Boat capsizes in eastern Thailand, survivors cling to buoy for hours

A fishing boat capsized in eastern Thailand’s Trat province yesterday, forcing 7 crew members to cling to a buoy for about 10 hours. Amidst the stormy waves, a patrol boat finally came and rescued the exhausted survivors, and brought them to a nearby hospital.

The boat’s skipper, Aswin, told officials that he had decided to drop anchor at the buoy, because of the brutal waves. He said the waves had flooded the engine room. When the crew tried to pump water out, the pump then got flooded as well. Aswin said he then called Trat province’s rescue centre before the crew swam to the buoy. The incident happened near Kut Island.

As Thailand’s monsoon season rages on, boats in a few areas of the kingdom have capsized this year. Last week, a cargo boat capsized off Krabi province in southern Thailand, with seven crew members rescued. The Royal Thai Navy and the Krabi Marine Police searched the waters for the crew members after they were alerted that the boat had lost contact with its parent company.

In May, a yacht capsized in Krabi due to stormy waters. Thailand’s marine authorities got a phone call from the yacht’s three passengers, who said they had gotten onto a dinghy boat after the yacht sunk. They said the dinghy was drifting into the ocean, and the call then faded out. Eventually, a fishing boat spotted the passengers on the dinghy and brought them safely back to shore.

As storms continue to cause bigger waves in Thai waters, we can expect more incidents like this over the next few months.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World