49 missing as boat overturns in seas off Thailand

[usual suspect]

This being Thailand, and a potential impact on tourism if this boat has a string of 'undetected' faults..some parties within the TaT will be scratching their heads for a 'soft' fault that caused the tragedy...wait for it...the boat was struck by a freak wave...one that would have tipped any boat of that size & design..(we all know how this works here)...
BUT..Every time I see a truck belching out black smoke (or a souped-up pick-up doing the same), each time you see a photo of a truck or bus laid in the ditch and you can see it's tyres have no tread whatsoever, you gotta think Who got a brown envelope to give this vehicle a road-worthy certificate...It's been happening for years & the good old PMG will introduce laws to stop schoolkids from buying booze within X-amount of metres from a school, but do nothing about the road-worthiness of the bus they all get crammed into at either end of the day..!
And tour-boats are no different...again, we all know this..TiT Rant over folks...

[Nereus]

Examination of raised Phoenix begins amid tight security

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transp ... recent_box

PHUKET: Experts have begun examining the raised wreck of the tour boat Phoenix to determine why it sank in July, drowning 47 Chinese tourists.

The wreck was lifted out of the water at Rattanachai shipyard, in tambon Rasada of Muang district, on Tuesday.
Deputy national police chief Roongroj Saengkhram, who heads investigation, has ordered tight security around the vessel, saying it contains important evidence.

Extra lighting has been installed, along with surveillance cameras. The dock is guarded by soldiers and police.

About 100 senior Thai and Chinese investigators began their examination of the vessel on Wednesday morning. They planned to look into the physical aspects of the boat, its history and why it sank.

The Phoenix was refloated from the seabed, about 45 metres underwater, on Saturday.
It sank in a storm near Koh Hae on July 5. The boat was carrying 89 tourists and 12 crew, returning from a snorkelling trip. Forty-seven tourists drowned.

An initial inspection found it was poorly built.
The government hopes the diligent investigation of the tragedy will boost confidence and restore Chinese tourist arrivals which have plunged.
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An initial inspection found it was poorly built.

It could not have been too "poorly built" as it has remained intact, both through the storm, and the salvage operation.
I suppose being overloaded does not come into it. Or the fact that it is a dive boat and probably has a wide open stern with an extended platform.

[Nereus]

Doomed 'Phoenix' substandard: international experts

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... al-experts

Police and international specialists have concluded the sunken Phoenix boat was substandard and illegally approved, and many officials and others connected with the July tragedy will lose their jobs, the immigration chief said.

Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, the immigration police commissioner, said in Phuket on Monday that crime detection police and specialists from China and Germany examined the vessel after it was salvaged.

"Chinese and German specialists agree that the boat was substandard... It was not built at a shipyard but at a machine shop. Police have laid down charges during the interrogation process. Phuket marine officials were prosecuted for dereliction of duty," he said.

Pol Lt Gen Surachate said the boat should have had four watertight doors, but it had only one. Its glass windowpanes should have been of marine grade - breakable with a fist - but they were not.

"Many people died inside the boat because they were unable to break through its glass panes," the immigration chief said.
He also said that the boat's engine was actually for a Hino truck. The boat was not built with a balanced body and instead used concrete lumps to balance it, Pol Lt Gen Surachate said.

A boat construction project should have 40-50 pages of blueprints, but Phoenix had only 4-5 blueprints, he said.
He assured people that authorities would take legal action against the engineers who accepted the boat design and approved its construction, together with the officials who authorised its construction and permitted its operation in the sea.

Pol Lt Gen Surachate said that he informed the Chinese consul-general that there would be a press conference to close the case next week.
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Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, the immigration police commissioner,

Why is the immigration police commissioner, the same one that says there are now zero rogue foreigners, conducting the enquiry?

He also said that the boat's engine was actually for a Hino truck.

So what is the problem with that? Most small boats have marinized stock vehicle engines. Remove all the boats that have truck engines and there will be no more boats with ANY engines!

Doomed 'Phoenix' substandard...........

Compared to what? All of this appears to be the usual witch hunt designed to save face.