PHUKET: A third dive boat operating out of the Phuket region is believed to have sunk in the space of two weeks, according to sources in the industry.
News of the loss of the Bunmee 1, Aladdin and the Blue Star is the talk of the Andaman dive business today as Burmese authorities continue to investigate the most recent sinking, questioning Thais and foreigners in detail.
The sinking of the Bunmee 1 has now been confirmed.
In another development, friends of a diver who disappeared off the MV Blue Star on a voyage before it sank said today they believed he went overboard deliberately to die in the ocean he loved.
One friend said today: ''Esa Juntunen committed suicide. All the people who where on Esa's final trip know that.
''He had suffered from Parkinson's disease for a long time. He had often told his friends that when he sees the whale shark, he will make a final jump to the Big Blue.
''Esa was great guy with a big heart! We his friends miss him so much!''
The Blue Star sank on a subsequent voyage off the coast of Burma (Myanmar) after what's believed to be a fire on board.
Some dive company representatives hastened back to Phuket while others were held in Burma for questioning.
It was not clear today whether Burmese authorities have ended two days of interrogation and allowed all passengers and crew to leave.
Telephones were not being answered by people reported to have been questioned in Burma.
Bunmee 1 sank off Hin Daeng about two weeks ago,with 20 people on board - 15 French tourists and five crew - .being rescued by a trawler.
More is known about what happened to the Aladdin, which suffered a propeller malfunction that holed the hull.
A dive instructor on the Phuket-based craft Peter Pan captured footage of the live-aboard Aladdin going down on January 29 with passengers and crew jumping for their lives.
More recently, Phuketwan's contacts on the Thai-Burma border say that Burmese authorities were anxious to establish what had happened when the Blue Star went down in Burmese waters.
Despite concerns about marine safety, Thai authorities and companies involved in dive boat sinkings are often reluctant to talk about them. The industry is highly competitive and not tightly regulated.
However, even three sinkings in a fortnight is unlikely to deter the tourists who flock to Phuket and the neighboring provinces of Phang Nga and Ranong on the Andaman coast.
Australian novelist and publisher Nick Place, who is due to head off the coast of Burma on a live-aboard later this week, said today: ''Sinkings are scary but then risks are part of the sport.
''If the Burmese authorities are trying to find out what happened and to make sure standards are improved, that's a good thing. It would be good to get the cowboys out of the diving industry.
''Sinkings won't stop me and my friends from diving. But they are worrying.'' Mr Place, from Melbourne, recently launched a critically acclaimed detective novel, 'Roll With It.'
VIDEO, photos of Aladdin sinking
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article18263937.ab/
News of the loss of the Bunmee 1, Aladdin and the Blue Star is the talk of the Andaman dive business today as Burmese authorities continue to investigate the most recent sinking, questioning Thais and foreigners in detail.
The sinking of the Bunmee 1 has now been confirmed.
In another development, friends of a diver who disappeared off the MV Blue Star on a voyage before it sank said today they believed he went overboard deliberately to die in the ocean he loved.
One friend said today: ''Esa Juntunen committed suicide. All the people who where on Esa's final trip know that.
''He had suffered from Parkinson's disease for a long time. He had often told his friends that when he sees the whale shark, he will make a final jump to the Big Blue.
''Esa was great guy with a big heart! We his friends miss him so much!''
The Blue Star sank on a subsequent voyage off the coast of Burma (Myanmar) after what's believed to be a fire on board.
Some dive company representatives hastened back to Phuket while others were held in Burma for questioning.
It was not clear today whether Burmese authorities have ended two days of interrogation and allowed all passengers and crew to leave.
Telephones were not being answered by people reported to have been questioned in Burma.
Bunmee 1 sank off Hin Daeng about two weeks ago,with 20 people on board - 15 French tourists and five crew - .being rescued by a trawler.
More is known about what happened to the Aladdin, which suffered a propeller malfunction that holed the hull.
A dive instructor on the Phuket-based craft Peter Pan captured footage of the live-aboard Aladdin going down on January 29 with passengers and crew jumping for their lives.
More recently, Phuketwan's contacts on the Thai-Burma border say that Burmese authorities were anxious to establish what had happened when the Blue Star went down in Burmese waters.
Despite concerns about marine safety, Thai authorities and companies involved in dive boat sinkings are often reluctant to talk about them. The industry is highly competitive and not tightly regulated.
However, even three sinkings in a fortnight is unlikely to deter the tourists who flock to Phuket and the neighboring provinces of Phang Nga and Ranong on the Andaman coast.
Australian novelist and publisher Nick Place, who is due to head off the coast of Burma on a live-aboard later this week, said today: ''Sinkings are scary but then risks are part of the sport.
''If the Burmese authorities are trying to find out what happened and to make sure standards are improved, that's a good thing. It would be good to get the cowboys out of the diving industry.
''Sinkings won't stop me and my friends from diving. But they are worrying.'' Mr Place, from Melbourne, recently launched a critically acclaimed detective novel, 'Roll With It.'
VIDEO, photos of Aladdin sinking
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article18263937.ab/
We may be in the Guinness's Book and TAT Marketing should take the opportunity to use it to promote diving in Thailand? Why Not?
Which dive boats will be the next? That is the question!
As a dive boat operator, I and many dive boat operators fear the accident such as fire or sunk during bad weather.
We must accept that too much unfair competition make dive businesses in Thailand unprofitable for most of them as bribes and large commissions help large dive operators to grab all business.
Most of foreigners have been opening Thai dive and tour companies with the help of rogue lawyers or accounting offices to set up a Limited Partnership Company with less than 30,000 Baht package including a valid work-permit but all legal documents are pure forgery as:
- The 2 Million baht asset are fictive as most of those foreigners are penniless.
- The compulsory 51% of Thai shareholders are in the names of Thai nominees.
- The 1 or 2 compulsory Thai Directors are Thai nominees.
- The 2 up to 4 Thai staffs are Thai nominees as most of the time they are the Thai employees of the lawyer or accounting office or friends and those Thai people do not work at all and do not receive any salary but the foreigner pays the Social Security every month to be legal.
Also, all freelance dive Instructors work illegally in Thailand as travel agents:
- Those diving Instructors are not registered with TAT Registration Office to be dive operators but have Facebook pages and some websites promoting diving and touring in Thailand or South-East-Asian countries and therefore, they should be registered as inbound tour companies with 100,000 baht bank guarantee with TAT Registration Office.
- Those diving Instructors with a Facebook pages and websites get customers's payments with PayPal into oversea countries to avoid payments to a Thai bank account which is a tax evasion.
- Those diving Instructors do not have travel insurance in case of dive accident (+/- 120,000 baht/year) covering up to 1M baht per accident.
- Those diving Instructors do not have Thai guide who is licensed with the TAT Guide Registration to get the TAT tour-operator licence to be able to work as tour companies.
Posted by Whistle-Blower on February 12, 2014 12:51