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American Diver Vanishes Off Phuket
By Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison Saturday, April 11, 2015
PHUKET: A tourist diver who vanished from a dive boat off Phuket early yesterday is an American IT operative who works with the US military in Kuwait.
The search for Joshua Michael Devine, 36, will resume at first light tomorrow if stormy conditions on the Andaman Sea off Phuket permit Marine Police and the Navy to venture out.
Mr Devine was on the liveaboard dive trip with his wife Tassana ''Goi'' Devine and two male friends when he vanished.
Khun Goi told Phuketwan tonight that she and her husband had flown in from Kuwait and spent time in Pattaya before flying to Phuket on Thursday.
They headed to Rassada Pier in Phuket City to join her husband's two friends on the liveaboard vessel Chontara I.
The vessel sailed at midnight and the group enjoyed some drinks on board, she said.
His friends took her husband to an equipment storeroom to talk and drink without disturbing other guests on board, Khun Goi said.
''At one stage my husband appeared agitated and asked to be alone so the two friends left him in the storeroom by himself for about 10 minutes,'' she said.
''By the time they went to the storeroom again, Joshua had disappeared.''
A search of the boat failed to find any sign of him so at 4am the captain was told and a more thorough search also failed to find any sign of Mr Devine.
Khun Goi said she had called her mother-in-law to let her know Joshua was missing. With help from Phuketwan, the US embassy has also since been contacted.
Khun Goi said she was at a loss to understand what had happened to her husband and why. Their trip to Thailand began on April 2 and was supposed to last until April 17.
Three years ago they had made their first trip to dive on the Similan islands together.
If overnight storms abate, the search will resume tomorrow morning.
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Comments
Comments have been disabled for this article.
obviously alcohol removes some brakes, and proper stimulation, may activate some impulses, that otherwise are sitting idle...
what's clear that was not on board of the boat after those 10 minutes lapsed; that he was agitated and that he came to such state in course of drinking&conversation - so his agitated state is likely linked to what has been discussed there; that looks like a kind of suicide.
Whether this was just moderate alcohol consumption, or excessive like happens during holidays, remains to be established.
That's all assuming no foul play on part of wife and friends - inheritance and so on..
Posted by
Sue
on
April 11, 2015 22:15
Please hold off on comments. We, the family were just contacted and learning of this. Please have respect not to assume anything. Thank you in advance.
Posted by
Nameless
on
April 11, 2015 23:14
Sue, your comment is all conjecture. You have no idea as to how much alcohol was consumed, yet you conclude that inebriation was responsible and that the missing person's "agitated" state was implicated. There are degrees of agitation. E.g. I am agitated when people make erroneous assumptions, but it does not interfere with my activity. There are multiple possible explanations for the disappearance, one of them being the most obvious, that the chap slipped or tripped and fell off the boat. It happens especially in choppy conditions. Please suspend your Nancy Drew investigation as much of your comment is foolish such as the possibility of an "inheritance". Oh yes, 35 year old IT contractors are awash in money, so much so that they would take a job in Kuwait. Brilliant deduction.
Posted by
Ryan
on
April 12, 2015 00:43
Sue you should get a job with the Thai police, cos you seem to know about every think.
Posted by
Jap
on
April 12, 2015 01:12
@Sue - my brother would never consider suicide, regardless of his alcohol consumption. He loves live and everyone in it. He never met a stranger and would give the world to anyone in need. Furthermore, for you to insinuate that my sister in law and his friends, in some way caused him harm, is simply ludicrous. Please refrain from adding your version of events to our already troubled minds. Surely you must understand how hurtful your comment was to us.
Posted by
Jen
on
April 12, 2015 02:42
as somebody who's known Josh for years, I can assure you, nothing about him was suicidal. To jump off that boat quietly WOULD be suicide, and as an experienced diver, he would have known that. So we assume he fell off. A boat that size, somebody would have heard. This article and info in current form rubs me in a way I dont like.
Posted by
sean b
on
April 12, 2015 03:14
Josh was not even close to suicidal. There is more to this story, you can count on that.
Posted by
Bruce
on
April 12, 2015 04:21
Josh is an awesome dude. This whole story is suspicious. Josh would never willingly go out like this. It's not his style.
Posted by
Paul
on
April 12, 2015 07:13
@sue. I cannot wait for the day you go to the big know-it-all in the big cesspool.
Your comments now have made you out to be a big doos. May your illness win. Goodbye you know it nothing.
Posted by
Annon
on
April 12, 2015 07:37
Sue, have a little RESPECT, what if that was your SON, BROTHER, FATHER Or HUSBAND.Don't ASSUME, because you know what that means. You don't know what happened, you're not there.please keep all negative comments elsewhere.
Posted by
Anonymous
on
April 12, 2015 07:52
Sue: I think your comment is at best hurtful, insensitive, invasive and pure unwarranted speculation, and furthermore should not have been published.
Posted by
Pete
on
April 12, 2015 09:39
Ive known and dived with josh for years was with him last week ,same guy as allways happy joking looking forward to the trip dont make assumptions on some one you dont know anything about, really nice guy really happy guy im praying for a good out come
Posted by
mike c
on
April 12, 2015 10:18
I think the way the facts were presented in this article sort of made it look bad. Everyone on here who knows Josh isn't going to buy that it was a suicide. Something obviously happened that we don't know about, I'm hoping he will be found soon.
Posted by
Dan
on
April 12, 2015 11:34
Josh was a very positive individual and highly motivated and loved life. We were just talking about his diving skills before he left on his trip and how excited he was to spend time with his family and dive. He's a wonderful gentleman who loved to cook, love to assist, great at work and outside of work. He would NEVER contemplate suicide. This is an unfortunate accident. My prayers and condolences go out to all Josh's family. Wish we had more time together friend. God Bless and take care.
