Capt Sulaiman Srisamuth, 32, of the speedboat Suwimon reported to Marine Police at 9:30am that he had rescued one Myanmar fishermen, who he named only as “Phu”, from a sunken longtail boat 500m east of Koh Dokmai.
Capt Sulaiman told police they still looking for three more crew members who were last seen floating in the sea at about 1:20am.
Marine Police dispatched two rescue boats to search for the missing men, and found Capt Nantaporn Boonyasit on dry land on Koh Taphao cape.
A provincial rescue speedboat later safely recovered two Myanmar crewmen – named only as Joe, 25, and Chuy, 22 – who were found in the sea near Koh Maithon.
Phuket Marine Police Superintendent Maj Gen Kritthapon Yeesakorn questioned the longtail boat owner, Kritsana Tanpan, 37, and the crew about the incident.
Mr Kritsana explained that the boat left Rassada yesterday (Sept 14) at 2pm.
“They were heading out to fish for crabs and they were on their way back when I got a call from Capt Nantaporn at about 1am,” he said.
“They had survived a storm passing through the area, but were being hit by big waves. Capt Nantaporn said that he was afraid that the boat was going to sink, but added that the crew were all crew wearing life jackets, so he thought they would be all right.
“Then the signal was lost,” Mr Kritsana said.
The total cost of the boat, equipment and catch lost was about B700,000, said Mr Kritsana.