Deputy PM foreshadows legal action against captain and owner of ‘Phoenix’

PHOTO: ‘Phoenix’ from Siraphop Srakaew

Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan is threatening legal action against the captain and the owner of the ‘Phoenix’, the ill-fated tourist boat that sank yesterday evening off the south-west coast of Phuket.

General Prawit says the captain and owner of the Phoenix boat will be held responsible for the accident. ‘Phoenix’ sank with 105 people on board, most of them Chinese tourists, while it was returning from Koh Racha. Prawit sad the boat left the journeyed from Phuket’s shore to the satellite island of Koh Racha despite a weather warning and a ban on boats leaving the dock by the Meteorological Department.

“I’ve checked with them why they took the boat out to the sea and they said there was no strong wind,” said Prawit.

“But, the Meteorological Department had warned against leaving shore from July 4 to 6 and they would not listen.”

“The captain and the boat owner took out the boat without heeding the warning so they will be held responsible,” he said.

Thailand’s Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan. File Photo/The Nation

STORY: The Nation