Koh Larn Ferry Captain High On Meth

[360]

A ferry operating between Koh Larn and Pattaya sank this afternoon. Not much info atm. A friend texted me about rescue forces in Bali Hai pier saying a ferry sank. Initial info available on Twitter and Pattaya-Addicts. Only news item I could find was this one:  http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.innnews.co.th%2Fshownews%2Fshow%3Fnewscode%3D491827

[pdogg]

Two of our Forum Member's were on Ko Larn today but they are accounted for having taken a speedboat back to Pattaya,

 

 

BANGKOK (AP) — Police say six tourists, including two Russians and a Chinese, were killed when an overcrowded ferry sank in eastern Thailand.

 

Police Col. Suwan Cheawnavinthavat says about 200 Thai and foreign tourists were on a double-decker ferry that left Lan island for the 30-minute trip to the resort town of Pattaya on Sunday. Soon after the boat departed, an engine problem sent the tourists rushing to the second floor, causing the ferry to flip on its side and eventually sink.

 

Suwan says three Thais also drowned. The rest of the passengers were rescued, including a 9-year-old Russian boy who was in intensive care at a hospital. None of the others were hospitalized.

 

Suwan says the ferry was operating over its capacity.

 

Pattaya is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bangkok.

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/03/6_tourists_killed_in_ferry_accident_in_thailand/

[bumblebee]

Some scenes on the Bali Hai pier tonight following the tragedy.  While i was there it appeared some local big wig was being interviewed about it..

[garrydirty]

bad news eh............Regards Garry

[SiamSam]

bad news eh............Regards Garry

 

Yes very bad news but shit happens as they say. 

 

Are you Canadian?

 

Just asking...

[duke007]

No Sam, Garry originates from north of Blighty me thinks  

[rxpharm]

There was  a recent update that the ferry captain has confessed that he was high on drugs at the time of the accident.

[pdogg]

 

A captain high on methamphetamines was behind the wheel when a passenger ferry capsized and sank off Koh Larn, killing six Thai and foreign tourists.

Saman Khwanmueang, 42, turned himself in to Pattaya Police Station late Nov. 3, hours after the two-deck Koh Larn Travel boat overloaded with 209 passengers flooded and sank about a half-kilometer off Nuan Beach. Saman, who fled the scene as tourists without life jackets flailed for their lives, eventually surrendered, confessing he’d driven the boat into the rocks while intoxicated. A urine test confirmed methamphetamines in his bloodstream.

Police said the deaths and injuries occurred not only because the captain was abusing narcotics, taking the boat off course, but because it was severely overloaded and lacked sufficient numbers of life jackets and flotation devices.

Checks for both safety equipment and proper boat capacity are the easiest and most-often-cited improvements that will be made. Yet both never happened here. The 4 p.m. ferry was one of seven operated by Koh Larn Travel. Tourists scrambled to get back to the mainland and the drug-addled captain was only to happy to take 150 baht from anyone that wanted to go, as well as sell them alcoholic beverages for the 40-minute ride back.

No one on Koh Larn cared - if they were even present to check - that the boat could only carry 150 passengers. Boat owner Jaruk Ngamkaew, 45, claimed there were 160 on board, but counts from passengers and the local dive boat that came to their rescue put the figure at 209.

Admittedly stoned, Saman steered the boat off course, taking into the boulder-laden coral reefs off Koh Larn, Divers who examined the sunken craft Nov. 4 found the bow cracked open. Water flooded the top deck, swamping the pump. Saman cut all power, but never gave any safety directives to the passengers, fearing they’d panic.

They did. Discovering the boat had only a fraction of the life vests needed, passengers rushed to the perceived safety of the second deck. The boat listed suddenly and then capsized. Water gushed through the fractured wooden hull, taking it down in minutes. Bodies clung to the few foam tubes scattered among the orange-jacketed passengers lucky enough to grab a life vest before the boat sank.

Local boat operator Panutcha Bunnag was among 30 scuba divers within sight of the accident. She told a reporter they called rescuers then sped their boat - loaded with a number of qualified emergency first responders - to the scene. The divers took 71 people out of the water, three in serious condition.

First Naval Area Command, Sawang Boriboon and police officials soon arrived, plucking the tired and injured from the sea.

Back on shore, Chonburi provincial police commander Maj. Gen. Khatcha Thatsart, Royal Thai Police advisor Gen. Wuthi Liptapnalop, and Region 2 police commander Lt. Gen. Kawee Suphanont quickly began the expected public posturing, reviewing the victims and suspect, all the while promising swift remedial action.

Boat owner Jaruk claimed all his boats are property licensed, but offered no explanations of why they were so poorly outfitted with safety gear. He also claimed to have adequate insurance, promising to compensate the injured and families of the dead. Such compensation totals little. The new Pattaya “tourist court” awarded the families of two Chinese tourists killed in an August speedboat collision just 2.3 million of the 8 million baht they each sought.

Saman, of course, is being set up as the fall guy. After all, he admitted smoking meth. His license was duly revoked and he’ll face charges of reckless driving leading to death. And authorities are promising to revoke Koh Larn Travel’s license if any of its other six boats fail inspection. But whether any of that results in a safer ocean for Pattaya’s nine million tourists remains very much in doubt.

http://www.pattayamail.com/news/ferry-captain-high-on-drugs-during-accident-killing-6-tourists-31836

[ciobha]

I agree with the statement highlighted at the bottom of this news release, and was actually wondering this myself?/

 

Do the authorities simply put it down to one bad drugged up captain and sweep it all under the carpet, thus allowing the ferry's to continue overloading on passengers again in the future?

[pdogg]

 

During her fact-finding mission in the eastern region, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has instructed local officials to tighten safety laws to better protect tourists, after a ferry accident killed six tourists near Pattaya.

Ms Yingluck inspected Bali Hi pier in South Pattaya where she was briefed by authorities about the accident. Provincial authorities were told to speed up investigations into the accident and to devise plans to prevent future maritime disasters.

In the wake of the fatal ferry accident on November 3, Chon Buri Governor Komson Ekachai has previously demanded the Marine Department and Pattaya City boost water-transport safety and put security guards on duty on Koh Lan island around the clock.

Safety drills have also been conducted where members of the public are taught how to survive a sinking boat or ferry. Six people died after the overcrowded tourist ferry they were traveling on capsized near Pattaya. The double-decker ferry tipped over at the beginning of November between Pattaya and Koh Lan. The number of total passengers on board was estimated to be over 100.

http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNRPT5611070010001

[SiamSam]

Sure, sure, sure. 

 

Rest assured all will be fine...