Warunya Thongrod
A week before two Chinese tourists would die in yet another
speedboat accident, the head of the Pattaya Tour Boat Operators Club met
with operators to inspect licenses and urge them to install safety
equipment.
Pattaya City Councilman
Sanit Boonmachai, the president of the Pattaya Tour Boat Operators Club,
meets with operators to inspect licenses and urge them to install safety
equipment.
Pattaya City Councilman Sanit Boonmachai, the
president of the tour-boat group, met with operators at city hall Aug.
21 to inspect boat registrations and captains’ licenses, as well as urge
boat to keep their equipment well maintained.
The meeting also covered parking at Bali Hai Pier, which is serviced,
Sanit said, by 120 boat operators and 500 speedboats and jet skis. Boats
with two engines would be given priority, he said, followed by
single-engine craft and then jet skis. The prioritization is necessary
to increase tourist convenience and the pier’s efficiency, he said.
Sanit’s warnings about a congested pier would prove prophetic, as a week
later a speedboat carrying 20 Chinese tourists hit a single-engine
longtail boat parked 200 meters from the pier. It was the fourth grim
speedboat accident this year.
A Polish woman was killed by a speedboat propeller in January in Jomtien
Beach and a Thai taxi driver swimming in Najomtien had his throat cut by
a boat prop in May. But no accident incited the international uproar and
Thai political reaction than the collision of two speedboats off Koh
Larn in April.
In April, 20 South Korean tourists and guides were hurt - two critically
- when two speedboats collided off Koh Larn, setting off a firestorm
that spawned proposed regulations, establishment of new offices and
meetings like the one Sanit called. To date, none of those proposals
have been completed. Instead, the meetings - and accidents - continue.
“This meeting is to inform the members of the regulations so operators
all follow the same rules,” Sanit said. “In the future, the club will
focus on making it mandatory for boat drivers to pass initial training,
whether it is first-aid, putting out fires, and possessing driving and
engine-technician licenses.”
He said members also were asked to install rescue equipment, life vests
and fire extinguishers.
