PUBLISHED : 24 Dec 2023 at 12:28
PHUKET: A search and rescue centre has been set up to look for two men – a Thai cook and a British tourist – who were still 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.
Vic Admiral Suchart Thampitakvej, the 3rd Naval Area as director of the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre (Thai-MECC), 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.
Tor 995 patrol boat was dispatched from the centre at 7.45am 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 from its operational base to support the Tor 995 patrol boat in the search, while members of a navy security unit scoured the area around Surin Islands National Park.
The scuba-diving tour boat had 18 passengers on board when it sank; 16 were subsequently rescued and taken to nearby Khura Buri Pier. However, two – a cook on the boat and a British tourist – were still missing.