A captured image from VDO clips from foreigners' Twitter accounts. A long line of passengers waited to get their passports checked at Suvarnabhumi airport.
BANGKOK – On December 25, Immigration Police spokesman Pol. Maj. Gen. Cherngron Rimpadee verified video clips posted on foreigners’ Twitter accounts showing a huge queue of passengers waiting to have their passports checked.
Officials inspected VDO clips posted at about 1:44 a.m. on Dec. 25 showing people lining up to be checked into the country, a large line overflowing from the arrivals hall at the immigration gate at Suvarnabhumi airport, he said.
Between 12:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., there are roughly 22 inbound and outbound aircraft, with approximately 5,563 passengers pouring in and out at the same time. It was around 33% higher than usual due to compounded flight delays and a 1,000-person increase in total passenger flow.
The immigration police accelerated to activate officers for passport inspection in full force as soon as the wave of passengers poured in at the same moment, until they were able to inspect passengers in such a group from the point where the image was recorded. Moving all the way to the passport control lane took around 30 minutes, from 1:44 a.m. to 2:14 a.m., until it was totally emptied, he explained, along with displaying a confirmation image of the arrival screening hall.
The immigration police show that they mobilise officers to expedite the removal of passengers that take no more than 40 minutes.
“Typically, the time period from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. is critical.” Immigration will mobilise personnel to expedite the removal of passengers. “It took no more than 40 minutes, plus or minus a little,” the spokesman stated, holding up a timed image.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Cherngron stated that he would like to inform inbound passengers not to throw away their boarding passes. Immigration must record it in the system, according to the officials, so that it does not waste time.
He also affirmed that the Thai Immigration Bureau placed significant importance on providing convenience while following to security rules, particularly during the holiday season. The good news is that 70,000 people enter the nation each day, which is more than during the pre-pandemic period. According to government policy, this will serve to increase tourism.
FILE - Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks on ahead of the French League One soccer match between Nice and Paris Saint Germain in Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, southern France, on Oct.18, 2019. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — More than a year after it was put up for sale, Manchester United said Sunday that British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe had agreed to buy a minority stake in the storied Premier League club.
Ratcliffe, who owns petrochemicals giant INEOS and is one of Britain’s richest people, has secured a stake of “up to 25%” in the 20-time league champions and will invest $300 million in its Old Trafford stadium.
As part of the deal, United said Ratcliffe would take responsibility for the club’s soccer operations.
Ratcliffe will provide $200 million upon completion of the deal and a further $100 million by the end of 2024, United said. In total the deal will be worth around $1.6 billion, including the $300 million of funding.
The deal is subject to approval by the Premier League.
Manchester United’s team players walk in the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Manchester United at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, Dec.17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Ratcliffe, who was born in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, had originally bid to buy the entire majority share of around 69% held by the Glazers, the club’s American owners.
“As a local boy and a lifelong supporter of the club, I am very pleased that we have been able to agree a deal with the Manchester United Board that delegates us management responsibility of the football operations of the club,” Ratcliffe said.
“Whilst the commercial success of the club has ensured there have always been available funds to win trophies at the highest level, this potential has not been fully unlocked in recent times. We will bring the global knowledge, expertise and talent from the wider INEOS Sport group to help drive further improvement at the club, while also providing funds intended to enable future investment into Old Trafford.”
Manchester United’s head coach Erik ten Hag talks to Manchester United’s Sergio Reguilon, and Christian Eriksen during the English Premier League soccer match between West Ham United and Manchester United at the London stadium in London, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
The transaction will be funded by Trawlers Limited — a company wholly owned by Ratcliffe — without any debt, United said. United fans have been critical of the leveraged nature of the Glazers’ buyout that loaded debt onto the club, as well as a perceived lack of investment and the dividends taken out by the owners.
Avram Glazer and Joel Glazer, United executive co-chairmen and directors, said in the statement: “Sir Jim and INEOS bring a wealth of commercial experience as well as significant financial commitment into the club. And, through INEOS Sport, Manchester United will have access to seasoned high-performance professionals, experienced in creating and leading elite teams from both inside and outside the game.
“Manchester United has talented people right across the club and our desire is to always improve at every level to help bring our great fans more success in the future.”
