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Another Andaman Stranding: Time for Thailand to Put Tourists' Safety First
By Alan Morison Sunday, May 26, 2013
PHUKET: On Monday, the chief of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation issues an emergency warning for Phuket and other Andaman provinces. Fierce storms are coming, he says, putting the department's workers on 24-hour standby.
On Saturday, a fierce storm lashes Krabi and two boats containing 20 tourists capsize. More than 100 more are stranded on a popular destination, Hong island. Those tourists all need rescuing.
Is there a connection here?
Well, the storm may have arrived a little later than expected. But that's not unusual during the monsoon season on the Phuket-Andaman coast.
The connection is that warnings appear to go unheeded and tour operators on Krabi's coast seem prepared to risk the lives of tourists if there's money to be made.
This was confirmed by a coastal rescue official who wished to remain anonymous, but said: ''Sadly, it's true. Making money is what's considered important. Tourist safety is secondary.''
The good news from this weekend's big blow was that no reports came to Phuketwan of Phuket or Phang Nga boats being caught at sea.
Could it be that the lesson in those two provinces from the stranding of more than 400 tourists last month has been learned?
In April's storm, the Royal Thai Navy vessel Pattani had to be called on to rescue the tourists, stranded on an island off Phang Nga.
The problem is that nobody in authority has the power to stop speedboats and live-aboards putting to sea - even if the weather forecasts indicate dangerous weather is on the way.
The new Tourism and Sports Minister, Somsak Pureesrisak, paid his first visit to Phuket this month after telling the media that he intended to make tourism safety and security his top priority.
The minister now has the chance to prove he is as good as his word. He must remove the decision-making process from the individual boat ''captains'' who are often going to chose the money ahead of the safety of their passengers.
No lives have been lost in either of these recent incidents. But the key to making tourists as safe as possible is to reduce the risks as far as possible.
Minister Somsak has the power to impress the nations that supply tourists to Thailand by proving that the safety of tourists is extremely important.
In preventing the kind of incidents that have put tourists' lives at risk in the past couple of weeks, Minister Somsak will encourage more visitors to come to Thailand.
All they need to know is one simple thing: that their lives will not be put at risk for money.
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Comments
Comments have been disabled for this article.
The one & perhaps only positive is that everyone now seems to be wearing lifejackets. When making dive trips from Chalong pier, I have noted within the past year that lifejackets are neatly laid out for the day trip passengers to pick up. They appear to be of reasonable quality. That is a big step in the right direction.
Now if this good working practice could be extended to a few other regularly stated issues, Phuket would start to attract some positive publicity.
Posted by
Logic
on
May 26, 2013 22:32
Giving current officials authority to stop vessels from going out to sea may very well require new laws to be passed, making it a slow process. It's a change desperately needed and I fully support it but there's also an easier and almost immediate way.
Start naming and shaming those operators that ventured out when situations like those in this report arise. Let customers vote with their feet.
Problem is of course that it's easy for me to say this because while I'll be nice and cozy at home, any news outlet publishing that information would be at the receiving end of repercussions from those operators and other stakeholders that may lose revenue.
Posted by
ThaiMike
on
May 26, 2013 23:07
The responsibility for safety also lies with the tourists. A couple of months ago, my Thai colleagues and I were in Krabi and rented a long tail boat on some days to visit the islands. On one day the weather was overcast we said, no, we are not going out. There is no point in expecting the boat operators or the local authorities to act responsibly. It is up to the individual to have some common sense.
Posted by
ryan
on
May 26, 2013 23:22
Editor Comment:
Travellers everywhere tend to have the expectation that their safety needs are being met and that they will not be deliberately endangered. We've spoken to speedboat sinking survivors who questioned the boat ''captain'' about whether conditions were safe . . . and were reassured. Best to remove the decision from the hands of the greedy.
