Five tourists were missing as a desperate air and sea rescue was mounted off Chumporn last night

[webfact]

Five tourists were missing as a desperate air and sea rescue was mounted off Chumporn last night

 

Picture: Daily News

 

CHUMPORN: -- Following the capsizing of the Chokthara 2 vessel carrying 13 tourists and three crew some 11 people were saved, reported Daily News.

 

But just after midnight five people - believed to all be tourists - were still unaccounted for.

 

Navy vessels and aircraft as well as fishing boats were mobilized in the search centering on the Koh Ngam to Koh Kaloke area in Chumporn Bay.

 

Chumporn governor Narong Phonla-iat, the head of the regional police and a tourism chief set off from Chumporn port to coordinate the search in the middle of the night.

 

Daily News reported this morning that the fate of the tourists is unknown.

 

Source: Daily News

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-07-27

[dotpoom]

Let's hope and pray for their safe return.

[neeray]

7 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

Let's hope and pray for their safe return.

Ditto. 

[williamgeorgeallen]

stand by for the next round of marine regulations which will be ignored.

[jimstar1]

Here we go again 

[Toshiba66]

Not much information given that 5 people are missing.

 

What about the weather? Were they all wearing life jackets as in the photo? 

 

My money is on they were not wearing life jackets at the time and alcohol was involved. And I'm not talking about the 5 missing.

 

Lets hope they can find them alive. 

[sandrabbit]

I don't know what the weather is like in the south but here in Rayong the seas are very heavy due to the tropical storm and I wouldn't recommend going out In a small boat. The wind is almost directly from the south so it's pushing the waves onshore and it's like there's no tide due to this so I would presume the sea is running quite fast in the gulf so any survivors would be pushed fairly quickly from the site of the accident. I hope they have better success in their search this morning.

[craigt3365]

Must have been some really rough seas.  That's a fairly big boat.  Best wishes to them being found. 

[steveyinasia]

If the weather was like the change that hit Chiang mai last night, there was on reasonable explanation why the boat would be out, except of course, money.

[webfact]

Five Thai tourists drown when snorkeling boat sinks in Chumphon Bay

By The Nation

 

 

Five Thai tourists drowned when a boat taking visitors to snorkel around islands in Chumphon Bay capsized because of high waves and strong winds on Wednesday night.

 

The Chok Thara 2 boat sank near Koh Ngam and Koh Kalok and the authorities were alerted at 9pm.

 

Initially, eight tourists and three crew members were rescued and five tourists were reported missing.

 

Chumphon Governor Narong Polla-iad said on Thursday that rescuers later found four women and one man trapped in the boat.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30321933

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-27

[shaurene]

that boat is probably one of the rescue boats. it points to the boat they were on which probably over turned. The captains on these tourist boats have no real sea experience probably just a ticket for experience on some power boats. And the few thousand baht they pay to have one issued.

[shaurene]

I was talking about the boat showing police with life jackets on, not the one shown as the snorkel boat. I read now that some were found trapped inside the boat. 

[sandrabbit]

10 minutes ago, webfact said:

Chumphon Governor Narong Polla-iad said on Thursday that rescuers later found four women and one man trapped in the boat.

I wondered if that was the case but didn't want to wish it by commenting.

 

10 minutes ago, webfact said:

Five Thai tourists drowned when a boat taking visitors to snorkel around islands in Chumphon Bay capsized because of high waves and strong winds on Wednesday night.

Anyone living near the gulf will tell you how rough the sea is at the moment, why would anyone want to be out with anything smaller than the Queen Mary?. 

[craigt3365]

I believe if you go to the link to the article above, you'll see a pic of the boat?  I can't read Thai, so not sure.  But looks like a snorkel boat.

[jmacken306]

1 hour ago, Toshiba66 said:

Not much information given that 5 people are missing.

 

What about the weather? Were they all wearing life jackets as in the photo? 

 

My money is on they were not wearing life jackets at the time and alcohol was involved. And I'm not talking about the 5 missing.

 

Lets hope they can find them alive. 

Yeah notice the search crew are wearing life jackets, any of the boats I've been on have never handed them out nor offered. The jackets you see are ones from the beginning of time, which look more like bricks and placed in one area of the boat where those two people have access too. Luck 2 people won't remain afloat anyway!

