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EDITORIAL

Death waits in lax law enforcement

The Nation 

 

Too many people, too few in lifejackets - the Ayutthaya boating accident was waiting to happen

 

BANGKOK: -- Another public-transport nightmare struck on Sunday when an overcrowded boat capsized on the Chao Phraya River in Ayutthaya, leaving 28 people dead, including many children and elderly people, and 43 others injured.

Initial investigation found that the boat was carrying twice the number of passengers for which it was licensed and the captain's own licence was expired. Attempting to overtake a slow barge in a river bend, he allegedly lost control and the vessel collided with a submerged concrete pillar. The high death toll was also blamed on a shortage of life vests on board.

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Death-waits-in-lax-law-enforcement-30295855.html

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-09-22

[alant]

Why have the law if you are not going to enforce it all of the time?

[bluebluewater]

Using the word "lax" is being generous!  Enforcement of any kind is pretty much zero in regard to anything here in Thailand -be it law enforcement of anything else.   These folks simply do not give a damn and are happy to clean up the mess and sort whatever problems after the fact.  And then do it over again if the need be.  

 

Sure, some family members or friends might be gone from this earth but I've never found them to be overly concerned with that either.

[kingalfred]

Why have the law if you are not going to enforce it all of the time?

That's the country in a nutshell! Except for ,traffic violations and playing dominos or cards!


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[SOTIRIOS]

...anything less than a charge of murder will not be justice.....

 

...for good measure...seize the illegal operator's assets and distribute them to the victims' families....

[ddavidovsky]

When a poor country develops rapidly, corners will be cut and risks will be taken. Without that, a country's economic development would be a lot slower. 

 

In any case, law enforcement has little to do with this case. The issue is the competence of the captain, who simply lost control of the boat and crashed it into the bank. Accidents do happen.

[dbrenn]

2 hours ago, alant said:

Why have the law if you are not going to enforce it all of the time?

Welcome to the land of crackdowns. 

[Retiredandhappyhere]

Ddavidovsky said in post  number 6:

 

"In any case, law enforcement has little to do with this case. The issue is the competence of the captain, who simply lost control of the boat and crashed it into the bank. Accidents do happen".

 

So, the fact that the boat was grossly overloaded had nothing to do with it?

[williamgeorgeallen]

2 hours ago, SOTIRIOS said:

...anything less than a charge of murder will not be justice.....

 

...for good measure...seize the illegal operator's assets and distribute them to the victims' families....

no the sunken concrete block has been found to be the problem and it has been told to move.

[ddavidovsky]

5 minutes ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

Ddavidovsky said in post  number 6:

 

"In any case, law enforcement has little to do with this case. The issue is the competence of the captain, who simply lost control of the boat and crashed it into the bank. Accidents do happen".

 

So, the fact that the boat was grossly overloaded had nothing to do with it?

 

If you're saying the captain lost control of the boat because it was overloaded. Are those extra people heavy enough to affect navigability? Interesting point, but I doubt it.

 

And I await official confirmation that it was overloaded. The boat has two decks and to my mind looks like it was designed to safely carry far more than 50 people. The quality of reporting here is poor and I don't believe everything I read, such as that it hit an underwater pillar. Clearly it veered off course and hit the concrete berm. Mechanical failure.possibly, either that or pure incompetence on the captain's part.

[Fookhaht]

18 minutes ago, ddavidovsky said:

 

If you're saying the captain lost control of the boat because it was overloaded. Are those extra people heavy enough to affect navigability? Interesting point, but I doubt it.

 

And I await official confirmation that it was overloaded. The boat has two decks and to my mind looks like it was designed to safely carry far more than 50 people. The quality of reporting here is poor and I don't believe everything I read, such as that it hit an underwater pillar. Clearly it veered off course and hit the concrete berm. Mechanical failure.possibly, either that or pure incompetence on the captain's part.

Armchair investigators.  Pffft!  

[ddavidovsky]

6 minutes ago, Fookhaht said:

Armchair investigators.  Pffft!  

 

I'm here to read the speculation. We sometimes have to rely on it, given the absence of quality reporting and official transparency. Let's hear your opinion.