The main problem of increase of boat accidents came with the change from individual travelers or in small groups for 1-3 weeks in Phuket to mass-tourism with only 2-3 days in Phuket including visiting Phang-Nga Bay and Phi-Phi Islands and now Similans.
In the first case, the travelers had the choice to postpone a day-trip in case of bad weather and today with tourists coming in large groups, the inbound tour-operators and boat operators have no choice but to go forward even in case of storm as too much money in involved per day-trip.
Anyway, as Phuket has limited water supply, airport capacity, poor road infrastructure, inadequate transit sea ports and piers, regular power outages, corruption and mismanagement from civil servants, it would be good to rethink the stragey in tourism and slowdown the mass-tourism in favor of individuals and small groups.
Posted by
Whistle-Blower
on
May 27, 2013 10:40
#Whistle-Blower:
''The main problem of increase of boat accidents came with the change from individual travelers or in small groups for 1-3 weeks in Phuket to mass-tourism with only 2-3 days in Phuket''. (slightly incoherent to me).
What utter rubbish. The main causes of increased boat accidents are total ignorance of the issues of safety, not understanding tropical weather and shear greed for the tourist dollar. Yesterday you quite wrongly blamed the wind, today you blame the tourist groups, so what excuse will you come up with tomorrow?
Posted by
Pete
on
May 27, 2013 12:17
@ Pete's comment
Please, join us at the Similan Island National Park meeting on Saturday 01 June 2013 (13:00) at Thap Lamuk and you will see what blocks all decisions by those in charge to reinforce the rules as it is all time a lot of talks but no clear decisions to reinforce DNP regulations and rules.
Posted by
Whistle-Blower
on
May 27, 2013 12:35
#Whistle-Blower:
I won't attend personally, but maybe somebody from one of my Thai ghost companies who is a proxy nominee and director holding 51% majority stake will come and ask you some questions about the laws of Thailand and whether they can put an end to the greed of dive companies who take tourists to sea against official advice.
Posted by
Pete
on
May 27, 2013 15:55
High season over for your liveaboard Whistle Blower and now you are getting bored? I have been to a couple of meeting where you attended and suddenly - silence....absolute silence.
Posted by
Zenobiz
on
May 27, 2013 20:43
I am dead against making government staff responsible for decision making about sea conditions. Maybe in the most extreme weather a ban is justified, but other than that I say no.
If public servants are to be making the decision, then they may just about ban tours every day...they may not take the chance of being held responsible if things do go wrong. It will be "cover your backside".
On the other hand, if public servants are making the decision, it takes responsibility away from where it belongs, the boat operators. They will go out on any day they are allowed to, regardless of the conditions.
Furthermore, each location is different. The Similans are more exposed than Phi Phi, Phi Phi is more exposed than Phang Nga Bay. I don't expect a public servant to be able to determine what tours can go ahead under any given forecast.
The sea worthiness of various boats varies greatly; small speed boats, large liveaboard dive boats, high speed ferries all have different capability. Far too complex an equation for one person to decide when boats can go out.
And beyond that, of course there is the ''C'' word. I have heard first hand reports of operators paying extra to be able to go to the Similans in the wet season, despite the islands being closed due to dangerous sea conditions and to protect the coral. Will that happen here too? And think of the pressure on the decision maker to let the boats go out. No local person would want to be held accountable for stopping other local people from earning their living, it could get very ugly for them if they did.
The captains cannot be expected to make the decision about when it is safe to go out. This is Thailand, a worker just does not stand up the boss. If he did, it would be the first and last time. It would be a good start if the captains were at least allowed to offer an opinion. I doubt they are.
I believe the first thing to do is to implement regular safety checks of boats and safety equipment. This just does not happen at present. Not at all in some localities. Ever. Speed boats should not ''break'' when they are hit by a wave. I have seen ply boats with plastic contact sheeting stuck over the holes in the hull, and this is at Phi Phi, the boats were from Phuket. And seen worse, were no attempt at all has been made to cover the holes and the rot in boats. Ply wood boats are fine if built and maintained properly, if not they, like any other boat, are a disaster.
