Sounds like a fishy Explosion no pub intended .

The only good thing is they were lucky the explosion was not an hour or so later when the boats are packed solid. Also being near a pier people could be rescued from the water, a few weeks ago a guy who fell into the canal near where I live, people couldn't reach him and there is no life saving equipment along the khlong, though there is on the boats, police divers pulled his body out of the water about an hour later.

What do you mean there is no life saving equipment?

I see many of the piers have several plastic containers with rope

Certainly where I live there is no life saving equipment, either along the footpath or on all of the piers.

nothing is correct ... ! I believe it is the ministry for harbours & marine or similar responsible for safety of the waterways / canals / klongs .... There is a number on the signage at each pier that says ' call this number for any issues. It also mentions that all piers are equipped with all the safety gear .... which is an absolute lie !!

I don't think I have ever seen a fire extinguisher even ....

is this a conundrum ? a thunderous explosion it wasn't the gas tanks they were intact it was the engine exploding only 40 passengers were injured god knows what would have happened if the tanks had blown there was obviously a leak in the engine room a build up of gas and boom boom.

'

And who turned the fuel off, stopping the leak, prior to the explosion, stopping a spark entering the fuel storage area?

Sounds like an LNG leak in an enclosed space.

All boats running gasoline or LNG need a well ventilated engine room. Otherwise they tend to go BOOM!

Indicating it was not from the tanks??? it was an explosion probably from leaking gas which comes from THE TANKS.

Along with ventilation they can install a sniffer device which will not allow the boat to start if gas is detected in the engine bay.

Edited March 6, 201610 yr by kiwikeith

Dang must have been huge explosion I don't see any engine room it must have went far. Oh incase Thai's don't know Diesel can't explode it can burn just no boom.

The only good thing is they were lucky the explosion was not an hour or so later when the boats are packed solid. Also being near a pier people could be rescued from the water, a few weeks ago a guy who fell into the canal near where I live, people couldn't reach him and there is no life saving equipment along the khlong, though there is on the boats, police divers pulled his body out of the water about an hour later.

I've only been on one once a couple of years ago but I seem to remember my wife and I both noticed a sign showing the maximum number of passengers. I'm sure it was 40 but I could count more than that even though I could only see those near me.

Dang must have been huge explosion I don't see any engine room it must have went far. Oh incase Thai's don't know Diesel can't explode it can burn just no boom.

There is no "engine room" per se. It is just a metal housing that boxes in the engine. The air intake sits right in the middle and passengers stand right next to, behind and in front of the box every day. I was just thinking about it yesterday as I rode the boat home, grasping the rail that is attached to the metal box for stability. Not the safest but when you consider the options (moto taxi at a higher cost ) perhaps not so bad.

Note to self:

Safe modes if transportation in Thailand:

Double decker buses

Any buses

Taxis

Tuk tuks

Trains

Motorcycles

Bicycles

Ferries

BKK Water Taxis

Walk

Then buy a car or fly.

Dang. How did I forget them?

Safe modes if transportation in Thailand:

Double decker buses

Any buses

Taxis

Tuk tuks

Trains

Motorcycles

Bicycles

Ferries

BKK Water Taxis

Walk

Fly (on certain airlines)

Personal car

Agreed, I still drive a car and fly. Can't say they are 'safe' though. Perhaps simply 'safer'.