The vessel the Kor
Nongmai 7 (left) suffered a gaping hole in its side during a crash with
the Khemthong (right), which sustained only minor damage to its bow.
Tourism Ministry officials are again promising stricter regulations
after 18 South Korean tourists, 1 Korean guide and 1 Thai guide were
injured, five seriously, when two speedboats collided off Koh Larn.
Boonlua Chatree
Tourism Ministry officials are again promising stricter
regulations after 18 South Korean tourists, 1 Korean guide and 1 Thai
guide were injured when two speedboats collided off Koh Larn.
Visiting two critically injured tourists at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya
April 21, Tourism & Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak said he plans to
introduce legislation at the next Cabinet meeting to restrict the
operations of tourist-boat operators and set up a compensation fund for
injured tourists.
Rescue workers bring in
Gih Wa Hong, 63, who lost part of his leg in the accident.
Gih Wa Hong, 63, lost part of a leg and Myung Bae
Kim, 51, suffered two broken legs in the April 20 accident 800 meters
off Koh Larn’s Tawaen Beach. The two men and 3 other Koreans were taken
to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya. The 3 others were treated and released.
Fifteen others, including 3 seriously injured, were taken to Pattaya
Memorial Hospital. Thirteen were treated and released. The 3 serious
injuries included an 8-year-old Korean boy.
“I express my sincere apologies to the victims and their families,” the
minister said, announcing each victim will be awarded 300,000 baht in
compensation. “This visit is to take responsibility as a representative
of the government. We will work with the Ministry of Transport to create
guidelines and measures to maintain security and help the difficulties
of tourists. These laws will limit the operations of the boat owners and
will be strictly enforced.”
Twenty-eight South Korean tourists were traveling to
Koh Larn as part of a tour when the Sor Khemthong, driven by Amnuay
Kladkhemthong, collided with the fully loaded Kor Nongmai 7, driven by
Rung-arun Homlamduan. Witnesses gave conflicting reports as to which
boat was responsible, but the Kor Nongmai 7 suffered a gaping hole in
its side while the Khemthong sustained only minor damage to its bow.
Some claimed the loaded boat hit the less-damaged boat as it was parked
to take on fuel.
Both drivers fled the scene, swimming to shore, leaving the injured
tourists in the water to wait for rescue personnel. Reports at press
time claimed one or both of the drivers had either surrendered or
contacted police to turn themselves in.
The incident again has shone a harsh spotlight on
Pattaya’s appalling record of marine safety, which has been punctuated
by numerous accidents and injuries, with some fatalities over the past
several years. After each incident, politicians promise safety
crackdowns and increased inspections only to have similar incidents
reoccur within months.
Chonburi Gov. Khomsan Ekachai, Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome, and Marine
Department bureaucrats visited the injured at Pattaya Memorial Hospital
to offer their own apologies and 40,000 baht from the city’s Tourist
Assistance Fund.
The governor assured victims that politicians have not sat idle in
pursuing the fugitive boat drivers or safety concerns. He promised to
have the drivers make their own apologies in person to the injured and
their families.
“Even though we can’t predict accidents, there still needs to be an
upgrade in the protection system for boat voyages at sea,” Khomsan said.
“Relevant officers have been instructed to increase their strictness in
inspecting the standard of all aspects of boat travel, including calling
a meeting with the operators on standards, life vests, captaining and
boat routes.”
Pattaya-region Marine Office Director Raewat Potriang
said both boat operators possessed valid licenses, which now have now
been revoked. All tourists were wearing life vests at the time of the
accident.
He added that a meeting will soon address zoning for swimming, boat
parking and water sports. While promising to do so since April 2010,
officials again claimed they will finally implement marked entrance and
exit routes at area beaches.
The politicians’ platitudes did little to assuage the anger of Gih’s
wife, who lambasted Pattaya authorities for their slow response to the
accident and for marine-safety standards she said lag far behind South
Korea’s. The woman became so distraught that she collapsed and had to be
admitted to the hospital herself.
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya Deputy Director Supakorn Winnawan said doctors
had to amputate what remained of Gih’s left leg just below the knee and
placed a cast on the broken right leg. He also needed a transfusion of
six units of blood. Myung, meanwhile, had steel rods inserted during
surgery to repair both his broken legs.
