PHUKET: Two Aussies have told for the first time how they are ''lucky to be alive'' after escaping a sinking Phuket ferry - just in time for an ambassadors' seminar about Phuket tourism safety.
It's almost as though Phuket officials expect tourists involved in life-endangering incidents off Phuket to go home and forget about it.
They don't. They tell all their friends. And some talk to local newspapers, spreading the nightmare of needless risk-taking by boat ''captains'' on Phuket far and wide.
The Noosa News in Australia today reports that as the ferry Puean Foong II appeared likely to sink with 120 on board off Phuket on May 28, children were screaming and people were shouting last-minute goodbyes to loved ones over their mobile telephones.
Phuket officials have since made the experience sound like a walk in the park. It was actually a needless near-catastrophe of the kind that Phuket has to prevent in future.
Sonia Fry and Rebecca Clark have told the Noosa News that as they travelled from Phi Phi back to Phuket, a ferocious storm hit with pounding three-metre waves, cracking a hole in the hull and triggering chaos and panic among the passengers.
The newspaper reports: The young male boat hands bucketed out water from the boat while the captain attempted to steer, but no-one attended to the passenger group, which included families with babies. No announcements were made over the ship's PA.
Ms Fry said: ''The life jackets were all tied on the side of the boat, but no one felt brave enough to grab them because you had to go down the side of the boat in these rough seas.
''But Bec went down the side and undid all the life jackets. She gave me mine first, and it was pulled out of my hands.
''That surprised me, I thought you only saw that sort of thing in a movie. Bec untied all the life jackets and passed them to other people.
''It was quite horrific and I have never seen panic like it. The boat was rocking and the captain would yell out 'everybody to the left' or right, otherwise the boat would tip over . . . that was constant to keep it afloat.
''People were kissing each other goodbye, there were four babies on the ship and they were all crying and screaming as they were sprayed with water . . . people were drenched and vomiting.
''One family I was trying to calm were tying life jackets to their children's jackets, but they were really distraught because they knew the babies would just slip away in the water.
''I told them I would be there to hang onto their baby.
''There was a lady on her phone screaming goodbye to her family and screaming to the police. Another woman had heart problems, so we were running around looking for aspirin.
''I just kept saying 'we're not going to sink, everyone will be okay, this is just a boat going down, someone will come and get us'.''
The captain, fortunate to be close enough to a rocky outcrop, managed to run the ferry onto rocks. Other vessels were able to take the distraught passengers on board safely.
Ms Fry says: ''We feel we are very lucky to be alive, we do feel like every day is a bonus. We appreciate every day, because we were so close to death.''
Ms Fry said she would never again go on a boat on Phuket.
There will be plenty more like her until authorities are able to declare that Phuket ferries and speedboats will never sail when seriously bad Phuket weather is forecast.
European ambassadors are meeting on Phuket on Friday and Saturday with tourism safety and security on Phuket at the top of their agenda.
It's almost as though Phuket officials expect tourists involved in life-endangering incidents off Phuket to go home and forget about it.
They don't. They tell all their friends. And some talk to local newspapers, spreading the nightmare of needless risk-taking by boat ''captains'' on Phuket far and wide.
The Noosa News in Australia today reports that as the ferry Puean Foong II appeared likely to sink with 120 on board off Phuket on May 28, children were screaming and people were shouting last-minute goodbyes to loved ones over their mobile telephones.
Phuket officials have since made the experience sound like a walk in the park. It was actually a needless near-catastrophe of the kind that Phuket has to prevent in future.
Sonia Fry and Rebecca Clark have told the Noosa News that as they travelled from Phi Phi back to Phuket, a ferocious storm hit with pounding three-metre waves, cracking a hole in the hull and triggering chaos and panic among the passengers.
The newspaper reports: The young male boat hands bucketed out water from the boat while the captain attempted to steer, but no-one attended to the passenger group, which included families with babies. No announcements were made over the ship's PA.
Ms Fry said: ''The life jackets were all tied on the side of the boat, but no one felt brave enough to grab them because you had to go down the side of the boat in these rough seas.
''But Bec went down the side and undid all the life jackets. She gave me mine first, and it was pulled out of my hands.
''That surprised me, I thought you only saw that sort of thing in a movie. Bec untied all the life jackets and passed them to other people.
''It was quite horrific and I have never seen panic like it. The boat was rocking and the captain would yell out 'everybody to the left' or right, otherwise the boat would tip over . . . that was constant to keep it afloat.
''People were kissing each other goodbye, there were four babies on the ship and they were all crying and screaming as they were sprayed with water . . . people were drenched and vomiting.
''One family I was trying to calm were tying life jackets to their children's jackets, but they were really distraught because they knew the babies would just slip away in the water.
''I told them I would be there to hang onto their baby.
''There was a lady on her phone screaming goodbye to her family and screaming to the police. Another woman had heart problems, so we were running around looking for aspirin.
''I just kept saying 'we're not going to sink, everyone will be okay, this is just a boat going down, someone will come and get us'.''
The captain, fortunate to be close enough to a rocky outcrop, managed to run the ferry onto rocks. Other vessels were able to take the distraught passengers on board safely.
Ms Fry says: ''We feel we are very lucky to be alive, we do feel like every day is a bonus. We appreciate every day, because we were so close to death.''
Ms Fry said she would never again go on a boat on Phuket.
There will be plenty more like her until authorities are able to declare that Phuket ferries and speedboats will never sail when seriously bad Phuket weather is forecast.
European ambassadors are meeting on Phuket on Friday and Saturday with tourism safety and security on Phuket at the top of their agenda.
You want to vacation in a Bhuddist culture, then you must accept that life does not hold the same value, you die and will come back is the prevailing attitude. Mai pen rai is the popular refrain.
Next time try Malaysia, just as beautiful with safety standards more in line with the West's.
Posted by EB48 on June 8, 2013 10:22
Editor Comment:
The Malaysians just won't tell you about their box jellyfish.