Secondly, guidelines should be developed, and the responsibility for the safety of the tourists should be clearly made to be the responsibility of the operator. Not the captain, nor departmental staff. The one who makes the decision when to go out, the one that makes the profit, is the one who should be held accountable, and punishable when they get it wrong. License suspension, boat confiscation, fines or whatever should be handed out when boat operators get it wrong, and it is evident that they have been negligent.
It is not good enough for an operator to say, as one recently did when their boat sank ''no one told us not to go out'', and then walk away from responsibility for the disaster.
A seaman's training facility, for captains and crew is a great idea. Drag some of the tour operators along as well. There are a lot of very good captains out there that could share their experience. First aid along with seamanship would be nice too. Maybe a good purpose for the new marine centre at Chalong?
So, in a nutshell. The boats should be inspected to be sure they are safe and well equipped. Owners should be made responsible when they make bad decisions, and the owners, captains and crew should each get proper training in seamanship (I refuse to say seapersonship, a sailor I know would slap me hard).
Posted by
Mark Thalang
on
May 27, 2013 22:21
@ Pete & Zenobiz
Unfortunately, I have a family-owned business since 33 years and my 3 Thai sons (30, 25, 22) and spouse are my partners and boss.
By the way, I never complain about Thai behaviors as it is up to them to manage their country.
Beside, I do not understand why so many expats love to live in Thailand but hate the way Thai people are living.
My Thai sons enjoy the xenophobia from foreigners and give them more feeling that many have no place in Thailand.
Posted by
Whistle-Blower
on
May 28, 2013 10:44
- Whistle-Blower
You mean you never have the guts to complain in person, only do it anonymously here and on Bangkok Post under the name Asterix ?
You are probably the biggest hypocrite I've ever come across on any forums but I'm still happy that you take the time to share your knowledge and opinions. I understand a leopard cannot shed its spots.
If nobody ever complained about anything, we'd all still be living in caves. You confuse constructive criticism with ridicule and arrogance. Questioning your superiors is a big no-no in Thai society and leads to apathy and growing resentment among the have-nots.
Obvious by the increasing number of civil unrest cases such as all types of protests. When people take to the streets, it's a clear indicator that they have lost faith in the administrative avenues available.
Any person residing legally in any country should have a right to voice his opinion about local matters. Citizenship is required to be eligible for official positions. Something that is notoriously difficult for a foreigner to achieve in Thailand.
Most developed countries offer the chance for citizenship after 5 year residency.
With the foreign population of Thailand estimated to be about 10%, it's long overdue to give these people an official say in local matters. In locations like Phuket the percentage is significantly higher. To govern any community and ignoring a large amount of it's population is unsustainable and will lead to further polarization.
Building bridges starts from open and honest exchange of opinions without bias on their importance. For you to accept you have no say even after 33 years of business, marriage and family in Thailand is inconceivable to me but if you are happy that way, who am I to say you should not.
I would be happy to read comments written by your Thai sons to understand what and why they think the way they do.
Posted by
ThaiMike
on
May 28, 2013 13:04
@ThaiMike
Once, I was speaking with the Director of Phuket Provincial Employment Office about exchanging views between foreigners and Thais and the answer was clear:
- "We can play football together but you can not win the game".
That is it.
Forums is just for fun for me.
Most of educated Thais and civil servants are not interested about comments on English forums and when I read some agressive bad comments against Thai people by some expats, I think it is better because some Thais may think the same way as a priest in the Middle-Age.
Arnaud Amalric (died 1225) was a Cistercian church leader who took a prominent role in the Albigensian Crusade. He is remembered for allegedly giving advice to a soldier wondering how to distinguish the Catholic friendlies from the Cathar enemies to just:
- "Kill them all. For the Lord knows them that are His." or "Kill them all and let God sort them out."
