Old Aussie couple ignore red flag at Phuket's Kamala beach - wife pays with her life

[Inepto Cracy]

I do recall many moons ago, somebody once commentated that the whole sea and surf line be cordoned off in dangerous condiditions. OK surfers can go out, they have a big board to hold onto.

Strange how a person can be fined 100,000.00Baht for feeding breadcrumbs to sea fishes, but you pay with your life, when all you wanted to do was have a splash in the sea while on holiday.

How many more will die this year on Phuket beaches, answer .. .. .. many more.

A young child even drowned here about the same time as this lady.

[stevenl]

4 hours ago, lvr181 said:

"If" colour blindness was the condition leading to this lady's death, then those responsible for producing the flags should put a stylised swimmer with a strike out through it (logo) on the flag in white.

 

Just a pro-active approach to avoiding more drownings would be sensible.

Warning flags, big, big warning signs, lifeguards warning people, what else do you suggest apart from closing the beach?

[lvr181]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Warning flags, big, big warning signs, lifeguards warning people, what else do you suggest apart from closing the beach?

The flags need to be replaced at some time, then is the time to 're-design' and introduce them! Simple really. No need to 'go overboard'.

 

As a person who has delivered many seminar presentations, using slides/Power Point you needed to be aware of people with colour blindness. Same principle applies here. Understand now?  

[stevenl]

59 minutes ago, lvr181 said:

The flags need to be replaced at some time, then is the time to 're-design' and introduce them! Simple really. No need to 'go overboard'.

 

As a person who has delivered many seminar presentations, using slides/Power Point you needed to be aware of people with colour blindness. Same principle applies here. Understand now?  

Ok, so you're saying more should be done, but when called out can't come up with any suggestions yourself.

 

Where do you live, have you ever seen these beaches with signs first hand?

[lvr181]

2 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Ok, so you're saying more should be done, but when called out can't come up with any suggestions yourself.

 

Where do you live, have you ever seen these beaches with signs first hand?

1) I have. It was suggested (flippantly or not) that maybe the victim and her husband could have been colour blind. I offered a simple solution. Or did you fail to read that? 

2) Yes, I have spoken at length with lifeguards at Patong beach, about their job and about flags. They say many Chinese and Europeans ignore the signs/flags. Totally frustrating for the lifeguards. 

 

And now, your viable solution is?

[beechbum]

Not all Aussies live near the beach, true comment, but we're tort from a pretty young age what the flags mean, strange that they ignored them, I wonder if they'd immigrated there in the not too distant past? 

[stevenl]

17 minutes ago, lvr181 said:

1) I have. It was suggested (flippantly or not) that maybe the victim and her husband could have been colour blind. I offered a simple solution. Or did you fail to read that? 

2) Yes, I have spoken at length with lifeguards at Patong beach, about their job and about flags. They say many Chinese and Europeans ignore the signs/flags. Totally frustrating for the lifeguards. 

 

And now, your viable solution is?

It makes no sense to me that colour blind people decide a red flag is green.

My suggestion would be more guards. 

[lvr181]

2 minutes ago, stevenl said:

It makes no sense to me that colour blind people decide a red flag is green.

My suggestion would be more guards. 

Now I understand - you do not know what colour blindness is. "Google" it - that may help your lack of understanding.

You want more guards (than beachgoers) to make the system work? Rhetorical question.  'Viable' was the key word.

Have a nice day. 

[stevenl]

24 minutes ago, lvr181 said:

Now I understand - you do not know what colour blindness is. "Google" it - that may help your lack of understanding.

You want more guards (than beachgoers) to make the system work? Rhetorical question.  'Viable' was the key word.

Have a nice day. 

So somebody who knows he may mistake red for green trusts his eyes and mistakes red for green without checking.

Sorry, no. 

And no, lifeguards don't distinguish between Europeans, Americans and Aussies.

And no, that is not what I said. 

 

You claimed to have the solution, I did not, but it is clear you don't have it. End of.

[basatop]

This discussion about colors doesn't make any sense guys!may be all of you are drunk?Do you drive cars?Do you have driving license?

Have you seen traffic lights?what colors?stop light - what color?

There are about 50 fatal accidents in Phuket every season.You think that all of them were color- blinds?NO! They are simply ignorant,they don't understand ripp currents and.....they did not care about warnings.There were cases when tourists(drunk?) were fighting with guards who tried to

stop them.Minutes later they had to be rescued...Many visitors come

in organized groups.Organizers should educate them about dangers in

Phuket waters,not only about tsunami but first - about ripp currents.

[lvr181]

6 hours ago, basatop said:

This discussion about colors doesn't make any sense guys!may be all of you are drunk?Do you drive cars?Do you have driving license?

Have you seen traffic lights?what colors?stop light - what color?

There are about 50 fatal accidents in Phuket every season.You think that all of them were color- blinds?NO! They are simply ignorant,they don't understand ripp currents and.....they did not care about warnings.There were cases when tourists(drunk?) were fighting with guards who tried to

stop them.Minutes later they had to be rescued...Many visitors come

in organized groups.Organizers should educate them about dangers in

Phuket waters,not only about tsunami but first - about ripp currents.

I agree with your comments "They are simply ignorant.....etc." I understand that the lifeguards have no power under the law to enforce their commonsense instructions.

Now we come to education. Yes it is commonsense but who will give it voluntarily to those who do not wish to listen/learn? Can it be enforced? I doubt it. And if 'tour organisers' cared why have they not been doing it? Perhaps they don't care or cannot be bothered. It is a multi-faceted problem with  no single answer.

It was suggested (flippantly or not) that maybe the victim and her husband could have been colour blind. I offered a simple solution. Many years ago I worked with a electronics technician who became colour blind. As many of the electrical components were colour banded to denote various values he had to give up his line of work. Colour blindness is a real problem for many. And no I was not drunk in offering this simple targeted solution. And I never claimed to have a total solution.  Unfortunately someone took exception to that in their subsequent rant.

Oh well, s**t happens. 

[basatop]

Ivi181 - I did not want to offend you.This subject simply makes me sad and angry,so many souls were lost...

If anybody wanted to know about ripps and how to behave in treacherous waters - please read blogs by very competent Tezza-

 

http://www.tezzasthaiinfo.blogspot.com/2007/04/some-tips-on-not-drowning.html

 

Tezza explains the mechanism of ripp currents and how to avoid them.His blogs are treasures of info about islands in tropical paradise.

Cheers!

 

Edited September 20, 2017 by basatop
error

[lvr181]

5 hours ago, basatop said:

Ivi181 - I did not want to offend you.This subject simply makes me sad and angry,so many souls were lost...

If anybody wanted to know about ripps and how to behave in treacherous waters - please read blogs by very competent Tezza-

 

http://www.tezzasthaiinfo.blogspot.com/2007/04/some-tips-on-not-drowning.html

 

Tezza explains the mechanism of ripp currents and how to avoid them.His blogs are treasures of info about islands in tropical paradise.

Cheers!

 

No offence taken 

[USPatriot]

Red flag means you could win the Darwin award

[The manic]

On 18/09/2017 at 9:16 AM, ICECOOL said:

RIP. Not every Aussie lives near the beach so may not have understood or recognised the danger.

5555

[lvr181]

13 hours ago, USPatriot said:

Red flag means you could win the Darwin award

OMG.  How many Darwin Awards are there? Is anybody learning?   

 

Nah.