The Glazers announced last November plans to seek new investment and instructed US merchant bank Raine to oversee the process, which included the potential of a full sale.
Ratcliffe had been in competition with Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani to buy out the Glazers, who also own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But after months of protracted negotiations Sheikh Jassim withdrew his bid in October to leave Ratcliffe in position to take a minority share in the club.
Sheikh Jassim always maintained he was interested in a complete takeover.
United said Ratcliffe had paid $33 per share.
DECADE OF DECLINE
Ratcliffe is buying into a club that has endured a decade of decline on the field since the retirement of former manager Alex Ferguson in 2013. It has not won the title since.
Ongoing uncertainty over the ownership led to fan protests outside the club’s Old Trafford stadium, while chants of “Glazers out” have been regularly heard during games.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes reacts after missing a chance to score during the group A Champions League soccer match between Manchester United and Bayern Munich at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
While Ratcliffe was long seen by fans as a popular potential owner, his minority investment means the Glazers remain in place, despite years of fan campaigns to drive them out.
The late tycoon Malcolm Glazer bought United in 2005 for 790 million pounds (then about $1.4 billion) amid a backlash from supporters.
“The joint ambition is to create a world-class football operation building on the club’s many existing strengths, including the successful off-pitch performance that it continues to enjoy,” United said Sunday.
Initially, Ratcliffe’s INEOS had said it was aiming for “a modern, progressive, fan-centered approach to ownership.”
It also said it was focused on United winning the Champions League for the first time since 2008 and making it the “number one club in the world once again.”
Ratcliffe is said to be worth $15.1 billion and tried to buy Premier League club Chelsea last year.
He already owns French club Nice, cycling franchise Team INEOS, is one-third shareholder of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team and competes in the America’s Cup with sailing team INEOS Britannia.
The rent room where the Vietnamese man stabbed his friend on December 24, 2023.
KHON KAEN – Two Vietnamese men in Thailand are in dispute about a Laotian girlfriend. One was stabbed to death by another.
A friend of the same nationality as Hoang Van Thang, a 37-year-old Vietnamese man, stabbed him in a dormitory in the Triangle Community, Nai Mueang Subdistrict, Mueang District, Khon Kaen Province. He was brought to Khon Kaen University’s Srinakarin Hospital in critical condition and died later that morning, on December 24.
Mr. M. Dang, 34, Vietnamese, was detained along with his Lao girlfriend on Mittraphap Road, Khao Suan Kwang District, Khon Kaen Province, while riding a motorbike to Nong Khai Province and the 1st Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in order to cross into Laos.
Dang admitted to stabbing his friend to death with a sharp knife because his friend tried to flirt with his girlfriend.
Mr. M. Dang, 34, Vietnamese, was detained on December 24, 2023.
Dang, Thang, and a Laotian woman work in Khon Kaen, according to the investigation. Dang and his girlfriend shared a room, while Thang resided somewhere else.
Huang had harassed Dang’s girlfriend several times, according to Dang. So he arranged a drink with Thang in the rental room with the goal of clarifying this subject. But the conversation turned into a quarrel, so he stabbed Thang and fled on a motorbike with his girlfriend until the cops apprehended him.
Dang was charged with intentional homicide by the police and referred to investigators for further legal action.
PHANG GNA – The Thai Navy warned sea operators on Sunday of strong waves and winds in both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, following many incidents involving tourist boats.
On the side of the Andaman Sea, there were at least three accidents. Two of them were successfully rescued, while the authorities continued the search for the missing British and Thai individuals.
The Royal Thai Navy searches for two missing tourists, a British woman and a Thai woman, after a boat accident near the Surin Islands and launches a rescue operation. The incident occurred when a diving tour boat named “Sawan Tour, Reggae Queen” sank due to strong waves about 4 nautical miles south of Surin Islands National Park, Phangnga Province.
The nearby Pornsuprasane diving boat was able to rescue 12 passengers from the Sawan Tour diving boat.
On December 24, RAdm. Wirudom Muangjeen, the navy spokesman, said the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Center, Section 3, was working with maritime authorities to speed up the search for the missing tourists. The incident occurred at 09:00 on December 23, 2023.
