Two dead and 20 injured in Thailand tour boat collision
Two speedboats packed with 62 tourists crashed Wednesday off the coast of southern Thailand, leaving at least two dead and more than 20 injured. The fatalities were identified as Chinese.
The crash was the latest incident to mar the country's image as a tourist paradise, and the third crash in two weeks involving boats that shuttle vacationers to Thailand's resort islands, often at high speed.
"It had to be that they were going too fast, that's why there was an accident," said Lt. Col. Prasert Srikhunrat, deputy superintendent of Phuket's marine police. He said there was light rain, which decreased visibility but he did not believe weather was entirely to blame. "Luckily everyone was wearing life vests, or the number of fatalities would have been higher."
