Seven dead as Thai tourist boat sinks

Seven dead as Thai tourist boat sinks

THAILAND: A speed boat packed with tourists heading to the Thai
island of Koh Samui after an all-night beach party capsized on
Tuesday, killing at least seven people, including several
Westerners, police and.

The accident off Thailand's east coast came just a month after
thousands of foreign tourists died in the Indian Ocean tsunami
along the country's western shoreline.

Seventeen people were reported missing, including three
Swedes, two Hungarians, a Swiss, a German, an Austrian, a
Norwegian and a Briton, said a police officer on Samui island.

The dead were identified as an American man in his 30s, two
other Western men, a Western woman, and three Thais, he said. The
U.S. embassy in Bangkok declined to confirm an American had died,
but said it was sending two consular officers to Samui.

Thai authorities said the accident may have been caused by
overcrowding on the 40-seat, open-air motor boat which was
carrying up to 54 tourists.

The boat was heading to Samui from jungle-clad Pa Ngan island,
where thousands of backpackers and Thais gather at every full
moon for an all-night alcohol beach party.

"The speed boat was taking tourists back from the overnight
full-moon party on Pa Ngan island back to Samui and sank at
dawn," Col. Bundid Tungkaseranee told Reuters from a rescue
helicopter. --Reuters