Chinese tour operators blamed for boat disaster

BANGKOK— Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan on Monday blamed Chinese tour operators for the deaths of more than 40 people, most of them Chinese tourists, in a boat accident off a resort island last weekend, as divers searched for 11 people still missing. The boat, the Phoenix, went down in high seas on Thursday off the west coast island of Phuket with 101 people on board, including 89 tourists, all but two of them from China, and 12 crew, during an outing to a small island for snorkeling. The death toll, which is likely to surpass 50, makes it the worst tourist-related disaster in Thailand in years and underscores long-standing concerns about the industry’s safety.