PHUKET: It was Phuket's own voyage of the damned. When the seven-man crew of a fishing trawler mutinied and killed the captain and the ship's engineer for their cruelty, they didn't count on the vessel itself betraying them and bringing about their capture.
The voyage had taken a deadly turn, but the crew of killers planned to swim for it as soon as the trawler Supaporn was close enough to Phuket.
Justice prevails, and often in strange ways. Today, off Racha island, a popular five-star resort and diving destination south of Phuket, a Marine Police patrol saw the Supaporn drifting. They pulled alongside, and went on board to investigate.
When the marine police asked the whereabouts of the Thai captain - every Thai vessel must have a Thai captain - they were met with the blank stares of the all Burmese crew.
The officers went down below, and there, in the clutter of the ship's galley, they found blood spattered everywhere. The murderous mutiny was at an end.
Remarkably, the engine of the 'Supaporn' had stopped working just 48 hours after the heinous bloody slaughter of the ship's engineer and the skipper, and none of the crew could fix it.
Today, after the seven men were apprehended, a full account of the horrible mutiny on the Supaporn emerged.
It was the first voyage for crewmen Note, 25, and Kala, 20, who joined Ano, 25, Min, 22, One, 30, Prean, 22, and Wen, 25, on the Supaporn when it left port in Trang province, south of Phuket, about five months ago.
Neither of them had bargained on the hardship of life at sea under Captain Lure and engineer Lek, the only names the men knew for their tormentors, the crew told the Marine Police. The Burmese were constantly mistreated and abused by both men, the officers were told.
Food was poorly cooked and sometimes thrown at them. The fish they caught would be occasionally transferred to another vessel at sea, between Thailand and Indonesia.
There seemed to be no end to what Note came to regard as a living hell. According to the officers, he and his crewmates conspired to break free from their slavery at sea.
About 1am on Wednesday, Note picked up an all-purpose chopper and used it on the captain, and the other crew helped throw his body to the sharks. Next it was the turn of the cruel lieutenant, engineer Lek, to die.
The men decided to head back towards Phuket because to return to Trang would have encouraged questions they could not answer. They agreed that once the vessel was within a couple of hundred metres of Phuket, they would jump overboard.
But off Racha island, with Phuket quite close, the engine failed. The passing Marine Police patrol grew suspicious. And when they could so easily have gotten away with murder, the confessed killers were caught.
Today at Phuket's Rassada pier, Phuket Police Commander Major General Pekad Tantipong and other senior police greeted the Marine Police patrol, the Supaporn, and its crew. The deadly mutiny was over.
Phuket Holiday Appeal Tops Bangkok, Bali This High SeasonThe voyage had taken a deadly turn, but the crew of killers planned to swim for it as soon as the trawler Supaporn was close enough to Phuket.
Justice prevails, and often in strange ways. Today, off Racha island, a popular five-star resort and diving destination south of Phuket, a Marine Police patrol saw the Supaporn drifting. They pulled alongside, and went on board to investigate.
When the marine police asked the whereabouts of the Thai captain - every Thai vessel must have a Thai captain - they were met with the blank stares of the all Burmese crew.
The officers went down below, and there, in the clutter of the ship's galley, they found blood spattered everywhere. The murderous mutiny was at an end.
Remarkably, the engine of the 'Supaporn' had stopped working just 48 hours after the heinous bloody slaughter of the ship's engineer and the skipper, and none of the crew could fix it.
Today, after the seven men were apprehended, a full account of the horrible mutiny on the Supaporn emerged.
It was the first voyage for crewmen Note, 25, and Kala, 20, who joined Ano, 25, Min, 22, One, 30, Prean, 22, and Wen, 25, on the Supaporn when it left port in Trang province, south of Phuket, about five months ago.
Neither of them had bargained on the hardship of life at sea under Captain Lure and engineer Lek, the only names the men knew for their tormentors, the crew told the Marine Police. The Burmese were constantly mistreated and abused by both men, the officers were told.
Food was poorly cooked and sometimes thrown at them. The fish they caught would be occasionally transferred to another vessel at sea, between Thailand and Indonesia.
There seemed to be no end to what Note came to regard as a living hell. According to the officers, he and his crewmates conspired to break free from their slavery at sea.
About 1am on Wednesday, Note picked up an all-purpose chopper and used it on the captain, and the other crew helped throw his body to the sharks. Next it was the turn of the cruel lieutenant, engineer Lek, to die.
The men decided to head back towards Phuket because to return to Trang would have encouraged questions they could not answer. They agreed that once the vessel was within a couple of hundred metres of Phuket, they would jump overboard.
But off Racha island, with Phuket quite close, the engine failed. The passing Marine Police patrol grew suspicious. And when they could so easily have gotten away with murder, the confessed killers were caught.
Today at Phuket's Rassada pier, Phuket Police Commander Major General Pekad Tantipong and other senior police greeted the Marine Police patrol, the Supaporn, and its crew. The deadly mutiny was over.
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Hope that in time, justice will emerge, and those exploited burmese, could start their new life (out of jail) and that Thai fishing industry will clean and get rid off some dangerous sharks species, mostly boat owners, pirates of the Andaman Sea, damaging the reefs, destroying all marine life.
Posted by bounty sea lover on October 15, 2011 06:33