Brave Hearts and Braving Waves: The Tragic Story of the Phoenix in Phuket
Where It All Began
The Phoenix, a pleasure boat filled with Chinese tourists, slipped into the rough tug of the Andaman Sea on a Thursday. The ship plummeted a staggering 40 metres, leaving a dark, eerily calm scene beneath the water’s surface.
The Human Toll
- At least 41 lives lost—seven of them young babies—each heart still echoing in the memories of loved ones.
- Fifteen more remain missing, with hope of rescues fading faster than a sunrise over the horizon.
- 48 passengers and crew initially escaped by diving into the sea or grabbing life rafts, but many were snagged within the lower lounge of the ship.
Pulling the Dead Out of the Depths
Phuket’s dive teams, led by Frenchman Philippe Entremont, have spent two relentless days combing through scattered splash‑down debris—shoes, glass, personal items—eager to bring victims home. “It’s tough, it’s traumatic,” Entremont shared, “but our mission is to return the bodies, so families can find some closure.”
Depths That Dared to Fall
The Phoenix sank to about 47 metres, a depth where only specially trained divers can brave the pressure. South African diver Dominic Robnik described the underwater scenery as “very, very sad” and noted the sheer amount of litter that made the search as challenging as a maze of underwater wreckage.
Breaking the Search into Small Chunks
- Divers positioned themselves every five metres, carefully lifting recovered bodies for a slow but respectful ascent.
- Robnik himself helped move at least six bodies, each a tiny miracle of perseverance.
- One particular body proved stubborn, lodged deep beneath a chunk of the sunken hull—a truly heartbreaking maze that would require extra gear to solve.
How the Search Shifts to the Navy
Late Saturday, the Thai Navy took over the operation, leaving the divers to hand off the last of their recovered victims. Rear Admiral Charoenphone Khumrasee explained, “Bodies will surface naturally.” He offered a bittersweet perspective: “Perhaps, in a few days, their weight will bring them to a beach somewhere, drifting… of course.”
Why It Matters
While the Phuket search faced the painful weight of a boat catastrophe, the wider Thai diving community is currently on another mission: rescuing 12 schoolboys trapped for two weeks in a flooded cave in the north. A reminder of how every rescue thread is pulled from a larger tapestry of courage and community.
In a world where tragedies surface or sink, the stories of these brave divers remind us that even in dark waters, hope—like tiny, stubborn bodies—keeps surface, one ripple at a time.
