Koh Samui-
A female crew member of the sunken Raja 4 ferry was discovered inside a toilet of the vessel yesterday, August 7, in the afternoon.
The victim had been identified as 40-year-old Napatda Chanharn, a saleswoman who worked on the ferry.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Nopparat Lertlum, Deputy Commander of Naval Region 2, told the Associated Press that the officials were unable to recover the body since the steel toilet hatch was too small for the body, which was already in the state of decomposition, to be recovered.
Nopparat said: “The officers had to come up with a plan to recover the body. We were going to cut out the door to widen the space overall before we could bring the body out of the vessel.”
However, the procedure was called off due to the poor underwater visibility and bad weather. The team is expected to begin the recovery and the search for the last two victims today.
The Governor of Surat Thani province, Wichawut Jinto, stated after a meeting with related officers that they would continue the search based upon the sea currents and overall conditions in the local area. Bad weather has hampered the search for the two people still missing.
The governor told Associated Press: “The search for the victims will continue as soon as possible. Meanwhile, we were also planning to manage more than 90 tonnes of garbage loaded on the ferry and oil stains in order to keep the sea clean for visitors again.”
The Pattaya News notes that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment plans to sue the Raja Ferry company over the damage to the ocean caused by the sinking ferry and the amount of garbage being carried. You can read more about this development here.