Nine Swedish tourists rescued after longtail boat capsizes in Thailand

Nine Swedish tourists and a Thai boat driver were rescued from the Krabi sea in southern Thailand when their longtail boat capsized near Hong Island on Sunday.

At 12.30pm, Chief of Than Bok Khorani National Park Weerasak Srisatchang was informed that a longtail boat carrying “many foreign tourists” capsized in the waters of Koh Hong island in Krabi province.

Park rangers immediately sent out a rescue boat and helped bring all nine Swedish tourists to shore safely as well as the Thai boat driver Manit Saroj. Everyone was wearing life jackets and no one was injured.

The sky was clear and the sea was calm on Sunday, so the weather cannot have caused the incident, said Chief Weerasak.

The boat driver explained that his longtail boat “Mermaid” is beautifully decorated and modified to have a wooden roof, so tourists like to take photos on the boat.

He said the group of tourists gathered in one spot of the boat to take a photo causing the boat to wobble.

Once the longtail lost its balance water began to enter the hull causing the boat to capsize, explained Manit.

However, this is just an assumption and the true cause of the incident will be investigated.

Reporters questioned whether the boat’s added wooden roof is extra weight and the reason the boat lost its balance.

Longtail boats with modified rooves are becoming more popular. However, ThaiRath reports that the incident made locals worry that longtails modified with rooves are unsafe.

Locals urged the responsible agencies to enforce strict boat modification rules.

Manit said the boat overturned but didn’t sink so he is hoping to locate it and bring it ashore for inspection and repairs.

Last month, another longtail boat carrying two foreign tourists sank in the same spot near Hong Island, located between Krabi’s coast and Koh Yao Noi island in the Andaman sea.

The boat went down amid bad weather conditions, outside the boundaries of the national park, said Chief Weerasak.

Luckily, two fishing boats passing by were ready to help and safely bought the foreign tourists and Thai boat driver ashore. The incident was captured on video.