No lifeguards on Phuket beaches for two days, tourists urged to refrain from swimming

[rooster59]

No lifeguards on Phuket beaches for two days, tourists urged to refrain from swimming

Tanyaluk Sakoot

 

A spanish man was saved by a local surfer at Surin beach yesterday (Oct 20). Photo: Supplied
 

PHUKET: A Surin lifeguard volunteer has urged people to avoid swimming at Phuket beaches over the weekend as there will be no experienced lifeguards on duty.

 

Ms Vitanya Chuayuan, deputy head of Phuket Lifeguard Service Co Ltd told The Phuket News that “many of the former lifeguards from the Phuket Lifeguard Service will be heading to Khao Lak to take part in a surf competition for the next three days.

 

“There will be no former lifeguards on patrol at Ya Nui, Nai Harn, Kata, Karon, Kamala, Bang Tao, Nai Yang, Mai Khao or Surin beaches during that period,” she said on Friday (Oct 20).

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/no-lifeguards-on-phuket-beaches-for-two-days-tourists-urged-to-refrain-from-swimming-64387.php#14Q2fffoiRtMuv48.97

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2017-10-21

 

 

[Thian]

No swimming, no sunbeds, no smoking.....what's next? No drinking and no tourists?

[alant]

Waiting To see the TAT spin on this one.

[Somtamnication]

This whole lifeguard thing is a joke!

[yellowboat]

Perfect planning as per usual. 

[1337markus]

4 hours ago, Thian said:

No swimming, no sunbeds, no smoking.....what's next? No drinking and no tourists?

Imagine how quality tourists feel after spending good money for a holiday by the beach then told not to swim or go in the water?????????????????

[champers]

Baywatch (not).

[newcomer71]

Hub of tourism huh? They're raping and tearing the country... that's the sad truth.

[Moti24]

No need for lifeguards on the beach in Pattaya; swimmers are more likely to choke on a turd before they are 20 metres out!

[jaiyen]

1 hour ago, 1337markus said:

Imagine how quality tourists feel after spending good money for a holiday by the beach then told not to swim or go in the water?????????????????

There is a good reason which you obviously dont understand....As these beaches are all shallow, what happens is that the rough water and waves come in and as they go out there is a huge under current which will drag you out. Then you swim back in but then the next wave comes in and drags you out again. So you swim back. Repeat this until you are so knackered that you drown. It happens nearly every day in Phuket.  Nearly happened to me a few years ago, thinking it was fun to play in the big waves. Did get in a bad situation, but luckily I am a good strong swimmer and just got back to where I could stand up.  The older tourists will have no chance.  i believe that all beaches should be closed for swimming in rough weather.  Its not a problem to go and swim in a hotel pool. If yours doesnt have one the others only charge about 100 baht to use theirs.

[Thian]

30 minutes ago, jaiyen said:

There is a good reason which you obviously dont understand....As these beaches are all shallow, what happens is that the rough water and waves come in and as they go out there is a huge under current which will drag you out. Then you swim back in but then the next wave comes in and drags you out again. So you swim back. Repeat this until you are so knackered that you drown. It happens nearly every day in Phuket.  Nearly happened to me a few years ago, thinking it was fun to play in the big waves. Did get in a bad situation, but luckily I am a good strong swimmer and just got back to where I could stand up.  The older tourists will have no chance.  i believe that all beaches should be closed for swimming in rough weather.  Its not a problem to go and swim in a hotel pool. If yours doesnt have one the others only charge about 100 baht to use theirs.

 

I think i understand it pretty well, the reason is that there are no good beachguards or protecting devices in the water. 

 

Do the beachguards have jetski's or rescueboats/surfboards?

 

Why are there no floating ballchains which swimmers can grab?

 

It just shows how much they care about tourists, why are there no lifeguards for 2 days? Did they mention this to the tourists in Sweden who are all coming now since it's winter for them.

Are the waves over after 2 days? I don't think so, guess it has to do with the swimmingtraining for the lifeguards..

[pattayadgw]

'NO TOURISTS' coming soon to your location in Phuket!!  what a joke you are!!!

[Gandtee]

'No lifeguards on Phuket beach. Tourists are asked to refrain from drowning'.

[quadperfect]

It is pretty hilariouse. I liked the one surfer saving everyone including the so called life guard.

Its so typical.

Soon the real guards will be back by article 44 once the boss fires the guy who did the firing. That guys got to go.

 

[connda]

That's perfect for those of us who seldom surf or swim in patrolled areas.  
"Man!  Look at that surf!"
You can no go out.  Red flag.  We stop you.
"But - look!"
You no go.  We hold you down on ground.  Kick you head.

No more drama!  Excellent!

[jackh]

THey need a law! Entering the water from a public beach.....50,000 B fine. 