It is what may happen if foreigners are bullying too much the local people and civil servants.
Posted by
Whistle-Blower
on
May 28, 2013 13:59
Editor Comment:
I am not sure what to make of your comment, Whistle Blower, except to say that even suggesting that the ruthless approach during the crusades almost a thousand years ago could have some relevance today in modern Thailand is in extremely poor taste.
I shouldn't really be adding to the excellent comments from Mark Thalang and ThaiMike other than to say Whistle-Blower evades responsibilities by never once giving a direct answer to a question posted by a reader. Now that he has made available his family tree I suppose it is understandable, he has no responsibilities. You qualify as the ancient mariner Whistle-Blower and the sooner you untie that dead albatross from around your neck, then people might stop heckling you
Perhaps you could explain why you feel unfortunate to have a family owned business - is it because it is not a success? and its good to hear you never complain about Thai nominees and proxies and the way the country is run. That's something I must have read in my dreams.
Posted by
Pete
on
May 28, 2013 14:48
Editor Comment: I am not sure what to make of your comment, Whistle Blower, except to say that even suggesting that the ruthless approach during the crusades almost a thousand years ago could have some relevance today in modern Thailand is in extremely poor taste.
As the Thai civil servants do not know who are the Goods from the bads, they are targetting all Thai businesses with foreign partners.
Russians started the problem by making to visible what most of foreigners do since longtime but the answer from locals was very rude and agressive as we saw it in Kamala, Karon and Kata.
Posted by
Whistle-Blower
on
May 28, 2013 15:22
Editor Comment:
I see . . . so you're not advocating a massacre? That's good to know.
- Whistle-Blower
I understand the interesting quote but the fact is that foreigners can actually win the game. This happened during the Financial Crisis of 1997 when a lot of local businesses were forced to sell off their assets to pay off their foreign debtors. This created a lot of resentment and the "I'll get you for this one day" sentiment.
In an increasing open global market the level of control individual governments and nations have over their economies is eroding quickly. Come AEC in Dec 2015 (I hope), there will be some harsh lessons for locals to learn. Having to give full, equal rights to ASEAN citizens will be a hard pill to swallow.
The fact that you would suggest Thais are as primitive and unsophisticated as religious bigots in the middle ages is one of the most offensive slurs I've seen in the printed media.
For you to claim with a straight face you never criticize Thais just kills your credibility. It's almost as if you are preaching to 2 different choirs at the same time.
Lambasting foreigners critical of Thais but the very next moment sending Thais back to the middle ages.
Can you see now why I call you a hypocrite ?
Posted by
ThaiMike
on
May 28, 2013 16:08
@ThaiMike - The fact that you would suggest Thais are as primitive and unsophisticated as religious bigots in the middle ages is one of the most offensive slurs I've seen in the printed media.
Sorry by you distort what I said or you may not have understood about what I was saying.
Thais at large are easy going people and do not care much about foreigners in Thailand but this attitude may change drastically if you try to hurt or disturb them directly.
Today many illegal businesses owned by foreigners (with Thai nominees such as proxy shareholders and employees) are hurting directly in their daily incomes a lot of Thai family owned-businesses as well educated Thais working in the tourism industry.
Now, many Thai businesses in Phuket are like a wounded animal in the corner with no choice but to bite in order to survive.
Posted by
Whistle-Blower
on
May 28, 2013 16:55
Thailand is a good place to live because there is little government.
Posted by
Godfried
on
May 29, 2013 00:38
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The one & perhaps only positive is that everyone now seems to be wearing lifejackets. When making dive trips from Chalong pier, I have noted within the past year that lifejackets are neatly laid out for the day trip passengers to pick up. They appear to be of reasonable quality. That is a big step in the right direction.
Now if this good working practice could be extended to a few other regularly stated issues, Phuket would start to attract some positive publicity.
Posted by Logic on May 26, 2013 22:32