Bangkok Post – Actor's jet ski rams motorboat on Chao Phraya, two dead

SAMUT PRAKAN: Two people drowned and two others were injured when an actor's jet ski hit a boat in the Chao Phraya River in Phra Pradaeng district late Saturday evening.

The accident occurred in the middle of the river at around 9pm on Saturday when the jet ski rammed a small motorboat that was crossing the river near Wat Bang Krachao Nok.

Upon impact, a ferry passenger and her driver fell from their boat and disappeared. After a depth sounder arrived from Pathum Thani province, rescue workers found the bodies of Parichat Hoiman, the 44-year-old ferry passenger, and driver Prayoon Uampathum, 64, on the riverbed near the sunken engine of their boat.

Two passengers on the jet ski were slightly injured. They were 17-year-old Nanyaree Minhongdee and her 41-year-old mother Onlada Silanong, who suffered bruises and pain.

Jet ski driver and actor Shindanai sae Lim said he could not see the ferry across the river because it was unlit and the vehicles were too close for him to avoid the collision.

The actor said he was dropping off his girlfriend and her mother from a riverside restaurant in Phra Pradaeng and they were part of a group of 11 people travelling on five jet skis returning to their pier in Bangkok's Chom Thong district.

Mongkolsawat Woenkrathok, 48, said he and his wife had hired an acquaintance, the ferry driver, to take them from Bang Krachao Nok shore to Rama III shore and he narrowly survived the collision.