Another April and yet another Titanic anniversary is upon us: it’s 113 years, almost to the day, since the world’s biggest moving object sank in the north Atlantic on her maiden voyage. There had long been rumors that at least one Thai national was on board, but research in 2020 on the passenger lists held in Southampton and New York showed that there eight Chinese steerage ticket holders but no Thais. Another myth about Thailand and the Titanic was that the last survivor died on Jomtien beach in 2008, though this turned out to be an April fools’ joke in a previous Pattaya publication now sunk without trace.
But it’s not all mythology. The 1997 Titanic movie gave birth to the term Thaitanic and there are at least 20 restaurants worldwide which have adopted that name, including two in Thailand. In Ratchaburi province there is still a themed Titanic Park and you can book a room at Titanic Residence in downtown Pattaya. In 2016 a Pattaya bar named Titanic was thoroughly gutted in a Walking Street fire, whilst the local Ripley’s Believe It Or Not originally had a matchstick model of the famous liner.
There continues to be world publicity about a rich Australian guy’s plans to rebuild a huge Titanic II which would pick up passengers at Laem Chabang, near Pattaya, before crossing two oceans and eventually ending up in New York. As recently as December 2024, the multi-millionaire said that all would be ready to put to sea in 2027. If a Titanic replica ever did visit the Pattaya area, it would likely be the biggest-ever marketing triumph for the city. The building of Titanic II is said to be taking place in a landlocked province of China, so some caution is desirable.
Separately, there is a Pattaya connection with one of the greatest Titanic controversies still grinding on today. As the Titanic lay sinking, a British freighter – the Californian – had stopped for the night some miles away. Her bridge officers saw white flares in the distance and notified captain Stanley Lord in his cabin who thought they might be company signals of some kind. The arguments about the Californian – whether she could have saved lives or whether there was a third mystery ship in the vicinity – continue to absorb fans on the internet.
The apprentice bridge officer of the Californian in 1912 was James Gibson who died in Liverpool in 1963. His grandson Timothy Gibson, a book seller, in the early 2000s lived in Phuket and Pattaya as a retiree before returning to the UK because of heart problems. He died in 2021. Timothy always said that his grandfather had not seen the huge and distinct Titanic on the horizon, but a much smaller vessel with few deck lights which eventually sailed away. It’s unlikely there will ever be a definitive answer.
