We're safe! We just saw this article, and didn't even know it happened until now, but we weren't surprised at all because it was insane getting onto the speed boats. There was about 300 people at a time, trying to get onto a boat that holds 15 people.

BANGKOK - Forty-two passengers were injured and two were missing after two boats carrying Thai and foreign tourists collided in theGulf of Thailand on the way to a popular island beach party, police said Sunday.

The speedboats were ferrying tourists to Pha-ngan island for a "full moon" party, a monthly event that attracts thousands of young, mostly Western tourists.

Provincial police officer Adipong Tapee said of the 42 revelers injured, 39 were hospitalized and included four Britons, four Australians and four Singaporeans. Also among them were Irish, Norwegian, Malaysian and Thai tourists, he said.

The boats collided and overturned before midnight Saturday, throwing passengers into rough seas water just off the island, the website of The Nation newspaper said.

The injured were rushed to hospitals on the nearby resort island of Samui and on the mainland in Surat Thani province, Adipong said.

The monthly parties on the island, 670 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Bangkok, are rave-type gatherings fueled by drugs and alcohol and have become associated with crimes such as rape and theft because of their freewheeling atmosphere.


The Associated Press