WEATHER DISASTER
Fierce storm sinks four fishing boats
People watch as a small fishing trawler battles violent waves off the Narathiwat coast. Rough seas sank four boats yesterday.
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Three sailors feared dead after trawlers goes down; passengers left stranded as train services to the South are derailed
A monsoon storm hovering over the Gulf of Thailand yesterday sank four fishing trawlers off Narathiwat's shores, leaving at least three fishermen missing. People living along the province's coast reported a pounding surf with waves between 4 and 5 metres high. The crew of one small trawler were extremely lucky when their vessel sank. All four were thrown into the sea but were swept ashore. The fate was much grimmer for another fishing trawler which sank in the rough seas at around 3.30pm. Despite the marine police and other fishing trawlers rushing to help them, only six of nine people on board were rescued. The other three were not found. Pol Major Sathorn Suksong, an inspector at a marine police unit, sent a patrol boat to help the victims immediately he heard that it was sinking. The patrol boat later saved 20 fishermen, all of them thrown into the sea after their two trawlers sank. Early last night more than 30 other fishing trawlers were still at sea trying to ride out the storm as they were too frightened to return to port because of the high waves closer to shore. More than 100 people yesterday gathered on Narathat Beach in Narathiwat to pray for the safe return of their family members who are on the boats. Kamonsri Seneetantikul, a senior southern weather bureau official, yesterday warned small trawlers against going out to sea until Tuesday. "The monsoon over the Gulf of Thailand is strengthening," she said. The bureau also forecast cloudbursts in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. The heavy downpours have damaged a portion of railway in Songkhla's Hat Yai district, stalling train services to the three southernmost provinces. More than 500 train passengers, who had bought tickets to the deep South, were forced to encamp at Hat Yai train station. Because of the ferocity of the waves pounding the coast, officials in Nakhon Songkhla Municipality yesterday began creating a wall of sandbags to protect Samila Beach. "We are also handing out sandbags to people whose houses are near the sea," the municipality's mayor Utis Chuchuay said. In Surat Thani, Tambon Tha Chana Administrative Organisation chairman Kitisak Saiyid said he was carefully monitoring the situation in case a mass evacuation was needed.
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