PUBLISHED : 25 Dec 2023 at 04:30
Phuket: A search and rescue centre has been set up to help look for two men — a Thai cook and a British tourist — who went missing after a scuba-diving tour boat sank near Ko Torinla or Ko Khai island on Saturday.
The island is part of the Surin Islands National Park, an archipelago of five islands in the Andaman Sea some 55 kilometres from the mainland.
V Adm Suchart Thampitakvej, director of the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre, had issued an order to set up a search and rescue centre at the 3rd Naval Area headquarters at Laem Panwa in tambon Wichit of Muang district, Phuket.
A patrol boat was launched at 7.45am yesterday to search for the missing men in an area northwest of where the boat, the Reggae Queen, went down.
At 9am, a reconnaissance plane took off to support the patrol boat in the search while a navy unit scoured the area around the Surin Islands National Park.
The scuba-diving tour boat had 18 passengers and crew on board when it sank; 16 were subsequently rescued and taken to the nearby Khura Buri Pier. However, two men — a cook on the boat and a British tourist — were still missing. They were identified as Samnieng Thaichana, 60, and Millicent Margaret Amanda Jane, 56.
Two more boat accidents in the Andaman Sea were reported on Saturday, according to local authorities.
One involved a long-tail tourist boat carrying four Russian tourists and a Thai tour guide at the Ao Phangnga National Park.
The boat was passing Koh Talu Nok when it encountered strong winds, causing it to tilt, take in water and capsize.
All passengers and crew, who were wearing life jackets, were rescued from the water by the park’s lifeguards and taken to the pier for medical attention.
The other accident involved a small diving boat which hit an underwater coral reef, took in water and ran shore at Koh Khiew in Krabi. All passengers and crew were rescued by a naval patrol boat and taken to Phuket for medical attention.
In the Gulf of Thailand, 28 tourists — 26 Thais and two foreigners — along with a skipper were rescued after their catamaran capsized off Pattaya at 6pm on Saturday while travelling from Koh Lan. Six were injured and being treated in hospital.