During the incident, the Sawan Tour diving boat had 14 passengers on board. The nearby Pornsuprasane diving boat was able to rescue 12 people, two people are still missing: Miss Millicent Jane, a 56-year-old British citizen, and Mrs. Samniang Thaichana, a 60-year-old Thai citizen. Royal Thai Navy Region 3 has deployed naval vessels and aircraft for the search and rescue operation.
Royal Thai Navy Region 3 has deployed naval vessels and aircraft for the search and rescue operation.
On the same day at 11:30 a.m., national park officials in Ao Phang Nga reported another boat accident involving the longtail boat “Mook Ka Mee Na”. The boat with four Russian tourists and a Thai guide on board capsized near the Thalu cliff due to strong winds. All five people were safely rescued by park officials.
The third incident occurred in the evening of the same day and involved the “diving tour boat “Nortika”. Three tourists got into trouble when water entered the boat while they were navigating in the waters west of Koh Kaeo, Phuket. Marine Division 3 sent the vessel to assist and reached the distressed tourists at 18:00. The tourists were then safely returned to the deep water port in Phuket.
The navy spokesman emphasized the military’s commitment to helping civilians in times of crisis and emergency. They gave the emergency contact numbers for the Navy’s Operation Center at 1696 and the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Center at 1465, which are available 24 hours a day.
At the same time, the Gulf of Thailand also had passenger boat accidents. On Friday, all 102 people on the sinking ship, including foreign tourists, were fortunately saved to Koh Tao, Surat Thani Province.
On Saturday, 29 people were rescued from the Pattaya Sea after the boat capsized at 6:00 p.m.
The “Bundaya 19” speedboat with 73 foreign tourist and 4 crew members sank near Bu Bu Island on December 24, 2023.
On Sunday, the “Bundaya 19” speedboat with 73 foreign touristand 4 crew members sank near Bu Bu Island (Sawang Island) near Koh Lek, Satun Province, due to severe wind conditions, the boat hit the waves on its way from Koh Lipe to Koh Lanta. The boat’s hull had a hole in the bottom, causing water to flood in swiftly.
The boat driver attempted to keep the boat steady close to Koh Lek so that the tourists could float on their own while waiting for the boat to rescue them. Officials helped them disembark safely at Koh Lipe.
Satun Province Governor Sakra Kapilakhan ordered Satun Marine officials to investigate whether the speedboat driver disobeyed the weather warning. If found, legal action will begin immediately.
“Your Boy TJ” leads a group of artists to shake up Pattaya Beach on the second night. At the event“MONO29 PATTAYA COUNTDOWN 2024,” during December 29-31.
Getting closer and closer With the end-of-year fun that’s about to happen. For the world-class concert organized by Pattaya City-Chonburi Provincial Administrative Organization,Tourism Authority of Thailand. Pattaya Office and MONO29 ( Mono Twenty Nine)television stationjointly organized an event to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.“MONO29 PATTAYA COUNTDOWN 2024 THE FANTASTIC BEACH ”(Mono29 Pattaya Countdown2024The Fantastic Beach)
Your Boy TJ
In order to promote and publicize tourism in Pattaya, the event is filled with various activities throughout3 days and 3 nights, complete with production of lights, colors, and sound. Between 29-31 December this year from 5:00 p.m. onwards at Pattaya beach. Chonburi Province, including the event “KOH LAN PATTAYA COUNTDOWN 2024″ ( Koh Lan Pattaya Countdown 2024) on December 31 at Koh Lan from 7:00 p.m. onwards as well.
Your Boy TJisthe representative of the artists invited to the event. Run interprets it within the event for you to hear:
“Hello to MONO29 fansand all friends and brothers and sisters. I would like to invite everyone to come have fun and enjoy the countdown concert. On Pattaya beach For me, I have prepared songs and fun to give to the people of Pattaya and all Thai people, please wait and see. The fun will take place throughout 3 nights from 29-31 December. Come see me on 30 December as well. If anyone doesn’t have plans to go anywhere, come and meet me. I guarantee it will be the most excruciating.”
