AYUTTHAYA - The boat tragedy on Sunday struck a family from the southern province of Trang particularly hard, with the loss of two of its three children.
Orn-uma Krachangsaeng, 25, and her 4-month old son Anucha were among survivors of the tragedy, in which a boat that capsized in the Chao Phraya River, and are now being treated at hospital.
Phakphum Krachangsaeng, 25, the husband and father, also survived the incident unharmed. He has spent his days at the bedside of his wife and son.
Mr Phakphum, an Ayutthaya native, married Ms Orn-uma, who hails from Trang. The family lives in the southern province.
He said he took his family to visit his home province of Ayutthaya and they were among the passengers on board the boat to attend an annual Muslim ceremony at a mosque in Ayutthaya.
"We are so sad. It happened so fast that we could not save two of our children. I could only grab one of my sons and had to watch my other two sons drown in the river before my eyes," Mr Phakphum said.
The grief-stricken father said he is racked with guilt for taking his family on the doomed boat journey.
"I feel pangs of guilt for taking my children to their death," he said.
His two sons -- Nawapas, 8, and Anusorn, 4 -- are among the 28 dead victims confirmed as of Tuesday.
As survivors recount their ordeal, it has emerged that many saw relatives perish in the tragedy.
Thanayut Tingthong, a six-year-old boy who survived the incident, said that he, his mother and several relatives were on the upper deck of the ill-fated boat when it hit something, tipped over and sank.
The boy said he and his mother struggled to hold on to a pole on the boat before they were rescued. The boy lost two of his aunts in the tragedy.
Suwanna Chankwa, another survivor, said she was in the lower deck of the boat where most passengers were elderly and children. She noted there were no life jackets on the boat.
Ms Suwanna said she heard the boat hit something, and the passengers were alarmed as the boat began to sink.
She tried clinging on to the vessel then realised it was sinking. As she escaped the boat, she saw her son struggling in the middle of the river before someone came to the boy's rescue.
"The boat was moving very fast before the accident occurred," Ms Suwanna said.
Her mother and three other relatives are among the dead.