[Lokie]

Dice with death on the roads or the beach! At least Phuket offers a few options to tourists in 2017

[laislica]

There is a good reason which you obviously dont understand....As these beaches are all shallow, what happens is that the rough water and waves come in and as they go out there is a huge under current which will drag you out. Then you swim back in but then the next wave comes in and drags you out again. So you swim back. Repeat this until you are so knackered that you drown. It happens nearly every day in Phuket.  Nearly happened to me a few years ago, thinking it was fun to play in the big waves. Did get in a bad situation, but luckily I am a good strong swimmer and just got back to where I could stand up.  The older tourists will have no chance.  i believe that all beaches should be closed for swimming in rough weather.  Its not a problem to go and swim in a hotel pool. If yours doesnt have one the others only charge about 100 baht to use theirs.

Spot on!

I’m one of the Older Brigade and five years ago I was almost another Statistic in Phuket!
Generally the waves were not big, until!
One totally unexpected wave arrived, knocked me over, spun me round like a ping pong ball in a toilet!
I was bruised, skinned and lost a lens from my specs!
I really thought I would be a gonna at one point!
Luckily, the next few waves were calmer and I made it out!
Never again!!!

[Gumballl]

4 hours ago, jaiyen said:

There is a good reason which you obviously dont understand....As these beaches are all shallow, what happens is that the rough water and waves come in and as they go out there is a huge under current which will drag you out. Then you swim back in but then the next wave comes in and drags you out again. So you swim back. Repeat this until you are so knackered that you drown. It happens nearly every day in Phuket.  Nearly happened to me a few years ago, thinking it was fun to play in the big waves. Did get in a bad situation, but luckily I am a good strong swimmer and just got back to where I could stand up.  The older tourists will have no chance.  i believe that all beaches should be closed for swimming in rough weather.  Its not a problem to go and swim in a hotel pool. If yours doesnt have one the others only charge about 100 baht to use theirs.

You should never attempt to swim/fight the current.  Swim parallel to the beach, until you get out of the current.  Being a strong swimmer is one thing, but being smart is bliss.

[Psimbo]

12 hours ago, Thian said:

No swimming, no sunbeds, no smoking.....what's next? No drinking and no tourists?

Hopefully- i am a grumpy middle aged man! 

[SpicyMeatball]

13 hours ago, jaiyen said:

There is a good reason which you obviously dont understand....As these beaches are all shallow, what happens is that the rough water and waves come in and as they go out there is a huge under current which will drag you out. Then you swim back in but then the next wave comes in and drags you out again. So you swim back. Repeat this until you are so knackered that you drown. It happens nearly every day in Phuket.  Nearly happened to me a few years ago, thinking it was fun to play in the big waves. Did get in a bad situation, but luckily I am a good strong swimmer and just got back to where I could stand up.  The older tourists will have no chance.  i believe that all beaches should be closed for swimming in rough weather.  Its not a problem to go and swim in a hotel pool. If yours doesnt have one the others only charge about 100 baht to use theirs.

Swim diagonal to the shore, not straight in. Works 99% of the time.

[rodney earl]

Why would anyone want to go swimming there is beyond me.!!!

 

[Thian]

11 hours ago, laislica said:

 

 

Spot on!

I’m one of the Older Brigade and five years ago I was almost another Statistic in Phuket!
Generally the waves were not big, until!
One totally unexpected wave arrived, knocked me over, spun me round like a ping pong ball in a toilet!
I was bruised, skinned and lost a lens from my specs!
I really thought I would be a gonna at one point!
Luckily, the next few waves were calmer and I made it out!
Never again!!!

 

 

When i was  20 i run into the waves at Karon beach and dived into it..then i also got in washingmachine which tumbled me around for a while. The skin of my back was damaged (i also got sunburned that day on my back) and i had pain everywhere. So it's not only dangerous for old guys.

 

Those days there were no beachguards and almost nobody at all at the beaches....only very dangerous parasailerls which let the line sweep over the beach where people were walking.

 

Yes it's dangerous on phuket beaches.

[Dave67]

16 hours ago, Moti24 said:

No need for lifeguards on the beach in Pattaya; swimmers are more likely to choke on a turd before they are 20 metres out!

Not likely you'd have to wade through an impenetrable barrier of plastic bottles to be able to drown by swallowing a turd 

[steelepulse]

Almost saw 6-7 people drown post sunset at Nai Harn on Friday evening.  A group of Russians and Thai kids got sucked out and it was pretty dark.  Luckily two people on those long yellow lifeguard boards were able to go out and save them.  Phuket's beaches really do need to spend the money on lifeguards and equipment.  Too bad the local gov't clowns don't see this fact.

[Happyman58]

On 10/21/2017 at 5:10 PM, Moti24 said:

No need for lifeguards on the beach in Pattaya; swimmers are more likely to choke on a turd before they are 20 metres out!

