More than 500 Thai tourists discovered themselves stranded at Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri, despite shelling out over a hundred,000 baht each for a supposedly luxurious cruise journey. The chaotic incident unfolded on Friday, May 19, leaving disgruntled passengers fuming and demanding answers from the cruise firm, reportedly identified as Cost Serena, as they were denied boarding regardless of their hefty payments.
Whopping interviewed one victim who revealed that those who purchased the trip under a “buy one, get one free” promotion have been allowed entry to the ship. However, those who paid the common rates have been left marooned on the pier. Another victim shared her disappointment, stating that she had purchased tickets for her whole household, yet solely her husband and child’s names appeared on the guest record.
According to Channel three, quite a few singers, musicians, and performers, employed to entertain the passengers in the course of the cruise, have been also denied entry. Media reviews highlighted that this was not the primary prevalence of such an incident, although the scale of affected people was unprecedented.
The cruise firm defended itself, claiming that the victims’ names weren’t included in the official record as a outcome of an oversight by the customer support department. Consequently, they had been compelled to disclaim these people passage on the cruise ship.
Frustrated and decided to hunt justice, most of the affected passengers wasted no time in submitting complaints towards the cruise company and took to social media platforms to share their harrowing experiences, hoping to warn others in opposition to buying excursions from the stated firm.
Some passengers offered further insights into the ill-fated trip, revealing that it was meant to encompass three destinations: Laem Chabang in Chon Buri province of Thailand, Sihanoukville in Cambodia, and Koh Samui in Surat Thani province of Thailand.
A Thai man disclosed that he had endured a six-hour wait, from 9 am to three pm, just to board the cruise. Despite paying 20,000 baht every for the journey, the onboard service was abysmal, and he also claimed that the workers members exhibited discriminatory behaviour in course of Asian passengers..