Issued at 12.00 Hrs. (GMT+7) on 16 July 2018
Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha this morning extended thanks to all authorities, both Thai and Chinese, for the unity of efforts exerted in recovering the 47th body from under the sunken boat, Phoenix, the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT) reported.
According to the NNT, the Prime Minister said the Thai Government had exerted all efforts to find the missing people and provide support to all survivors and people who lost their loved ones including arranging funeral services or sending bodies back home.
Authorities have successfully verified identities of the 46 bodies recovered earlier and have arranged funerals for 39 victims at local temples in Phuket and sent seven other bodies back home.
For people who lost their loved ones, two insurance firms are to pay 1.1 million Baht for each victim. The government will pay an additional 1 million Baht each from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ Foreign Tourists Assistance Fund.
For the injured tourists and survivors, from the Phoenix and Sereniga boat incidents, insurance firms are to pay for medical expenses not exceeding 515,000 Baht each while the government’s Foreign Tourists Assistance Fund will pay an additional sum of not more than 500,000 Baht each.
The Prime Minister told all concerned to take lessons from the incidents, especially the enforcement of laws regarding tourist safety measures and standards. He also called for effectiveness and consistent law enforcement at all times, not just after a tragic incident, to restore tourist’s confidence in Thailand.
*Featured image from photo file on 9 July 2018
