All passengers, mainly foreign tourists, and crew were safely rescued after a night ferry to Koh Tao was hit by high waves before it sank on Friday morning.

The ferry was hit by waves as high as 3 metres about 4 nautical miles from the shore at Koh Tao in Koh Phangan district. This resulted in sea water entering the vessel and damaging its water pumps, officials said.

The ferry was carrying about 70 passengers, mostly foreign tourists, and crew.

At 9.10 am, speedboats and other boats were sent to the spot with rescue workers, police and local leaders arriving there to help transport the passengers and the crew.  All were taken to Koh Tao pier safely.

The ferry later sank about 10.30am.


According to police, the ferry left the Surat Thani pier at 11pm on Thursday and was due to reach Koh Tao at 5am on Friday.

The navy sent a boat to inspect the scene and search for the bags and belongings of the passengers. The navy would send divers to examine the sunken ferry.

An initial investigation found the number of passengers did not exceed the limits.

The Meteorological Department earlier warned that there would be strong wind waves in the Gulf of Thailand and heavy to very heavy rain in the eastern coast of the South from Dec 22 to Dec 26. Small boats were advised to stay ashore during this period.