Thai ferry captain turns self in to police, admits taking drugs before his vessel sank
Captain reportedly hands himself in after admitting he was high on drugs while on duty, causing him and crew to lose control of vessel
The captain of a ferry that capsized about 1.5 kilometres from the tourist resort of Pattaya on Sunday evening has turned himself in, telling police he was high on drugs while on duty. Six people died, including one from Hong Kong.
Saman Kwanmuang, 42, turned himself into police on Sunday night, hours after his ferry capsized while returning about 200 Thai and foreign tourists from a day trip to the nearby island of Koh Larn.
The Chonburi police chief, Major General Katcha Tatusatra, said the captain confessed to officers that he took some drugs before going to work, and that he and the crew lost control of the vessel as a result, the Bangkok Post reported. The captain allegedly confessed that the ferry wandered off course and hit rocks, breaching the vessel.
Video: Six dead as tourist ferry sinks off Thai resort
According to a report in another newspaper, the Daily News, Mr Saman turned off all power so he could try to fix the water pump. He issued no warning to his passengers, supposedly so they would not panic.
However, after 10 minutes so much water had flowed into the bottom deck of the two-level vessel that passengers started to panic. The captain allegedly told police that squabbles broke out apparently because there were not enough life jackets to go around.