Issued at 15.00 Hrs. (GMT+7) on 13 July 2018
The Phuket’s Command Centre that is providing support for the affected tourists from the recent tragic boat incident has provided the following updates:
Funeral services
Funeral services for those who lost their lives continued today following a Buddhist chanting ceremony in the evening of 10 July and a mass Buddhist prayer ceremony in the morning of 11 July. Phuket Province has arranged for a nightly Buddhist chanting ceremony at Wat Kosit Wihan, to be chaired by Phuket Provincial Governor Mr. Norraphat Plodthong.
Upon requests of relatives, cremations were arranged for 20 victims at local temples in Phuket and will be arranged for 17 others within today and tomorrow. Seven bodies were sent back to China.
Forensic Police in cooperation with Chinese officials have confirmed identification of all 46 people who lost their lives in the tragic incident.
Recovery mission
Today, the recovery team will continue their mission to recover the body from under the sunken Phoenix. The team hopes to be able to complete the recovery mission today. Authorities are also working to salvage the two sunken boats, Phoenix and Sereniga.
Injured tourists
The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office has announced that one of the two injured tourists at the Phuket Provincial Hospital will be discharged today and another will be discharged tomorrow.
The One-Stop Service Centre at Vachira Phuket Hospital has received 50 petitions to claim for compensation under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ Foreign Tourists Assistance Fund. The Centre has arranged for payment as follows:
- Financial support for the loss of life of 25 victims, whose relatives have presented all requested documents at one million Baht each.
- For mental rehabilitation of six people, at 20,000 Baht each. Five of the six also claimed for the disruption of travel at 2,000 Baht per day.
Seventeen other petitioners are to provide more documents.
Required documents to claim for compensation
- For the loss of life:
- Petition Form
- Photocopy of the petitioner’s passport
- Photocopy of the deceased’s passport
- Legalised proof of the relatives’ documents (certificate of heirs)
- Legalised proof of death document (certificate of death)
- For the mental rehabilitation of natural disasters:
- Petition Form
- Photocopy of the petitioner’s passport
- For the disruption of travel:
- Petition Form
- Photocopy of the petitioner’s passport
- Proof of document to leave Thailand
- For the medical expenses:
- Petition Form
- Photocopy of the petitioner’s passport
- The original medical bills
Marine tourism safety
The Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Area Command yesterday held a meeting with the Marine Department and Thai Marine Police Division to discuss the importance of ensuring strict enforcement and compliance of marine safety regulations through integrating action and coordination among all involved.
Officials, representatives and figures from the Phuket Provincial Security Operations Command, Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Phuket Provincial Police, Phuket Office of Tourism and Sports, Phuket Local Administration also joined the meeting.
From today, officers and personnel from the concerned agencies will be dispatched in a joint unit to facilitate tourists at Phuket’s departure points for ferry and boat trips. In the preliminary stage, the joint unit will oversee tourist boats of over 60 tons at four piers – Chalong, Rassada, Visit Panwa and Ao Po Grand Marina.
Meanwhile, all agencies under the Royal Thai Navy, Fishery Department, Customs Department and Marine Department will dispatch officers to help patrol the areas and facilitate tourists. The patrol units will also help notify boats to return to ports or not to venture out into sea in case of emergency.
