Boat sinks during Full Moon Koh Phangan

[MisterBlonde]

It is reported that the skipper of the boat has done a runner...surely this can't be true...i have far more faith in the Thais sense of responsibility

[limbo]

He's done a runner and sits in nowhereBuri (that's probably in the South of Samui) next to his relatives or he's missing like the other perons.

 

Rumour has it he was drunk.

 

No life vests on the boat.

[limbo]

Neo,

 

The big catamarans are not used for the Full Moon party. Only speedboats and a big ferryboat.

 

With the catamarans, go sit upstairs in hte open or in the VIP room.

 

Shotover;

 

These cigar shaped boats are real death traps. Better to sit on top than inside indeed.

[Torneyboy]

limbo said:

He's done a runner and sits in nowhereBuri (that's probably in the South of Samui) next to his relatives or he's missing like the other perons.

 

Rumour has it he was drunk.

 

No life vests on the boat.

 

""no life vests on the boat"

[CondomKing]

I feel so sorry for those people, out to have a good time and wind up dead because there are just no safety standards here or if there are they are routinely ignored.

 

I sometimes take the boats that travel between Samui, Ko Phangan and the mainland with my wife when she goes to visit customers. She does this excursion a lot more than me. It always make me nervous when I have my wife ask where the life vests are and the guys on the boat give us a stupid grin and scratch their heads.

 

Last time I was on a big ferry between Ko Phangan and Surat Thani the engine ran out of fuel and no one seemed to notice that we were adrift. It was after dark and a couple of barefoot 15 year old deck hands were running up and down the stairs trying to figure out what to do about it. Finally, after about 45 minutes a 55 gallon drum of fuel was discovered in the engine room and after a number of backfires with flames spitting out of the smokestakes we were on our way to dry land.

 

I made sure to know where the lifevests were when I boarded. I'm sure no one else gave it a thought. I'd be surprised if there were enough vests for all the people on that boat that day. I noticed that a couple of the lifevest storage bins were empty. Not to say that there might have been a large supply out of view, but I doubt it, and besides the crew that I saw in a disorganised state of confusion when we "ran out of gas" didn't seem to be competent at all.

 

Anyway, just thought I'd get that off my chest. It bothered me then and still does. I avoid the open water here whenever I can, sometimes it's just not possible. When I die I rather not have it be as a result of a stupid and avoidable decision on my part. I made lots of them when I was younger and I'm amazed that I survived my youth, now I try to be careful.

[limbo]

The speedboat didn't have any vests, if you look at the early shots of the boat, no vests in sight.

 

After the Thai guys where all over the boat when it was 20 meters off shore, e few where wearing vests. If you look at later TV shots, the boat is covered with vests, suggesting.................. Bull*hit

 

Most speedboats don't have any vests.

 

The owner claims that there were vests aboard and a max of 40 pax on the boat. Even if there were vests on the boat, nobody was wearing them. He might face a hard time.

 

The boat according to Thai TV flipped over, apparently because he was speeding the boat.

 

 

[Guest]

Sounds like this type of cargo transporting people is going to have to be cleaned up just like they cleaned up the river boat taxis on the river - when a few people die - then action is take.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[color:"green"]

[Flashermac]

The BBC says the boat was meant to carry about 30 passengers, but there were at least 40 crammed on board. It was 5 AM, still dark -- most on board probably didn't even know which direction shore was or were too wasted to swim.

[Redbaron]

Surely this doesn't come as a big surprise. Up until a couple of years ago, I used to spend a hell of a lot of time on these and other boats in the south of LOS checking out all the islands. Even in low season, often the boats (be it speedboats, catamarans, slow ferries...) were standing room only.

The only lifejackets I ever saw, were used to wedge the barfridge to stop it slipping in the wet. On the larger boats, the big bozes marked "LIFEJACKETS" were often full of other supplies.

 

It's tragic, but surely I wasn't the only one who saw it coming.

 

On one of the larger boats, 200+ people in the middle of December, packed in like sardines, 10am boat full of fuel.. A bomb in the luggage, on top of the engine... that would be catastrophic. I mentioned this to the GF at the time, 2 months after the Bali bombing... she wanted to jump ship!