 

 

[Fookhaht]

9 minutes ago, ddavidovsky said:

 

I'm here to read the speculation. We sometimes have to rely on it, given the absence of quality reporting and official transparency. Let's hear your opinion.

 

 

I'm here to laugh at all the "experts."  I'm just a common person with little expertise in this area--thus, tend to withhold my opinion out of deference to saving cyber-ink.   

[elgordo38]

4 hours ago, bluebluewater said:

Using the word "lax" is being generous!  Enforcement of any kind is pretty much zero in regard to anything here in Thailand -be it law enforcement of anything else.   These folks simply do not give a damn and are happy to clean up the mess and sort whatever problems after the fact.  And then do it over again if the need be.  

 

Sure, some family members or friends might be gone from this earth but I've never found them to be overly concerned with that either.

If you ever brought Western style enforcement here in everything Thailand would cease to be a viable Tourist destination cost wise. Its a "your on your own" tourist destination. Its modeled after the popular movie "Westworld" directed by TAT

Edited September 22, 2016 by elgordo38

[longtom]

There's the short video clip from the accident showing that there were at least 50 people on the lower deck only (many children!).  Life wests would have saved most  of them, because the lower deck was 'open' so very easy to get out of there, even wearing a vest.

[waldroj]

The article starts by saying, "...Another public-transport nightmare struck on Sunday when an overcrowded boat capsized on the Chao Phraya River in Ayutthaya, leaving 28 people dead, including many children and elderly people, and 43 others injured...".

 

There is no disputing that this is yet another incident that could/should have been avoided (especially if people followed the rules).

 

As tragic as this event is, it is (thankfully) still a comparatively rare occurrence, and as such it is getting quite a bit of media coverage.

 

The sad irony of this (if the 2015 WHO Global status report on road safety is to be believed) is that every day in Thailand almost twice as many people are killed in motorized 2- or 3-wheel vehicle accidents, and this happens with very little media coverage!

 

The WHO figures for Thailand (from the World Development Indicators database) report that for the latest year available, there were an estimated 24,237 road traffic deaths, and 72.8% of these were from motorized 2- or 3-wheel vehicle accidents. If these statistics are anywhere near the money, then that equates to 48 people! See+ http://www.who.int/entity/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2015/Statistical_annex_GSRRS2015.pdf?ua=1

 

So, while the headline of this article reads, "Death waits in lax law enforcement", it would be more appropriate if the media were to be as zealous in applying this to reporting the tragedy that plays out daily on Thailand's roads.

 

 

[Brer Fox]

Was it a case of not enough life jackets or too many people or both? Maybe it was licensed to carry 50 people and maybe it did have 50 life jackets on board but it's a bit difficult to share them around 100 -150 passengers. Has it been confirmed yet about how many people were on the boat.

It is known for sure there was at least 71 on board made up of 28 dead and 43 injured so how many uninjured were there?

[richard_smith237]

Quote

From: 

 

Ayutthaya Deputy Police Chief Pol. Col. Thanasak Panyaem charged the helmsman, Wirat Chaisirikul, with reckless driving, operating on an invalid license, and overloading the boat. He is considering an additional charge of vehicular manslaughter. 

 

 

This pretty much sums up the whole attitude of those in enforcement....  the laziness and apathy seeps to the surface and as consequence society remains void of any form of consequence or accountability... 

 

People simply don't follow any rules, which are generally in place for the 'greater good'... and as a result society is broken and morally destitute with regards to responsibility. 

 

[rosst]

10 hours ago, ddavidovsky said:

When a poor country develops rapidly, corners will be cut and risks will be taken. Without that, a country's economic development would be a lot slower. 

 

In any case, law enforcement has little to do with this case. The issue is the competence of the captain, who simply lost control of the boat and crashed it into the bank. Accidents do happen.

I  respectfully submit that the person or persons who are in charge of the craft have an obligation to verify the capability and credentials of the person they permit to operate their craft.  The documentation in relation to the hiring of same needs to be scrutinised and held accountable for their culpability. 

[kingalfred]

Lax law enforcement on boats? Start a list on other "lax" enforcement ..how long you got?


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