Officers at the national park protection unit at Bamboo Island, located some five kilometres northeast of the northern tip of Phi Phi Don, were informed of the boat sinking at about 9:15am on Friday (Nov 17).
A long-tailed boat named ‘Choksiri Nathorn’ had brought six tourists to the island from Phi Phi Don. The tourists were dropped off at the beach and the longtail was being taken out to a mooring area when it was swamped by large waves.
The boat continued to take on water and sank, explained Yutthaphong Damsrisuk, chief of the Hat Nopparat Thara Beach-Phi Phi Islands National Park.
Officers rushed to provide assistance and recover the sunken longtail, No people were injured in the incident, Mr Yutthaphong confirmed.
Mr Yutthaphong issued a notice for all boat operators to continue to remain vigilant for inclement weather, noting that an announcement had been issued for boat operators to exercise heightened caution from Thursday through to today (Nov 19).
“In consideration of safety and to prevent water accidents that may occur, and due to sailing conditions during the monsoon, with heavy rain and strong winds, we would like to announce a warning to use caution in carrying out tourism activities or carrying out any activities in tourist areas,” the warning said.
“All boat operators in the Hat Nopparat Thara - Phi Phi Islands National Park are to check the readiness of their boats. People are to wear a life jacket at all times while in a boat and engaged in water play activities, and please continue to follow the weather news reports from the Meteorological Department closely,” the notice added.