There are also many famous artists preparing to join in spreading happiness at this eventat the event “MONO29 PATTAYA COUNTDOWN 2024 THE FANTASTIC BEACH ” (Mono29 Pattaya Countdown 2024The Fantastic Beach)at Pattaya Beach. Forthis December 30th,meetArtistINDIGO (Indigo), TILLY BIRDS (Tilly Birds), KLEAR (Clear), BODYSLAM (Bodyslam), URBOYTJ (Your Boy TJ)andJOEYBOY (Joey Boy)You can visit and participate in various activities for free throughout the event.
Images of Nong Nice meditating as published on his social media. Note: Images are blurred to comply with media regulations on underage individuals.
Thailand’shottest “spiritual” phenomena over the past months, or basically of the year 2023, is not led by a Buddhist monk, but an eight-year-old boy known as “Nong Nice” (Little Brother Nice).
Adults, men and women, flock to offer him money, have him blessed. They also seek to have their inner psychic channel activated and supposedly made directly accessible via live streaming into their heads. Buddhist teachings via Nong Nice, wherein their new spiritual leader, does not have to utter a single word.
Believers and Little Brother Nice say that is how the historical Buddha preached to thousands of disciples at a time without the aid of a hi-fidelity loudspeaker.
To see is to believe. But to this writer, to watch these video clips is to feel sorry for not just these adults, the boy himself, but the Thai educational system. Why bother learning anything about basic science at school when you have Nong Nice to believe in?
Because some of us find life banal, they have to seek something to believe in that is beyond reasoning, that is supernatural – the basic teaching of Buddhism as a philosophy would not do. I would not totally blame them as many Thai Buddhists still believe the historical Buddha, Guatama, once emerging from the womb of his mother, was able to walk seven steps and declared: “I am the chief of the world. Eldest in the world. This is the last birth.”
Good luck if you believe in such an embellished tale that is two thousand and a half millennia old. Well, if you believe in that tale, why not believe in Little Brother Nice who is eight years old? So while I find Nong Nice (and the tale about the Buddha’s birth) not convincing, on the other hand, we want Thailand to be a free society where people have the right to believe and be superstitious for that matter.
So it is a little disturbing this week to see the authorities telling Nong Nice and his parents that his teaching deviates from Buddhism. One of the tales about Nong Nice, a claim made by Nong Nice himself, is that he is an avatar of a great naga (itself a mythical serpent who became a key disciple of the Lord Buddha) and is back here on earth to preach and spread Buddhism not to just Thais but Russians, including war-mongering Russian President Vladimir Putin!
BTW, officials from the National Office of Buddhism also reminded Nong Nice and his parents earlier this week it is not the naga’s job to teach and spread Buddhism. For the meantime, the authorities are keeping an eye on donations made to Nong Nice but are not accusing him and her parents of running a scam yet.
Equally disturbing as seeing worshippers placing belief before logic is the Thai government trying to tell us what to believe and what not to. Also, child rights activists might want to check if Nong Nice qualified as a child labourer, exploited by no less than her parents who furbished all these tales about the boy being different from other kids even when he was in the womb.
For Christ’s or Buddha’s sake, he is just an eight year old boy and deserves a normal childhood and proper horrible Thai education, not delusion.
As much as you cannot stop some Thais to believe some monks, even animals and trees are capable of giving you the latest lucky lottery numbers, Nong Nice phenomena would not be the last superstitious phenomena. One might ask why?
Is it because some of us humans are so weak, life so unpredictable, cruel, and meaningless that we want to believe in something higher, something supernatural and better than us, a miracle beyond our ability to reason?
I have no easy answer, but all I can say is educators should be more concerned about teaching Thai students basic logic and science and less worried that most are not performing well when it comes to English-language proficiency when compared to students from other nations.
But again, this is a society where criticising the monarchy could lead to a heavy prison term of 15 years. Apparently logic has its limits in Thailand.
Smoke rises to the sky after an explosion in Gaza Strip as seen from Southern Israel, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 90 Palestinians, including dozens from an extended family, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two homes, rescuers and hospital officials said Saturday, a day after the U.N. chief warned again that nowhere is safe in Gaza and that Israel’s offensive is creating “massive obstacles” to distribution of humanitarian aid.
