PHUKET: A boatman from Krabi is facing 10 years in jail over the deaths of a well-to-do Indian tourist couple who drowned when a traditional longtail vessel flipped in a storm.
Yash Agarwal, 26, and Pankhuri Mittal, 25, died when the longtail overturned on the short trip between Railey and Ao Nang at the weekend. Railey is on the mainland but can only be reached by sea.
The Indian couple were guests at the Ritz-Carlton Phulay Bay Reserve, perhaps the most luxurious five-star resort in Krabi.
Today members of both families, who flew in from New Delhi, met with police and opted not to have the bodies sent to Surat Thani for autopsies.
Boatman Ekkapong Kinglek, 25, faces a decade in jail if convicted of causing the deaths. The couple were not wearing life vests. He had no permit to work as ''captain'' of a boat and has been charged with associated offences.
The drownings of the Indian couple occurred with Thailand still suffering from the shock of the brutal murders of British tourists Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on the holiday island of Koh Tao two weeks earlier.
Officials from Chao Fa Krabi Rescue Centre, the department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Marine Police, local authorities and the Army were meeting today to deal with a severe storm warning and discuss the lessons from the double-drowning.
A third tourist, Belgian Benjamin Chambre, 26, drowned when he fell from an interisland ferry between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan earlier on Sunday. He too was not wearing a life vest.
Investigating officer Police Lieutenant Oraphan O-Chaikeaw said today that Mr Chambre's body was being sent to Surat Thani for an autopsy.
''We hope to have the chance to interview his family about his general health,'' the lieutenant said.
It is believed that Mr Chambre had been drinking alcohol on the boat, that he had undergone treatment at Koh Tao Hospital, and that he was emotionally upset over a broken romance.
Police aim to determine why he was not wearing a life vest and whether the attempted rescue carried out after Mr Chambre plunged into the water could have been executed more efficiently.
Phuketwan journalist Chutima Sidasathian is joining a seminar on drowning in Bangkok later this week at the invitation of the World Health Organisation, which is releasing its first comprehensive report on drownings globally in Geneva next month.
Yash Agarwal, 26, and Pankhuri Mittal, 25, died when the longtail overturned on the short trip between Railey and Ao Nang at the weekend. Railey is on the mainland but can only be reached by sea.
The Indian couple were guests at the Ritz-Carlton Phulay Bay Reserve, perhaps the most luxurious five-star resort in Krabi.
Today members of both families, who flew in from New Delhi, met with police and opted not to have the bodies sent to Surat Thani for autopsies.
Boatman Ekkapong Kinglek, 25, faces a decade in jail if convicted of causing the deaths. The couple were not wearing life vests. He had no permit to work as ''captain'' of a boat and has been charged with associated offences.
The drownings of the Indian couple occurred with Thailand still suffering from the shock of the brutal murders of British tourists Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on the holiday island of Koh Tao two weeks earlier.
Officials from Chao Fa Krabi Rescue Centre, the department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Marine Police, local authorities and the Army were meeting today to deal with a severe storm warning and discuss the lessons from the double-drowning.
A third tourist, Belgian Benjamin Chambre, 26, drowned when he fell from an interisland ferry between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan earlier on Sunday. He too was not wearing a life vest.
Investigating officer Police Lieutenant Oraphan O-Chaikeaw said today that Mr Chambre's body was being sent to Surat Thani for an autopsy.
''We hope to have the chance to interview his family about his general health,'' the lieutenant said.
It is believed that Mr Chambre had been drinking alcohol on the boat, that he had undergone treatment at Koh Tao Hospital, and that he was emotionally upset over a broken romance.
Police aim to determine why he was not wearing a life vest and whether the attempted rescue carried out after Mr Chambre plunged into the water could have been executed more efficiently.
Phuketwan journalist Chutima Sidasathian is joining a seminar on drowning in Bangkok later this week at the invitation of the World Health Organisation, which is releasing its first comprehensive report on drownings globally in Geneva next month.
10 years or a 500 baht fine ?
Posted by Roger on October 7, 2014 15:30