A SPEEDBOAT rode over a diver off a popular Phuket dive spot and dragged the diver along for 300 metres before stopping yesterday, Chalong police have been told.
Representatives of a dive business accompanied Ahmed Alharmoodi, from Dubai, to make a complaint about the incident off Racha Yai.
According to reports, when the speedboat eventually stopped, the captain of the speedboat became angry with the dislodged diver and said he would have to pay for any damage to his boat.
A spokesman for the dive business, who preferred to remain anonymous, said Mr Alharmoodi was less than a metre under the water when the speedboat passed over him.
After the speedboat pulled up, ''the boat captain insulted the diver and asked him to pay the damage done on his engines without considering that he was speeding at full speed among snorkelers and divers above a coral reef in shallow water near a dive boat,'' the dive business representative said.
''Definitely he was more than lucky to survive.'' The diver lost fins, mask and snorkel and his weights bore marks from the propeller. His body was badly bruised.
Racha Yai is about 45 minutes south of Phuket by speedboat. Dive boat operators say the eastern diving sites there are often congested, with as many as 200 divers and snorkellers in the water.
Demarcation rules for vessels arriving and leaving Racha Yai sites are not clear, although regulations prohibit a boat captain from driving at more than five knots within 300 metres of the shore or over a coral reef.
When divers-below flags are flying, all boats are required to keep 50 metres away from the area. Arrests for careless driving of tourist boats are rare.
Thai to Fly Phuket to Melbourne 'from April'Representatives of a dive business accompanied Ahmed Alharmoodi, from Dubai, to make a complaint about the incident off Racha Yai.
According to reports, when the speedboat eventually stopped, the captain of the speedboat became angry with the dislodged diver and said he would have to pay for any damage to his boat.
A spokesman for the dive business, who preferred to remain anonymous, said Mr Alharmoodi was less than a metre under the water when the speedboat passed over him.
After the speedboat pulled up, ''the boat captain insulted the diver and asked him to pay the damage done on his engines without considering that he was speeding at full speed among snorkelers and divers above a coral reef in shallow water near a dive boat,'' the dive business representative said.
''Definitely he was more than lucky to survive.'' The diver lost fins, mask and snorkel and his weights bore marks from the propeller. His body was badly bruised.
Racha Yai is about 45 minutes south of Phuket by speedboat. Dive boat operators say the eastern diving sites there are often congested, with as many as 200 divers and snorkellers in the water.
Demarcation rules for vessels arriving and leaving Racha Yai sites are not clear, although regulations prohibit a boat captain from driving at more than five knots within 300 metres of the shore or over a coral reef.
When divers-below flags are flying, all boats are required to keep 50 metres away from the area. Arrests for careless driving of tourist boats are rare.
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OH, what a surprise - NOT! I can't believe it doesn't happen far more often. We have seen those speedboat drivers racing at full speed among the divers and snorkellers. Some of those dive boats are pretty scary too, leaving divers treading water for so long that they become distressed. We have seen so much of that at Racha Yai.
About time somebody held those stupid speedboat guys to account, some are irresponsible yahoos. You should see them race through the channel to RPM & BL at top speed, almost smashing into oncoming boats and destroying the mangroves.
Posted by Tina on September 22, 2010 10:53