A rescue team departure from a dock to the accident area in Phuket, Thailand, July 6, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Lin Yingying, a journalist from the Shanghai Morning Post, was on a boat in the same storm that caused two vessels to overturn on Thursday off Phuket Island. She described two and a half horrible hours at sea:

At 9:30 am, the sun came out after the night's rainfall and we happily got on our boat, Cape No 7, which was not big compared to Phoenix, which overturned. All the 30 or so passengers on our boat were Chinese.

A bright sun accompanied us on the journey. We even rented a sunshade on the island.

After I took a photo of my younger child holding a salmon at 4:27 pm by Racha Island, the translator told us the boat had to return quickly. A storm was coming.

In the sunshine and breezes of the morning, it had taken us one and a half hours to get from Phuket to Racha, passing Coral Island.

On the return trip, at first I found the rain a little heavy and the wind a little strong. I felt like throwing up and turned to the crew for a plastic bag. Soon torrential rain poured down. Violent winds rolled up waves as high as several floors, and water rushed into the cabin.

My glasses were completely blurry. I grabbed my younger child's wrist with my left hand, and I held my older child tight with the other hand. The two children had been rambunctious before but now were very quiet.

When I saw the life buoys on the bow, I suggested we put on life jackets again. With them, we could at least hang on longer in case the boat capsized.

Then the wind and rain got even wilder. There were two or three ships in sight. A ship on our right side disappeared into the waves and came to the surface after quite a while.

My younger child asked me when we could reach the shore and if we could make it back. I told him, after counting slowly to a hundred, that we would make it back. The older child, wrapped in a big towel, curled up under my arm. My husband tightly held our younger one and told him not to fall asleep.

The captain, a local Thai, around 30, stared straight ahead and steered the wheel in the stormy sea, wiping the rain off his face from time to time. He once turned back to smile to us all, trying to give everybody some courage.

I didn't know how long that would have to last.

My husband asked the captain when we would be close to shore. He just pointed ahead and nodded, without a word. My husband turned back and told our parents and our children that we were almost there.

Another 50 minutes later, we passed Coral Island. Still bumping along for a long time, we finally saw the shore with lights in a distance.

The captain lit a cigarette while another crew member steered. The boat was docked and dozens of people got off in order.

By then, the sky was completely dark. The emergency lights of ambulances and police cars flashed on the dock. We walked by the vehicles and reporters gathered to do interviews.

It was 7:08 in the evening, and it was good to be alive.

China Daily - Shanghai Morning Post