High seas sank a boat in Krabi, killing a Chinese tourist, and capsizing another Monday in Cambodia, prompting the rescue of six Chinese and two Cambodians.
Police said they have rescued six Chinese tourists and two Khmer boat crew after their speedboat sank while on the way to celebrate the Lunar New Year on a popular island.
Sihanoukville police chief Gen Chuon Narin said the boat overturned after being hit by strong waves on Monday, about 18 kilometres from the coast.
He said the Chinese had rented the boat to visit Koh Rong even though authorities had banned all sea traffic including fishing boats because of bad weather.
Koh Rong is regarded as the most beautiful of Cambodian islands because of its white sand beaches and virgin forests. Located in the Gulf of Thailand, it is close to Sihanoukville, 240 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh.
Near Krabi on Sunday, tourist Su Ji Shen, 64, drowned when a speedboat carrying her, her 66-year-old husband and four children sank on a return trip from coastal islands.
Swells as high as three metres crashed the boat around 3pm, which began taking on water. All aboard were thrown into the ocean where they floated for 20 minutes before another speedboat rescued them.
The boat crew provided CPR to Su, but she could not be revived and was pronounced dead at a Krabi hospital.