At least thirteen drowned and several missing in boat accident in Chao Phraya river

[impulse]

13 minutes ago, Johnniey said:

All of my children learned to swim by qualified instructors. Most decent hotels have instructors. Many Moo Baans have pools with instructors, including two of the ones I lived in. 

I can only guess that out are talking about outside decent sized towns.

 

Even in places with access to pools and instructors, some folks think teaching a kid to swim removes the fear of water and makes it more likely they'll drown.  

 

Kids that can't swim fear the water and stay away from the water.  (Same flawed thought process as sex ed.  That's why there's so many pregnant teeny boppers.)

 

I don't agree with it.  But it's certainly not unique to Thailand.

 

 

[roo860]

Price is same for all people on these boats.

I hope you enjoy going to Hell !

Twice the capacity, twice the money.

[Xircal]

I wonder whether everyone moving the the right hand side of the boat contributed to it sinking quickly. In the video it seems to sink like a brick.

[Crossy]

Three out of four of my all-Thai grandkids swim like fish, spending more time under the water than on top.

 

Even so with the crowding, current and speed at which it went down I wouldn't give them more than 50-50 in that accident

 

[maoro2013]

6 hours ago, katatonic said:

Watching the full version of the video showing the boat passing observers on the river bank, another ferry passed very quickly just in front (causing laughter from the observers who videoed the bow wave hitting the embankment), with another just behind. Highly likely they were racing each other to get to the disembarkation point first and obviously going far too quickly. The one that sank was far larger and less manoeuvrable than the other two, so when it had to alter course for the tug that 'unexpectedly' appeared in front, it veered too close to the bend and the far faster current there just pushed it into the bank. It would have violently thrown passengers to starboard exacerbating the initial list from hitting the concrete slope and water just flooded in sinking it in seconds. Those on the lower deck stood little chance, swimmers or not. Very tragic indeed.

Thank youfor your knowledgeable insight.

[maoro2013]

7 hours ago, cumgranosalum said:

so what are you proposing?

That the boat did not capsize. What are you proposing?

[Gold Star]

Here's what I see from the extended video and photos of the incident...

 

The debris in the water is a good indicator of a fast river in flood, a contributing factor.

You can see there was a long train of 4 heavily loaded long barges tied together bow to stern, floating with the current, all being held in a straight line by a small tugboat on each end pulling in opposite directions, each with a long length of tow cable. The tugs control the barges by pulling each end to port or starboard to keep the train away from the banks, or give slack when needed to allow the train to curve, like around a river bend like this one. For example, you can swallow cooked spaghetti, but hard to swallow it uncooked and rigid, it won't make the corner. 

 

The barge train drifted tighter to the bank into the deeper faster current along the outside wall. You can see the tug trying hard to keep the barge train from getting any closer to the outside dyke, by pulling it towards the opposite bank as shown in the direction of it's tow cable.  At the same time, the ill fated ferry tried to overtake this long 4 barge train on the outside corner. 

 

There is a missing precious few seconds of this video of the actual collision, but judging from the positions of the ferry immediately after the collision and the location of the barge train in the river, there was very little room for him to squeeze through between it and the submerged concrete viewing platform with the railings seen in the rescue pictures, that juts out substantially into the river from the dyke.  Reports suggest there was a pole it had struck, but the photos do not show it.

 

As the ferry passed the videographer, the apparent speed (ferry plus the current) was about 10meters/second, assuming it is a 30m vessel, as the video shows it was travelling at one boat length every 3 seconds. That is a LOT of momentum to stop or slow down, and with this type of boat, even hold position or reverse against the current. Any steering is done by pushing the stern closer towards the bank under power, in order to bring the bow towards the middle of the channel, creating more danger.  Note the absence of ferry prop wash in the final seconds, and it appears to slow, indicating at least a cut in power, or perhaps full reverse.

You see this dangerous maneuver on the street everyday as little bikes try to squeeze past trucks and vehicles on the sides on corners, but the pavement is not moving sideways at the same time.

