Gen Ruangsak flew into Phuket at about 2:30 and immediately went into a meeting with Phuket police.
In the meeting, police decided they will enforce marine safety rules more stringently, and that officials must work more efficiently together to keep tourists in boats safe.
Gen Ruangsak explained that this would be done in four ways:
- Officials dealing with marine transportation must work together and be stricter. The required number of officials and officers must be on duty at all times.
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Life jackets must be ready to use and must be worn all the time by passengers. “They must not just be used to decorate the boats,” Gen Ruangsak said.
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“The helmsman or captain of each boat must be checked for sobriety and to ensure he has the correct license. If not, the boat will not be allowed to depart.
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“The communication machinery of government offices, the private sector and navigation aids must all be fully linked so that action can be taken whenever there is an emergency or when an SOS is received.”
He added, “More suggestions are welcome. Please call 1196.”
After the meeting the general was driven to Phuket to visit the injured.
“At this moment, all of the injured people are recovering,” Gen Ruangsak told members of the press.
“[At the airport meeting] we also talked about the search for the two Koreans who are missing after the accident on Sunday evening. I want to thank everybody who has supported us in the search,” Gen Ruangsak said.
Two boats from the Marine Police are searching a 10-mile radius around the crash site, aided by a helicopter from the Third Naval Area Command and a variety of volunteers including crews of local fishing boats.
“All officers are doing their best to find them,” Gen Ruangsak said.