Shocking images have emerged of the moment a speedboat carrying British tourists in Thailand ran aground and crashed violently into trees, prompting screams from those on board.
Ellie Neary, from Derbyshire, was on an island hopping trip between Koh Lipe and Koh Lanta in southern Thailand when the driver lost control on January 3.
Footage shows terrified tourists clinging to their seats and cowering in fear as they braced for impact.
The boat jumped out of the water and skidded across the land, cutting branches and leaves in a mangrove forest.
Ellie Georgia said: ‘Our speedboat crashed on land at high speed while traveling from Koh Lipe to Koh Lanta. The driver lost control and crashed into trees.
‘It was the scariest thing that happened to me on the trip. It was fortunate that no one was hurt.
Footage shows terrified tourists ducking as the speedboat ran aground
While the island jumpers appeared traumatized, no one was seriously injured.
When the speedboat stopped, the tourists could be heard wondering if they had suffered any injuries.
While the islanders appeared traumatized, no one was seriously injured.
The incident occurred the same week that a trio of young British women were among 11 injured in Thailand when an entire trunk of wormwood crashed through the roof of a bus in Kanchanaburi.
A 19-year-old from London, a 19-year-old from Welwyn Garden City, and an 18-year-old from Oxford were on board the 54-year-old’s vehicle when the tree fell.
Exciting footage captured by a car traveling behind the bus shows the tree slowly collapsing onto the roof of the bus.
According to local reports, an illegal logger had cut it down with a chainsaw.
The driver of the blue bus skidded the vehicle to the other side of the road while the tourists on board screamed in terror and came within a few meters of falling down a slope.
When police arrived at the scene, they found 36 passengers inside, adding that 11, including the British women, were rushed to hospital for treatment.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Maneephat Pengklet, an investigator at Lat Ya police station, said police were notified of the accident at 10am on Friday.
A trio of teenagers are among 11 injured after an incident in which an entire trunk of wormwood crashed through the roof of a bus in Kanchanaburi.
A 19-year-old from London, a 19-year-old from Welwyn Garden City, and an 18-year-old from Oxford were on board the 54-year-old’s vehicle when the tree fell.
Most of the passengers suffered minor injuries and have since been released from the hospital.
Dashboard camera footage of a traveling car was captured at the moment the tree collapsed
He said: “At the scene, on Highway 3199, a blue Benz passenger bus was found.
‘He was heading towards Erawan waterfall and a wormwood tree on the side of the road had fallen on him. The windshield was smashed.
‘The initial inspection found at least 30 foreign passengers. There were 10 people injured by broken glass and broken branches.’
The injured were rushed to the local Synphaet hospital for treatment.
Most of the passengers suffered minor injuries and have since been discharged.
A Canadian tourist, Jaime Michelle Mitchell, 45, was taken to the ICU with a neck splint.
Land transport official Thawatchai Wiriyajit said he will bear the patients’ hospital bills.
Thailand’s largely unregulated “Wild West” tourism industry has become notorious for its lack of health and safety.
Unskilled boat operators often take risks, venturing into rough seas only to have their boats capsize, and many of the public transport vehicles are extremely old.
The worst accident in recent years occurred in November 2018, when a ferry sank in rough seas off the coast of Phuket, killing dozens of Chinese tourists.
In August 2020, a ferry sank off the coast of Koh Samui leaving at least three people dead.
And just last month, a South Korean tourist was killed when a boat capsized near the island of Koh Phangan in Surat Thani province.