Also Saturday, the Israeli military said troops arrested hundreds of alleged militants in Gaza over the past week and transferred more than 200 of them to Israel for further interrogation, providing rare details on a controversial policy of mass roundups of Palestinian men. The army said more than 700 people with alleged ties to the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have so far been sent to Israeli lockups.
Israel declared war after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war to destroy Hamas and more than 53,000 have been wounded, according to health officials in Gaza, a besieged territory ruled by the Islamic militant group for the past 16 years.
A Palestinian man mourns a relative killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip outside a morgue, in Khan Younis on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
Despite mounting international calls for a cease-fire, Israel has vowed to keep up the fight until Hamas is destroyed and removed from power in Gaza and all the hostages are freed. The Biden administration has shielded Israel in the diplomatic arena. On Friday, the U.N. Security Council adopted a watered-down resolution that calls for immediately speeding up aid deliveries to desperate civilians in Gaza, but not for a cease-fire.
The Health Ministry in Gaza on Saturday evening said 201 people had been killed over the past 24 hours.
On Friday, airstrikes flattened two homes, one in Gaza City and the other in the urban refugee camp of Nuseirat in the center of the territory.
The Gaza City strike killed 76 people from the al-Mughrabi family, making it one of the deadliest of the war, said Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense department. He provided the names of 16 heads of households within the family, and said the dead included women and children.
Among those killed were Issam al-Mughrabi, a veteran employee of the U.N. Development Program, his wife, and their five children.
“The loss of Issam and his family has deeply affected us all. The U.N. and civilians in Gaza are not a target,” said Achim Steiner, the head of the agency. “This war must end.”
Later Friday, a strike pulverized the Nuseirat home of Mohammed Khalifa, a local TV journalist, killing him and at least 14 others, according to officials at the nearby Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital where the bodies were taken. Mourners held funeral prayers Saturday in the hospital’s courtyard while rescue teams continued to search for survivors. The legs of at least two bodies were seen under what appeared to be a collapsed roof.
Israel blames Hamas for the high civilian death toll, citing the militants’ use of crowded residential areas and tunnels. Israel has launched thousands of airstrikes since Oct. 7, and has largely refrained from commenting on specific attacks.
Israel’s offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history, displacing nearly 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and leveling wide swaths of the tiny coastal enclave. More than half a million people in Gaza — a quarter of the population — are starving, according to a report this week from the United Nations and other agencies.
The military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said late Friday that forces are widening the ground offensive “to additional areas of the strip, with a focus on the south.” He said operations were also continuing in the northern half of Gaza, the initial focus of Israel’s ground offensive. The army said that it carried out airstrikes against Hamas fighters in several locations of Gaza City.
The army statement on detentions followed earlier Palestinian reports of large-scale roundups of teenage boys and men from homes, shelters and hospitals in northern Gaza where ground troops have established firmer control. Some of the released detainees have said they were stripped to their underwear, beaten and held for days with minimal water.
Hamas called on the International Committee of the Red Cross and other global organizations to put pressure on Israeli authorities to reveal the whereabouts and conditions of hundreds of people in Gaza who were detained.
Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are brought to the hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Israel’s military has denied abuse allegations and said those without links to militants were quickly released.
Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas militants, including about 2,000 in the past three weeks, but has not presented evidence. It says 139 of its soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive.
Following the U.N. resolution, it was not immediately clear how and when aid deliveries would accelerate. Currently, trucks enter through two crossings — Rafah on the border with Egypt and Kerem Shalom on the border with Israel. On Friday, fewer than 100 trucks entered the crossings, the U.N. said — far below the daily average of 500 before the war.
Both crossings were closed Saturday by mutual agreement among Israel, Egypt and the U.N., Israeli officials said.
Ahead of the Security Council vote, the U.S. negotiated the removal of language that would have given the U.N. authority to inspect aid going into Gaza, something Israel says it must continue to do itself to ensure material does not reach Hamas.
Palestinians look at the residential building of the Khalifa family destroyed in an Israeli strike in Nusseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that it’s a mistake to measure the effectiveness of the humanitarian operation by the number of trucks.
“The real problem is that the way Israel is conducting this offensive is creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside Gaza,” he said. He said the prerequisites for an effective aid operation don’t exist: security, staff who can work in safety, logistical capacity and the resumption of commercial activity.
