Ferry captains slapped with licence suspensions after racing each other to Koh Phangan

Two Raja ferry captains who decided to make their journey’s to Koh Phangan more fun by having a race against each other have both faced having suspensions slapped on their licence by the Thai authorities.

The boy racers escapade started last weekend on Saturday when SeaTran ferry captain Wattanapong Srisaiyapetch attempted to overtake Captain Niran Yenraksa who was at the helm of a Raja Ferry. The stupid manoeuvre almost caused a collision between the two vessels.

According to Thai law in this situation the captain being over taken must turn away, however Niran decided to ignore that law completely and stayed on course, speeding ahead.

Prawate Suphachai, head of the provincial marine department stated that while both men were in the wrong, one was guilty of more wrongdoing than the other. The Seatran Captain was hit with a two year suspension for initiating the race, while Niran got six months for accepting the challenge. Neither will be allowed to operate any commercial vessel for the duration of their ban.

Both ferries involved in the incident were carrying passenger and vehicles bound for Koh Phangan. Neither captain showed any concern for the safety of their passengers.

During the incident, that was filmed and posted to Facebook, the Raja Ferry driver eventually backed down, bringing his own ship to a halt to prevent imminent disaster. Raja and Seatran refused to comment on the incident when contacted.

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