23 Nov 2010
Crash victim Loh Ying Jie (left) with his friend Tang Jun Han. The two young men were jet skiing in Phuket in April when they collided after a big wave caused Mr Tang to lose control of his jet ski.
Compensation paid to family; Thai police not pressing charges
FIVE friends went to Phuket in Thailand to celebrate the completion of their full-time national service in April, only to have the trip turn tragic when one of them died in a jet-ski incident.
Mr Loh Ying Jie, flown back here by an air ambulance with severe head injuries, died at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) nearly two weeks later.
Yesterday, State Coroner Imran Hamid returned a verdict of misadventure.
The inquiry had heard that the family of Mr Tang Jun Han, who had run over his friend while out at sea, has paid $100,000 in compensation to the Loh family.
Investigating officer Mohd Shahudin Bakar said Thai police will not press charges, since compensation had been accepted by the grieving family.
State Counsel G. Kumaresan told the court that the authorities here will also not start criminal proceedings against the parties involved, because the accident happened outside its jurisdiction.
The inquiry heard that Mr Loh and Mr Tang flew to Phuket on April 1 with Mr Victor Yeo Qin Shun, Mr Xavier Lip Guan Ming and Mr Ivan Seet Wen Fu. All were aged 21 then.
The next afternoon, the five friends went to Patong Beach. As they found parasailing expensive, they rented jet skis, setting off after donning life jackets.
The sea was rough. As they headed back to the beach, a big wave slammed into Mr Tang’s jet ski. He lost control and hit Mr Loh, who was on another jet ski.
Mr Lip went to shore to get help while the other three lifted the unconscious Mr Loh onto Mr Tang’s jet ski. The jet-ski operators then brought Mr Loh back to the beach.
An ambulance soon arrived but the paramedics were unable to resuscitate the young man.
He was first taken to Patong Hospital, but as it did not have facilities to perform a computed tomography or CT scan, he was sent to Bangkok Hospital Phuket.
Meanwhile, Mr Tang contacted Mr Loh’s family. His elder sister showed up in Phuket on April 3, followed by his parents a day later.
That day, Mr Loh was flown back here and admitted into SGH, where he died on April 13.
Mr Tang remained in Thailand for investigations to be completed.
At a police station in Phuket on April 21, the Tang and Loh families signed the compensation agreement, witnessed by their lawyers and a representative of the Singapore embassy.
Mr Tang returned home soon after.
Staff sergeant Mohd Shahudin cited a medical report by Dr Nicholas Kon of SGH, which said Mr Loh had little chance of recovery because of the extent of his head injuries.
The report said his condition deteriorated until his death from bronchopneumonia and acute brain haemorrhage.
None of the members of either family attended the coroner’s inquiry.
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Dept Of Neurology
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