Guterres reiterated his longstanding call for a humanitarian cease-fire. He expressed hope that the resolution may help this happen but said “much more is needed immediately” to end the “nightmare” for people in Gaza.
The U.S. won the removal of a tougher call for an “urgent suspension of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas. It abstained in the vote, as did Russia, which wanted the stronger language.
PATTAYA – A boat capsized in the middle of the Pattaya Sea, Nong Prue Subdistrict, Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province, at 6:00 p.m. Saturday. A rescue team from Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Pattaya City was dispatched after receiving word that several people had been injured.
They rushed to the beach near the accident with marine rescue staff from the Marine Department, Pattaya Police Station officials, and tourist police officers.
The tourists were floating in the middle of the sea at the time. The officials then dispatched a boat to help everyone get out of the water and to the shore. The passengers were 26 foreigners, 2 Thais, and 1 Thai driver. Six of these people were injured. Rescuers provided first aid before bringing them to the hospital.
The boat involved in the accident was a catamaran named Sea Beach, carrying 45 passengers, lying on its side in the middle of the sea. Officials are preparing to find a way to salvage the wreckage and return it to shore on Sunday.
The passengers were 26 foreigners. It is considered fortunate that everyone survived safely.Rescuers provided first aid to the injured passengers before bringing them to the hospital.
Mr. Adisorn Wannabut, 28, a tourist on the boat, stated that the boat had sailed from Koh Larn prior to the accident. The boat faced high waves and heavy gusts not long after leaving the shore. It tilted down as water poured into the hull. The boat’s crew then gave life jackets for the passengers to hurriedly put on.
The boat’s captain, Sompot Pomthong, 56, explained that the boat was tilting because a piece of machinery on the left side had broken free, causing the boat to lean downward. The bottoms of the catamaran are parallel. If the mounts on both sides of the catamaran become loose, the boat will tilt to one side. Since the other side of the catamaran was still supporting the hull, the boat did not sink.
Police officials later questioned the captain of the boat about whether the boat had been examined before usage. They will also request that experts inspect the boat in order to determine the cause of the accident.
It is considered fortunate that everyone survived safely.
Ethnic Rohingya men perform a dusk prayer at their camp in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
PIDIE, Indonesia (AP) — Their screams and sobs could be heard from the ailing boat soon after it emerged into view amid the vastness of the Andaman Sea. Crowded on board were tiny babies and children, alongside mothers and fathers begging to be saved.
The passengers were ethnic Rohingya Muslims who had fled surging gang violence and rampant hunger in the squalid refugee camps of Bangladesh, only to find themselves adrift with a broken engine. For a moment, it appeared their salvation had arrived in the form of another boat carrying Rohingya refugees that had pulled up alongside them.
But those on board the other boat — itself overloaded and beginning to leak — knew if they allowed the distressed passengers onto their vessel, it would sink. And all would die.
They wanted to help, but they also wanted to live.
The boat used to carry a group of Rohingya Muslims sits on the beach where it landed on Dec. 10 in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
With so many Rohingya attempting the dangerous crossing in recent weeks, nobody knows how many boats did not make it, and how many people died.
This account of two boats in distress at sea — one was saved, the other vanished — was told to The Associated Press by five survivors from the vessel that made it to shore.
It provides the first clues into the fate of the boat carrying up to 200 Rohingya refugees that has been missing for weeks. On Dec. 2, the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, put out an urgent message about the two boats in distress and urged countries to look for them.
But in the case of the boat that remains missing, it appears no one searched.
From a grey, trash-strewn beach near where they staggered ashore on Dec. 10, the survivors told the AP of their harrowing journey and the agonizing decisions made along the way.
“I remember feeling that together, we would be finished. Together, we would sink. Together, we would drown,” says 31-year-old Muhammed Jubair, who was among the 180 people on his boat to be rescued, along with his three children, wife and brother-in-law.
Ethnic Rohingya men chat on the beach where they landed on Dec. 10 in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
TEARFUL GOODBYES
The story of the missing boat and its passengers begins the way most Rohingya boat journeys do — with tearful goodbyes in sweltering shelters in the camps of Bangladesh, where more than 750,000 Rohingya fled in 2017 following sweeping attacks by the military in their homeland of Myanmar.