Posted by
Friend
on
April 12, 2015 11:44
The person, quite a young man, had gone missing while the boat was at the sea.
Anybody has seen/heard nothing.
1) either the man willingly left the boat
or
2) the man left the boat unwillingly, by the forces of nature, so it being an accident ; at the same no bad weather or rough sea condition has been reported
or
3) the man left the boat unwillingly, with efforts of some persons who were at the same time on the boat, whether they acted intentionally or that was accidental.
Again, the story describes that there were quite tense emotions on the board before a disappearance of the man has been noticed, and that nobody has seen or heard anything related to the disappearance off the boat itself.
This story may be incomplete in case of 3).
It was not a huge vessel.
Yes, forensics in Thailand so rather weak, so events of that night probably will not be established on forensic evidence basis.
Tense emotions have been reported, also allegedly just 10 minutes time interval - it is more about 3) or 1) than 2); however 2) ,of course, is not excluded , but does not deem be as likely as 3) or 1).
Sorry, but people don't just evaporate , there should a particular reason behind it.
Posted by
Sue
on
April 12, 2015 15:05
Just heard about this incident, quite shocked as i've met Joshua and Thadsana. Both very nice people. I hope he's found and wish all the family and friends the best of luck here.
Posted by
Richard Norbury
on
April 12, 2015 16:17
Sounds like a story with no happy ending for friends and relatives. Who will know what happened. Suicide, murder or accident. All possible. No definite answers for his people. Hopefully he will be found. At least that closure the sea shall provide.
Posted by
Lena
on
April 12, 2015 16:55
I know josh for so many years. Paul and I stand as his family on the day when he got married in thailand. Knowing josh, life treating him good, living a life to the fullest is one thing i learned from him. suicidal is never a thing he would think of if problem occur during hardest/tough time.
Posted by
Krizel
on
April 12, 2015 17:15
Personally our thoughts should be with him and his family at this time. Please, let us leave any speculation out as nobody really has any idea what has happened. Our thoughts should also go to his friends on the boat at this time and towards the members of the Mermaids group.
Posted by
Tony
on
April 12, 2015 19:56
Sue, your second comment is not any better than the first! You have no respect for his family or friends, NO1 posting that s--- first comment then NO2 actually defending it! you my dear are an a--hole with a s--- opinion and low intelligence, may the fleas of a thousand camels inhabit your crotch for many a year! thoughts are with the divers family, may he come home xxx
Posted by
christine
on
April 12, 2015 20:13
Christine, your comment was equally unnecessary, but I'm so sure Josh will laugh and laugh at that last bit about the camel if he ever reads these comments.
Posted by
Anonymous
on
April 12, 2015 22:10
I worked with Josh each and every day and he was excited to take this vacation with his wife. We spent 6 weeks working side-by-side, and his zest for life, saving animals (finding a poisoned cat recently, nursing it back to health), joy of diving and love for his family were second to nothing else.
Recently, Josh and I were talking about cooking and he showed me the greatest cookbook "Cooking Comically" and we spent hours laughing while going through the recipes. Of course, at Christmas he brought one of the recipes, and loved sharing not only his food but jokes, stories and laughter. My heart is broken, and my prayers go out to his wife and family.
Posted by
Rick
on
April 12, 2015 22:37
@ Ed and mods, easy for you to do, never publish sue comments ever again. Bannish the moffie.
Posted by
Anno person
on
April 13, 2015 00:40
Still a bit in shock. Praying for Goi and the rest of Josh's family.
Posted by
Dan
on
April 13, 2015 03:02
(moderated)
Posted by
Lenny
on
April 13, 2015 07:31
Editor Comment:
This change was announced in 2013:
PHUKETWAN hereby alters its policy on the posting of Comments and bans whingers, whiners, do-nothings, dingbats, doomsayers, carpers, harpers and kooks. This list may grow with time. Constructive ideas and new pieces of information remain welcome.
so they continued the trip. where are the captain's morals? There is a lot of explaining that needs to come out.
Posted by
The truth
on
April 13, 2015 11:59
Strange decision of the dive liveaboard boat "Chontara 1" owned by Chontara Beach Diving Liveaboard (CTR) which prefered to go to dive to Similan in order to avoid to refund divers instead to participate at the rescue operation or at least to go back to port to make an official report at the Marine Police.
I would not be happy to be one of the divers staying aboard after that freak accident.
With the GPS, Chontara was able, to go back exactly on the same route where Joshua were lost and with Channel 16 and other communication system as well to request an help from the nearby boats and Thai authorities to set up a research plan to recover the missing diver.
That weird choice will not help much Thailand and the andaman Sea to be an international dive destination and will give a very negative image of the dive and boating industry in Thailand to all divers around the world.
Posted by
Whistle-Blower
on
April 13, 2015 15:26
I worked here with Josh and I know he didn't just jump overboard. I truly believe in my heart that something is not right about all of this. Nothing is adding up. God be with you Josh! My deepest regards to the Devine Family.
Posted by
Greg
on
April 13, 2015 17:33
I'm so sorry to hear about Josh, My condolences to the family.
Posted by
Trina
on
April 14, 2015 09:22
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obviously alcohol removes some brakes, and proper stimulation, may activate some impulses, that otherwise are sitting idle...
what's clear that was not on board of the boat after those 10 minutes lapsed; that he was agitated and that he came to such state in course of drinking&conversation - so his agitated state is likely linked to what has been discussed there; that looks like a kind of suicide.
Whether this was just moderate alcohol consumption, or excessive like happens during holidays, remains to be established.
That's all assuming no foul play on part of wife and friends - inheritance and so on..
Posted by Sue on April 11, 2015 22:15