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Eight killed as boat capsizes

Posted by Terrance Mann

At least eight people, including five foreign tourists, have died and 17 are missing after an overloaded speedboat capsized off Koh Samui, police said.

The boat was returning to the island in south-eastern Thailand from the famous all-night full moon party on the neighbouring island of Koh Phangan, which attracts thousands of travellers and ravers from around the world.

Seven bodies had been recovered while an eighth victim died in hospital, police said.

"We know only one victim's nationality, and that is of the latest, a 25-year-old American man," Lieutenant Colonel Veerayuth Hiran, commander of Samui tourist police, said.

"The remaining four (foreigners) have no any identification papers."

The American died at a hospital on Koh Samui, Lt-Col Hiran said.

"Of the three Thais, we believe one was a member of the speedboat crew and the other two were Thai tourists."

Lt-Col Hiran said 13 people were missing, all foreign tourists, but police suspected some may have been rescued and would turn up later.

Police said 40 passengers had been travelling on the overloaded boat when it capsized a few kilometres from Koh Samui.

The travellers had been to the huge party held every month on the beach at Haad Rin in Koh Phangan, which draws tens of thousands of partygoers to the island in peak season.

"The cause of the accident was likely that the boat was overloaded, because it was not allowed to carry more than 30 passengers," Colonel Bandid Tungkaseni, commander of Surat Thani marine police, said.

An injured Thai survivor told visiting Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula, who took a helicopter trip to Samui from the main tsunami victim identification centre in Phuket, the boat was so crowded passengers had to stand on board.

"There was no space for me to sit and no-one was offered a life vest," Intat Haechoo, a 28-year-old from northern Thailand, told Mr Bhokin from his hospital bed.

Vijit Vichaisan, the governor of Surat Thani, the south-eastern province that includes the paradise islands that served as the inspiration for cult backpacker novel and movie The Beach, said no crash marks had been found on the bottom of the boat.

The vessel's life vests were still in place and did not appear to have been handed out, he told Mr Bhokin.

"Frogmen also found that the drainage tube fell off from the boat, which might have been another cause for it to capsize," Mr Vichaisan said.

Thailand's tourism industry is still reeling from the December 26 tsunami that killed more than 5300 people, half of them believed to be foreign holidaymakers.

The tsunami struck six south-western provinces on Thailand's Andaman coast.

The boat accident happened off the other coast, which had been unaffected by the killer waves and had seen a surge in bookings as tourists rearranged their holidays.

"The accident will absolutely affect the tourism industry, as we had placed our hopes on the Gulf of Thailand" for a rebound in tourism, deputy interior minister Sutham Sangprathum said.

Mr Sangprathum said he had charged the deputy director general of the ministry's disaster management unit to oversee the rescue operation, but he declined to elaborate on the cause of the accident.

"The accident could have been caused by several factors including weather or overloading the boat. We have to investigate further," he said.

Source: News.com.au

Posted Jan 26, 2005 at 10:52 PM | Permalink |