In one of those shelters, Noor Fatima clutched her 14-year-old brother, Muhammed Ansar, forcing herself to hold back tears as the boy began to cry along with the rest of their family. She knew she had to stay strong so he wouldn’t fear the journey ahead.
Ansar was the family’s only son — the only one with a shot at an education and a job in Indonesia. They hoped he would someday make enough money to support them in the camps. There were few alternatives: Bangladesh bans camp residents from working, so their survival is entirely dependent on food rations, which were slashed this year.
Worsening hunger caused by the ration cuts and a spike in gang violence sparked the latest exodus by sea from the camps.
It was Nov. 20, and Ansar would be making the trip with several relatives, including his 20-year-old cousin, Samira Khatun, and her 3-year-old son. As her brother left, Fatima told herself many other boats had made it safely to Indonesia. Surely his would, too.
The next day, Samira called Fatima’s family and her father, telling them they were aboard the boat. “We are on our way,” she said. “Pray for us.”
Abdu Shukkur didn’t know his bright and bubbly 12-year-old daughter, Kajoli, was planning to flee the camps until a trafficker called him and said he was taking her by boat to Indonesia.
Shukkur begged the trafficker to leave Kajoli behind, but her friends were going on the boat, and she wanted to go with them. He later received a phone call from Kajoli herself, when she was already on board.
All he could do was pray.
FILE – Ethnic Rohingya disembark from their boat upon landing on a beach in Ulee Madon, North Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza, File)
THE BOATS COME TOGETHER
The boat Jubair and his family were on was chugging across the sea, carrying 180 Rohingya bound for Indonesia. It was overloaded, but the engine was still working.
Days into its 1,800-kilometer (1,100-mile) journey, the passengers on Jubair’s boat spotted another vessel bobbing in the waves. It was Kajoli, Ansar and Samira’s boat — their engine was broken, water was seeping in and the passengers were panicking.
Those on Jubair’s boat worried if they got too close, the people on the distressed vessel would jump onto their boat, sinking them all, says one of Jubair’s fellow passengers, Rujinah, who goes by one name and who was on board with five of her children.
Their fears were not unfounded. As Jubair’s boat drew nearer, between 20 and 30 people began preparing to make the jump, says Zakir Hussain, another passenger.
The captain of Jubair’s boat shouted at those on the distressed vessel to stay put. Then he asked for a rope so he could tie the two boats together. The captain told the other boat’s passengers he would tow their vessel behind his, and they would search for land together.
According to Hussain, their captain also issued a warning: “If you try to jump into our boat, we won’t help you.”
What happened next is disputed.
Around the same time, Shukkur, the father of Kajoli, says his nephew made a call to the captain of Kajoli’s boat and was told by the captain that he and his family had left the distressed vessel and were on the boat that came to their rescue.
However, the survivors interviewed by the AP in Aceh either denied that happened or said they didn’t see it.
Tethered together, the two boats began moving through the water. And then, two or three nights later, a vicious storm crashed down on them. Pounding waves throttled the boats, destroying the engine on Jubair’s vessel.
Now, in the dark, they were both helplessly adrift.
Ethnic Rohingya women take shelter under a tent near a beach where they landed on Dec. 10 in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
TRAGEDY STRIKES
It was then, the passengers on Jubair’s boat say, that the ropes between the two vessels were severed. No one says they saw how it happened — but what they did see was the other boat drifting off to their right.
Over the howling wind and churning surf, Jubair could hear the passengers on the other boat pleading for their lives.
“They were crying and shouting loudly, ‘Our ropes are broken! Our ropes are broken! Please help us!’ But how could we help?” Jubair says. “We would die with them.”
The other boat drifted farther away, the passengers say, until it vanished from view.
On Jubair’s boat, people began to wail.
“They are also Muslim. They are also part of our community,” says Rujinah. “That’s why our people were also crying for them.”
THE RESCUE
For days, Jubair and his fellow passengers languished at sea, their food and water gone. Eventually, a plane spotted them, and a Navy ship arrived, delivering food, water and medicine. The passengers say they don’t know which country sent the rescue vessel that towed them into Indonesian waters and then left when their boat was close to land.