[kamui]

I wonder why local authories including Mr. T. can't wait with their judment about the cause of the accident until some competent people examined the boat and it seems even to be impossible for them to speak with one voice. Thai officials named *5* contradictorial causes for the accident. ::

 

Boat capsizes off Samui

BKK Post

Seven dead, eight missing on return from full-moon party; overloading suspected

 

SUPAPONG CHAOLAEN AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

 

Surat Thani _ A speedboat carrying over 40 people back from a full-moon party on Phangan island capsized early yesterday morning, leaving seven people dead, five injured and eight others missing.

 

The fibreglass boat, with more than 40 passengers and crew on board, capsized about two kilometres off Samui island around 5.20am yesterday.

 

It was returning from Koh Phangan's Rin beach and headed for Koh Samui's Sea Breeze port in Bangrak bay, tambon Bo Pud, when the accident happened.

 

A marine police patrol boat and about 10 tourist boats rushed to help. They found the speedboat floating upside down with seven dead bodies trapped inside.

 

Three of the dead were Thais _ identified as a man Seni Kerdsuwan, 24, another man Jirasak and a woman called Lamphun. The other four were foreigners including a Swiss, a German and an Australian.

 

Thirty survivors, five of them injured, were rescued and taken to Koh Samui's Bangrak port.

 

Two of the injured were taken to Ban Don Inter Hospital. Swiss national Fridolin Muff, 60, suffered from chest pain, while Santad Sinchoo, a 28-year-old Thai, was injured in his neck and needed a cast.

 

The three other injured were sent to Thai Inter Koh Samui Hospital and later released.

 

The speedboat bearing the name Sud Sakhon was officially registered as Sawasdee Chalermchoke Nava 5 with a [color:"blue"]carrying capacity of 43 people[/color], including crew. It was registered as belonging to Sea Breeze Internet and Tour Co owned by a man called Kosol Chanthong.

 

Among senior provincial authorities who investigated the accident, Pol Lt-Col Jaru Sangkamantorn, the marine inspector of Samui, said the sea was calm at the time of the accident. However, he said, passenger speedboats plying between Samui and Phangan often sped along very fast and could easily capsize if they hit strong waves.

 

Also, passengers returning from a full-moon party were often drunk and did not wear life jackets because a one-way trip between the two islands normally took only half an hour, he said.

 

Sakchai Chaithawat, information chief of the navy's Second Fleet on Koh Samui, [color:"blue"]said there were no signs of the boat hitting anything before it capsized. He assumed that its steering wheel malfunctioned causing the boat travelling at high speed to lose its direction and capsize. [/color]

 

Deputy Interior Minister Sutham Saengprathum said the boat was not overloaded but [color:"blue"]its driver, identified as Samran Roongruang, was drunk. He also said the boat hit a rock before it capsized. [/color]

 

Mr Sutham blamed the boat operator for failing to make all the passengers wear life jackets, saying the operator would be fined and his licence revoked.

 

However,[color:"blue"] Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the boat was designed to carry about 20 people but had about 40 passengers yesterday. The extra weight apparently caused the accident, he said.[/color]

 

Marine Department chief Tawalyarat Ornsira said the boat[color:"blue"] might be overloaded. Also, the boat had another engine in addition to its original two, which added a great deal to its total weight, he said.[/color]

 

Moreover, [color:"blue"]a hydraulic cable controlling the boat's direction at the third engine was found to have snapped.[/color]

 

Mr Tawalyarat said he would set up a panel to investigate department officials who allowed the modified boat to operate without permission.

 

Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said he had ordered the Marine Department to check if other licensed passenger boats had been modified and to make sure all passenger boats have sufficient life jackets for both passengers and crew.

 

Survivor Viparat Sitaya, 27, said the speedboat was packed. Only some of the passengers had tickets. About ten minutes after the boat left Koh Phangan, water kept pouring in over its left side and accumulated in the rear section where there were many passengers.

 

The boat was also speeding with its front too high up in the air before it capsized, she said.

 

Miss Viparat said she and three of her four women friends were thrown overboard. The other, called Nongnuch, was still missing, she said.

 

Another passenger, who only gave herfirst name Jurairat, said the boat was speeding when it suddenly tilted to one side and sea water rushed in fast before it capsized. She dove overboard and swam away from the sinking boat.