Maritime safety beefed up for visitors

Maritime safety beefed up for visitors
At a bay in Phuket, canoes are moored. There are five marinas and 18 piers in the area territory. Achadthaya Chuenniran( picture)

According to the Region 5 Marine Office, marine safety precautions are being increased to improve visitor safety in the Andaman Sea ahead of the busy time.

All coastal offices in Phuket, Krabi, Ranong, Phangnga, Satun, and Trang are making sure that parties involved, including providers, brush up on safety precautions and marine regulations, according to company chairman Prawet Supachai.

He added that among other things, coastal officials are being instructed to strictly uphold coastal laws, examine piers and vessels, and examine crew members’ boat licenses.

Following the introduction of the visa-free scheme for Chinese and Kyrgyz nationals, which will run until Feb 29, Mr. Prawet predicted that these six provinces would see an increase in visitors, particularly Foreign travelers.

According to Mr. Prawet, between January 1 and October 9 of this year, about 9.1 million individuals used the jetties while being watched over by the Region 5 Marine Office, making 410, 000 trips in full.

Four million people traveled to Phuket, followed by 3.6 million to Krabi and 760,000 to Satun. Ranong saw 330 000 individuals, compared to 220 000 in Phangnga and 104 000 at Trang.

He claimed that last weekend, coastal officials also looked over a number of bridges in Phuket to review safety precautions and operational standards in case of situations and accidents.