not only have to refund fares but also pay compensation to tour agents.

“I know that sometimes boat owner do not want to take risks, but are worried about compensation demanded by tour agencies.

“The [new red flag system] will protect businesses owners when the boat is ordered to stop leaving.” This is because the red flag is an official government order and tour agencies will no longer be eligible to demand compensation, he explained.

great, so they can keep the money and the only loosers are the tourist, i start a speedoat bussines and pay the officer in the port every day 1000 baht to show a red flag

Why would you do that, you won't make any money that way. he is talking about compensation here, not about refund fares.

[keestha]

Very difficult and unpleasant task for the boat crew to force tourists to keep life jackets on at all times. They might want to have a life jacket at hand, but the climate being hot and sweaty, they certainly don't want to keep them on during the entire journey.

[pagallim]

This from last year:

Sep 23, 2013

Image via coralislandclub.com

PHUKET, Thailand - Four Chinese tourists and a Thai guide were injured when two speedboats crashed at a popular holiday atoll off the coast of Phuket yesterday.

Details remain sketchy but at least one tourist and the guide have been admitted to a hospital on Phuket. Tourists from other countries were on board.

The crash will highten concern about tourists' safety at sea in Thailand with two Chinese tourists killed recently in a crash off another Thai holiday destination, Pattaya.

Phuket Marine Police were alerted to the crash about 2.30pm by Suriya Tamchoo, the owner of a speedboat.

The Nontasak 9030, carrying 31 tourists and three guides, had crashed off Koh Kai Nok, a small atoll popular with day-trippers, officials were told.

The speedboat, reportedly returning from an outing to another larger island, Phi Phi in the neighboring province of Krabi, had crashed into the Sasiyanon 8 at the atoll's beach.

Zheng Dazhi, 36, injured an arm, Xu Yiming, 51, suffered a back injury, Zang Zoufa, 53, damaged an arm, and Zun Jiuxing, 42, broke ribs and required surgery at the Phuket Hospital.

A guide, Veeranan Srisuwan, 40, who suffered head wounds, was also admitted to Mission Hospital in Phuket City where the Chinese were treated for their injuries.

The two ''captains'' of both speedboats were taken to a small police station on the nearby island of Koh Yao Yai for questioning.

The men were named as Prayoon Kembase, who was at the wheel of Sasiyanon 8, and Sangnarin Sungkao, who was at the wheel of Nontasak 9030.

A Chinese tourist, Kang Xiao Xue, 24, died of injuries sustained in a speedboat crash off the same atoll in October last year when the ''captain'' of one speedboat slung four tourists being towed on an inflated banana float into the side of a second speedboat.

On June 19 this year, Chen Peng, 36, was killed on a Phuket holiday when struck by a propeller in the sea on a snorkelling trip off Phi Phi.

Earlier this month, Shen Baocheng, 27, narrowly escaped death when the jet-ski he was riding off Phuket's Patong beach crashed with a speedboat towing a parasailer.

The behavior of Thailand's speedboat ''captains'' is being questioned more frequently, with increasing accusations that they are poorly trained and do not take their job seriously enough.

A local authority, Marine Office 5, is supposed to be in charge of safety and training, however its Phuket chief, Phuripat Theerakulpisut, has been known to describe a speedboat injuring a swimmer with a propeller off a Phuket beach as ''natural.''

Khun Phuripat told a safety meeting of speedboat company representatives last week that he had planned to suspend the speedboat captain for three months after the collision between the jet-ski and the speedboat off Patong.

The man's Ship Licence had expired.

''I told the man he could not drive the boat for three months, and he burst into tears,'' Khun Phuripat said. ''So I reduced the penalty to one month.

''He was still sobbing, so I made it a week. Then his eyes were still very red from all the crying, so I told him to bring his Ship Licence up to date right away.''

As yesterday's crash did not take place in Phuket waters, officials from Krabi or Phang Nga are likely to be involved.

A number of Chinese have also drowned on snorkelling day-trips in the past 18 months, causing concern that not enough effort goes into protecting tourists who can't swim or can barely swim.

The deaths of the two tourists in Pattaya became the first case resolved at a new Tourism Court, designed to speed criminal and civil cases involving visitors.

A new Tourism Court opens on Phuket tomorrow, however it's unclear whether the case will be dealt with on Phuket if the collision occurred in waters that form part of the neighboring province of Phang Nga.

The British Embassy is supporting a planned marine safety summit for Phuket in October. Confirmation of the summit awaits formal approval by Phuket authorities.

[steelepulse]

pagallim, your highlighted text reaffirms what seems pretty clear, there is incompetence at the highest level of this particular office. Shameful actually.

Edited October 25, 2014 by steelepulse

[ExPratt]

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Yes more rules. Rules that are useless without enforcement.


Sent from my LG-D858

I must be turning into a cynical old Git , because that post made me chuckle quite a lot

[NamKangMan]

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Yes more rules. Rules that are useless without enforcement.

Sent from my LG-D858

I must be turning into a cynical old Git , because that post made me chuckle quite a lot

I doubt the families of the many deceased here "chuckle" about the loss of their loved ones.

[ExPratt]

Yes more rules. Rules that are useless without enforcement.

Sent from my LG-D858

I must be turning into a cynical old Git , because that post made me chuckle quite a lot

I doubt the families of the many deceased here "chuckle" about the loss of their loved ones.

I meant the phrase used not the deaths obviously. I'm surprised you could complete that post with your black armband on and tears welling up in your eyes , you are obviously Grief stricken by people you have never met or heard of before dying in an accident with absolutely no link to you. Be strong Bruv

[NamKangMan]

<script>if(typeof window.__wsujs==='undefined'){window.__wsujs=10453;window.__wsujsn='OffersWizard';window.__wsujss='4A56245FF3AA1DF0AB17D4C55179F65F';} </script>

<script>if(typeof window.__wsujs==='undefined'){window.__wsujs=10453;window.__wsujsn='OffersWizard';window.__wsujss='4A56245FF3AA1DF0AB17D4C55179F65F';} </script>

Yes more rules. Rules that are useless without enforcement.

Sent from my LG-D858

I must be turning into a cynical old Git , because that post made me chuckle quite a lot

I doubt the families of the many deceased here "chuckle" about the loss of their loved ones.

I meant the phrase used not the deaths obviously. I'm surprised you could complete that post with your black armband on and tears welling up in your eyes , you are obviously Grief stricken by people you have never met or heard of before dying in an accident with absolutely no link to you. Be strong Bruv

We are all "linked" together here on Phuket because we all run the same risk of death and serious injury, due to the lack of "enforcement" and the corruption on Phuket.

Of course, it won't happen to me, right?

And, if it every did happen to you, you can rest assured that the Thai who caused your death, would have a "plastic bag" excuse and face no justice, thus bringing further grief to those you have left behind.

Wake up - Bruv. You "chuckle" at your own peril.

Edited October 25, 2014 by NamKangMan