No charges over boat collision off Phuket

PHUKET: Police will not press any charges over the incident in which a dive boat and a sailboat collided heavily north of Koh Mai Thon, east of Phuket, last Saturday.

On returning to Phuket last Saturday afternoon, the captain and crew on board the sailboat Starship alleged that the dive boat North Star struck their vessel and fled after throwing one of the Danish crew members who swam to the dive boat for safety back into the water (story here).

“The North Star returned to Chalong Pier at about 6pm last Saturday,” said Phuket Marine Police Chief Panya Chaichana.

“We checked all the documents for the boat and found that the vessel is fully legal. As we saw no other aspects of the incident that could incur criminal charges, we handed the case over to the Wichit Police.”

It is standard procedure for marine police to hand all cases over to the nearest relevant land-based police station.

Yet. investigating officer Lt Charus Lempand of the Wichit Police today also confirmed that no criminal charges were pending.

“There can be no careless or reckless driving charge because no one was killed or injured in the collision,” he told the Phuket Gazette.

“Also, the person who initially claimed that he was thrown off the dive boat has declined to file a formal complaint, so there is no charge we can pursue for that, either.”

As neither party has accepted fault for the collision, the only recourse for damages was through a civil case through the courts, Lt Charus added.

“There will be no further investigation by police as both parties have agreed to take the case to court by themselves,” he said.

— Kongleaphy Keam