My condolences to the families of the 47 Chinese holidaymakers who were killed when the diving boat they were on sank in the waters off Phuket in a fierce storm on July 5. It's a massive loss.
The tragedy has hit the island's tourism sector hard, but it is only the latest in a long list of problems there. We have heard of tourist scams, wildlife exploitation, forest encroachment, human trafficking and more. All of these are byproducts of rampant tourism.
In the latest incident, two boats capsized. The other was carrying 35 tourists and seven crew, but all survived without injury. In contrast, nearly half of those aboard the Phoenix did not make it out alive.
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