[Golden Triangle]

Wasn't it only the back end of last week that the "Authorities" started a program of checking boats and ferries (public carrying vessels) for safety, checking permits, licences etc etc, ironic really. RIP to all those lost.

[Haunebu]

What an utterly unnecessary tragedy! At first, I could not believe how the death too could be so high, but after seeing the video... Human error, and most likely lack of maintenance and care... RIP to the victims and condolences to all family and friends of the victims! 

[mettech]

After watching that video it seen that he most probably lost the use of his steering or the rudder got stock and not turning , to sink that fast it must of been a wood construction and he did hit a rock right  at the bow most probably opened up the bow section and water rushing it would not take long to go down.

R I P 

[Wilsonandson]

Richard Barrow on Twitter tweets:-
The number of deaths from the boat accident in Ayutthaya has now risen to twenty with 9 still missing.

Richard is pretty accurate in what he tweets.

[Soupdragon]

6 hours ago, mettech said:

After watching that video it seen that he most probably lost the use of his steering or the rudder got stock and not turning , to sink that fast it must of been a wood construction and he did hit a rock right  at the bow most probably opened up the bow section and water rushing it would not take long to go down.

R I P 

 

I can't find any reference to when the boat was built but it was registered in 1967 so it is around 50 years old. Is a boat that old really passing safety inspections ?

 

You have to ask what was the state of the timber in the keel and hull. I have seen younger boats in yards here where I would describe the wood as "cake", spongy to the touch.

 

The speed and manner in which it sank suggests to me a massive hole in the bow/hull.

[metisdead]

Nonsense posts have been removed. 

[Nigeone]

A wooden boat going that quickly and overloaded by maybe 100 more people than it should take in currents and water flow like that will just not respond quickly and decisively to a change of direction . It will wallow and feel very sluggish to steer and handle. It's a long boat also which will all add to,the issues. If it's true what's stated that it moved of course to avoid another boat there's no way it would be able to revert to its previous route very quickly. A boat just doesn't respond like that. Or a boat designed like this one doesn't . And once it hit something it's wooden and no bulkheads it would go down immediately as it did. The captain wouldn't have much hope of going slower. As others have said as he would have lost steerage so the major issue would be overcrowding and therefore too much weight  and limited control .

Edited September 19, 2016 by Nigeone

[Wilsonandson]

The Nation Newspaper reports:-

Rescuers have retrieved the body of the 22nd victim of the Ayutthaya boat accident Monday night.

Officials said seven passengers of the sunk boat were still unaccounted for.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Body-of-22nd-victim-of-boat-accident-retrieved-30295747.html

[DM07]

14 hours ago, Johnniey said:

What's your point apart from a it of "my country is superior to Thailand"?

Some of us like it here, the good and the bad. And believe me it isn't all good anywhere.

Aaaaaah...I get it! Your homecountry is one of those "nanny- states" where they actually try to regulate stuff like...let's say ...NOT letting three 12year olds ride on ONE motorbike, without light or helmets, into oncoming traffic!

Got it!

Go on liking the "good and the bad"...I hope it doesn't kill you or your loved ones!

On the other hand: Darwin!

[johnno2]

very sad and tragic event. RIP

[Thian]

18 hours ago, Kiwisailor said:

In June the Chao Praya was quite rough on one day and as we went to board a ferry at Chinatown the attendant held his hand up and prevented any more from boarding the boat - probably only about 20 standing people. About a week ago with the river in full flood and choppy, we made sure we were near the front of the pier expecting similar behavior but no, everyone was squeezed on board - like being on a Japanese subway train at rush hour.

 

If the riverboats stop accepting more passengers when the boat is full they will start pushing eachother at the pier untill somebody falls off. Even inside the boat a small chinese lady pushed me hard to fight for an empty seat which was right next to my wife who already sit there.

 

I think the Japanese are very well mannered people but i've seen the video's online you're referring to, disgusting behaviour...I wouldn't have used that full train, never....