PHUKET: The boat at the centre of the tragedy that killed dozens of Chinese visitors in July, and dealt a heavy blow to the tourism industry has finally been recovered, police said yesterday.
The Phoenix was under 45 metres of water, 3.7 kilometres off Koh Hae since July 5 when it capsized during a storm and killed 47 Chinese tourists coming back from a diving trip, in one of the worst tourism-related accidents in local history. The recovery of the boat means key evidence will be available to determine the cause of the tragedy and provide justice to the victims and their families.
The Thai-Singaporean salvage team initially used slings and cranes to lift the boat to within one metre of the surface, said Pol Gen Rungroj Saengkram, the deputy national police chief. Technicians then checked whether the boat was able to be retrieved further. The wreckage of the double-decker was finally pulled up around 5pm. It will be moved to a dock tomorrow for closer inspection.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, the acting immigration police chief who is also in charge of tourism police, said the government would not allow a repeat of such an incident.
"The government is determined to get to the root cause of the incident so that it can remedy and show sincerity to them [the victims's families]," he said. He added that anyone responsible for the accident, including state officials, would be prosecuted.