That’s when their captain and another crew member fled the vessel on a small fishing boat, Jubair says. Abandoned, the exhausted passengers worked together to guide the battered boat onto the beach, where they have spent their nights sleeping under tarps. They wash and drink from a nearby stream.
Facing an increasingly hostile reception from locals, they have no idea what their future holds in Indonesia. But at least, they say, they are alive. They hope the passengers on the other boat are, too.
“I feel very sad for them because we were in the same situation, and now we are safe,” says Hussain. “We are just praying for that boat to find land and for the passengers to stay alive.”
Ethnic Rohingya children sit around a fire at their camp near a beach in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
THE AGONY OF THE UNKNOWN
Weeks have passed, and the families of those on board the lost boat have heard nothing. Ann Maymann, the UNHCR’s representative in Indonesia, urged regional governments to launch a search.
“Here you have hundreds of people that are obviously distressed at the best and, at the worst, they are not even distressed any longer,” Maymann told the AP. “Those nations in this region have fully capable and resourced search and rescue capacities.”
The governments of regional countries that the AP reached out to either did not respond to requests for comment or said they were unaware of the boat.
Meanwhile, a familiar feeling of dread has crept into Bangladesh’s camps, which mourned the loss in 2022 of another boat carrying 180 people that an AP investigation concluded had sunk.
Fatima struggles to sleep as she waits for news of Ansar, her little brother. One way or another, she says, they just want answers.
One night, Fatima says, Ansar came to their mother in a dream and told her he was on an island. The family believes he is alive, somewhere.
Shukkur also had a dream about his daughter, Kajoli, but in it, her boat sank. He believes his little girl and all her fellow passengers are dead.
His agony echoes throughout the camp’s crowded warren of shelters.
“Many parents,” he says, “are screaming for their children.”
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Kristen Gelineau, Edna Tarigan And Reza Saifullah reported from Pidie. Gelineau reported from Sydney; Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.
SURAT THANI – Fortunately, all 102 people on the sinking ship, including foreign tourists, were rescued safely to Koh Tao, Surat Thani Province, on Friday. After that, the Regional Harbour Office, Koh Phangan Branch, issued an order to the ship owner’s company not to use this sinking ship and salvage it within 15 days.
Capt. Natthaphon Sinpoolpon, Deputy Director of the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre in Surat Thani Province, released a summary report on the situation involving the passenger ship T. Sandee Maneesap 111, registration number 308400045, size 114.93 gross tonnes, route Surat Thani-Koh Tao.
Foreign tourists were brought to Koh Tao safely on December 22, 2023.
The ship set off from the Surat Thani Municipality port at 11:00 p.m. on the night of December 21, bound for Koh Tao. Water entered the boat around 6:00 a.m. on December 22 due to strong waves and wind conditions while the boat was going around 15 nautical miles (27.78 kilometres) from Koh Tao.
When authorities learned of the situation, they dispatched three Lomprayah speedboats and three tourist boats to rescue all 102 passengers and crew members at 9:10 a.m. Everyone arrived safely on Koh Tao while this ship sank around 10:30 a.m.
The Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre, Surat Thani Province, sent a boat to the scene at 12.20 p.m. to collect life-saving rafts and tourist luggages.
The boat was deployed to rescue passengers from the T. Sandee Maneesap 111 passenger ship.The passengers arrived safely on Koh Tao.
Regional Harbor Master, Koh Phangan Branch later issued order to other ships to be careful when navigating in the sub-district and nearby areas, within a distance of 5.5 nautical miles from Koh Tao, at latitude 9.9930 minutes north and longitude 99.7502 minutes east.
Simultaneously, the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre issued a statement to the boat’s owner, Mr. Paitoon Kongchan, alerting him of the prohibition on operating the boat, T. Sandee Maneesap 111, until suitable action is taken.
There was also an order to salvage the ship, dismantle, relocate, or destroy sunken ship wreckage from the area where the ship sank. It must be finished within 15 days of receiving this order. Throughout the procedure, signs indicating dangers will be made visible for navigation both during the day and at night.