[sandrabbit]

19 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

I believe if you go to the link to the article above, you'll see a pic of the boat?  I can't read Thai, so not sure.  But looks like a snorkel boat.

Two things strike me immediately about the boat, if it is a 'dive/snorkel' boat it doesn't have much area for embarking/retrieving people it looks more like a tour boat and it doesn't look suitable to be out in the current seas. If it turned turtle people inside the superstructure would never be able to get out if they were wearing life jackets.

[sandrabbit]

'The Chok Thara 2 boat sank near Koh Ngam and Koh Kalok and the authorities were alerted at 9pm.'

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30321933

 

Wow so the rescue crews weren't alerted till 9pm?

[wvavin]

Do you expect the 5 tourists are still alive in such situation?

[animatic]

What isn't clear is if the 5 people found trapped in the boat were the 5 who drowned.

I guess we sadly must assume so, but at least they weren't washed away in the sea and causing a huge search.

 

[Rc2702]

3 minutes ago, animatic said:

What isn't clear is if the 5 people found trapped in the boat were the 5 who drowned.

I guess we sadly must assume so, but at least they weren't washed away in the sea and causing a huge search.

 

Better to know than to hope. Nice!

RIP Chumporn 5

[ChangMaiSausage]

Don't get on the boat without life jackets.

 

Many times we have had to cancel our trip due to strong winds and rough water.

 

Hope they find the people alive.

[animatic]

Better to know than to hope. Nice!
RIP Chumporn 5

Not quite what I meant.
It is better to still have hope.
But if they were in the open sea then rescuers are at risk in bad seas while they search for them. Or they might never be found, so no closure for families.

As horrible as the certainty is,
the open sea is at least over for searchers and families, if not dealing with the tragedy.
RIP to all lost.

[wealthychef]

So are they still missing or were they found trapped on the boat? We're the trapped people alive?

[webfact]

5 Scuba Students Drown When Boat Capsizes In Gulf

By Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

 

  

Searching boats on Wednesday night near Chumphon’s Koh Ngam Yai

 

CHUMPHON — Four members of a group who headed out from Bangkok to learn scuba diving died Wednesday night along with one instructor after their boat capsized during a heavy rainstorm in the Gulf of Thailand.

 

The bodies of four women and one man, all in their 30s and 40s, were recovered from under the vessel near Koh Ngam Yai early Thursday following several hours of searching by marine police.

 

Source: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/calamity/2017/07/27/5-scuba-students-drown-boat-capsizes-gulf/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2017-07-27

[Just1Voice]

What idiot take a boat out in bad weather conditions, especially when warned not to! 

[poohy]

I am up the coast a bit in Prachuap, here the fishing boats have not gone to sea for a few days, i would therefore question why this boat was at sea.

[tandor]

5 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

stand by for the next round of marine regulations which will be ignored.

...agreed...a lot of horses have bolted..land and sea..hope they find them safe and well.

[TKDfella]

Can someone here help me because it's been many a year since I did snorkeling. 'Five Thai tourists drowned when a boat taking visitors to snorkel around islands in Chumphon Bay capsized because of high waves and strong winds on Wednesday night.'  Wednesday night? Is this common practice?

[Lupatria]

Why would anyone with an IQ above room temperature take tourist out to sea for snorkeling in high waves and bad weather conditions? At the end of the day they will blame it again on "evil spirits" who caused the tragedy and unfortunately they have no proper address to issue an arrest warrant. Meanwhile the TAT will work overtime to write new fairy tales about Thailand as a safe tourist destination. 

[sandrabbit]

8 minutes ago, TKDfella said:

Can someone here help me because it's been many a year since I did snorkeling. 'Five Thai tourists drowned when a boat taking visitors to snorkel around islands in Chumphon Bay capsized because of high waves and strong winds on Wednesday night.'  Wednesday night? Is this common practice?

'According to Col. Paisarn Sangtep of Pak Nam Chumphon police, the five people were among a group of 13 people, scuba diving students and instructors, who hired a boat to go out into the sea for a diving and undersea photography lessons.'

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/calamity/2017/07/27/5-scuba-students-drown-boat-capsizes-gulf/

 

I may have read this wrong, I was under the assumption they had gone out in the daytime but if this an evening/night dive then the ships commander must have been suicidal.