NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: A violent storm sank 10 of 60 fishing boats that left ports in five coastal districts of this southern province on Sunday morning, and three crewmen were confirmed drowned.
Forty-eight of the 60 boats, with 121 crewmen, were from Pak Phanang district. Nine of them sank during the storm.
One crew member was drowned and the rest rescued by two patrol boats of the 2nd Naval Area. An air rescue helicopter from Wing 7 in Surat Thani, found and lifted three crewmen to safety from the sea.
All three boats with five crew from Tha Sala district and one boat with three crew from Hua Sai district were able to return safely to shore.
Eight fishing boats from Muang district also returned home safely, but of the 16 crew on board them, one was reported injured and one drowned.
Only one boat with four crewmen left Sichon district on Sunday morning. It also went down in the storm. Three of the crew were found and rescued. A body, believed to be the missing crewman, was found floating off Sichon on Monday morning.