Lol Lol Lol Was thinking about that pic showing the Mayor  and the lifeguards All was just a big joke. Think i said at the time they just grabbed those guys off the street and said quick u life guards now . We give you yellow shirt and 100 Baht for photos Then silly farang tourists  think we have life guards and come here and swim If they drown who cares

[Happyman58]

23 hours ago, steelepulse said:

Almost saw 6-7 people drown post sunset at Nai Harn on Friday evening.  A group of Russians and Thai kids got sucked out and it was pretty dark.  Luckily two people on those long yellow lifeguard boards were able to go out and save them.  Phuket's beaches really do need to spend the money on lifeguards and equipment.  Too bad the local gov't clowns don't see this fact.

They got no money to spend Money all goes to defence budget. 

[eisfeld]

Yesterday I had the misfortune to whitness someone nearly drowning at Karon beach. I was there with family to take an evening stroll along the beach when we saw a guy in the water shouting for help. He was swimming in the red flag zone and I could see a rip tide existing in this stretch. 15m or so behind him was a woman and initially I thought he's asking for help for his wife/gf. Soon though we could see that the water must have been very shallow (and low tide?) there as his gf started to stand up but he couldn't. He was totally exhausted and was being thrown around by the waves. I Thai guy was the first to go run to him after quite a few people who were nearer were not reacting at all, even just walking away (what's wrong with these people?). I also ran to help carry the guy to the top of the beach onto a little sun lounge. He couldn't use his legs and was nearly fainting all the time. After a bit of trying to check how bad it was, I decided to call the ambulance. He was not in a good condition at all, started puking. To my surprise the ambulance had to come from Chalong with the long time to arrive as expected... how could they not have any ambulances available in Karon/Kata is a bit beyond me, what if someone has a more urgent need for help like being shot? It was quite late in the afternoon and the sun about to go down. If we didn't notice him and ran to help, he might have died. Anyways the ambulance arrived and took him to Patong hospital. I think he'll be fine.

 

1. No proper lifeguards on Phukets beaches is in my opinion gross neglect of duty by the officials. If Yingluk gets 5 years for the rice scheme, then these guys should get at least as much for putting all these lifes at risk. How many people nearly died already? How many did actually die?

 

2. Why are there no ambulances anywhere close to Kata/Karon beaches? I really hope this was some kind of exception. These areas are full of tourists and locals, they deserve quick emergency responses.

 

3. A lot of people didn't seem to care and help. I don't believe they wanted to help but were just too scared. It's very disheartening to see this behaviour.

 

4. These tiny red flags don't work. They simply don't. There needs to be a much better solution. At the least make the flags huge and put up a lot of warning signs that explain the danger. Noone knows about the rip tides.

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, eisfeld said:

<snip>

2. Why are there no ambulances anywhere close to Kata/Karon beaches? I really hope this was some kind of exception. These areas are full of tourists and locals, they deserve quick emergency responses.

 

 

There are a couple of 'ambulances'  hang out at Kata Fire station on Khokanod road 

 

Phone 1669

[laislica]

3 hours ago, eisfeld said:

Yesterday I had the misfortune to whitness someone nearly drowning at Karon beach. I was there with family to take an evening stroll along the beach when we saw a guy in the water shouting for help. He was swimming in the red flag zone and I could see a rip tide existing in this stretch. 15m or so behind him was a woman and initially I thought he's asking for help for his wife/gf. Soon though we could see that the water must have been very shallow (and low tide?) there as his gf started to stand up but he couldn't. He was totally exhausted and was being thrown around by the waves. I Thai guy was the first to go run to him after quite a few people who were nearer were not reacting at all, even just walking away (what's wrong with these people?). I also ran to help carry the guy to the top of the beach onto a little sun lounge. He couldn't use his legs and was nearly fainting all the time. After a bit of trying to check how bad it was, I decided to call the ambulance. He was not in a good condition at all, started puking. To my surprise the ambulance had to come from Chalong with the long time to arrive as expected... how could they not have any ambulances available in Karon/Kata is a bit beyond me, what if someone has a more urgent need for help like being shot? It was quite late in the afternoon and the sun about to go down. If we didn't notice him and ran to help, he might have died. Anyways the ambulance arrived and took him to Patong hospital. I think he'll be fine.

 

1. No proper lifeguards on Phukets beaches is in my opinion gross neglect of duty by the officials. If Yingluk gets 5 years for the rice scheme, then these guys should get at least as much for putting all these lifes at risk. How many people nearly died already? How many did actually die?

 

2. Why are there no ambulances anywhere close to Kata/Karon beaches? I really hope this was some kind of exception. These areas are full of tourists and locals, they deserve quick emergency responses.

 

3. A lot of people didn't seem to care and help. I don't believe they wanted to help but were just too scared. It's very disheartening to see this behaviour.

 

4. These tiny red flags don't work. They simply don't. There needs to be a much better solution. At the least make the flags huge and put up a lot of warning signs that explain the danger. Noone knows about the rip tides.

 

 

IMHO, Unless someone is a very strong swimmer, they should not just jump in and try to help.
Too many people have died by such a foolish action.