Man drowns in dangerous Phuket surf, no lifeguards as ordered

The Phuket News

 

Sanya Makwut is carried off the beach after attempts to revive him failed. Photo: Supplied

 

There were no lifeguards on patrol at the beach, while the death marks the first beach drowning of the year during the notorious southwest monsoon, when dangerous surf and flash rips dominate along Phuket’s west coast.

 

The Phuket News learned of the incident today (May 2) only after bystanders of the beach contacted the newspaper directly.

 

L/Cpl Puwavit Thonchart of the Thalang Police this afternoon confirmed that the police report log noted that the Thalang Police were notified of the incident at 3:25pm.

 

Full Story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/man-drowns-in-dangerous-phuket-surf-no-lifeguards-as-ordered-66975.php#dgcX0yMTBIGxTbuA.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2018-5-2

"during the notorious southwest monsoon, when dangerous surf and flash rips dominate along Phuket’s west coast."

 

And why does the idiot ignore all this and go out swimming/surfing??

 

Edited May 2, 20188 yr by saakura

This  country makes billions of the tourists who  come here.

 But the thieves runing it take all. Do not care to put lifeguards.  Do not care to take care of the waste washing up to the ocean. Do not care about so many things. All care is money

15 hours ago, saakura said:

"during the notorious southwest monsoon, when dangerous surf and flash rips dominate along Phuket’s west coast."

 

And why does the idiot ignore all this and go out swimming/surfing??

 

Some people have the knowledge and ability to handle surf conditions like that; others don't.
As the old saying goes, "You pays your money and you takes your chances." 

Part of living is pushing the envelop.  Base jumping, bungee jumping, swimming/surfing in 'dangerous' surf.  I've done my fair share of that in Hawaii and the US West Coast in my lifetime.  When you step into the water, you don't expect the nanny-state to come rescue you if you screw up.  But we did tend to swim in groups. 

16 hours ago, saakura said:

"during the notorious southwest monsoon, when dangerous surf and flash rips dominate along Phuket’s west coast."

 

And why does the idiot ignore all this and go out swimming/surfing??

 

I was just talking with a friend how calm the conditions still are.

 

But there can be seaward currents.

2 hours ago, Stokakrishna said:

This  country makes billions of the tourists who  come here.

 But the thieves runing it take all. Do not care to put lifeguards.  Do not care to take care of the waste washing up to the ocean. Do not care about so many things. All care is money

It is actually worse than that. They collect a room tax to pay for the lifeguards that would easily

pay for first-class lifeguard coverage. Unfortunately, there is no accounting transparency. 

21 minutes ago, Ulic said:

It is actually worse than that. They collect a room tax to pay for the lifeguards that would easily

pay for first-class lifeguard coverage. Unfortunately, there is no accounting transparency. 

I think I remember the sum of 16b million for the contract.well if you work out there's way over a million rooms let per night and that means they only pay 16b a room per night in tax.massive fraud going on and it looks like not one baht has paid towards lifeguards.the company should be sued for each death while under contract.

1 hour ago, happy chappie said:

I think I remember the sum of 16b million for the contract.well if you work out there's way over a million rooms let per night and that means they only pay 16b a room per night in tax.massive fraud going on and it looks like not one baht has paid towards lifeguards.the company should be sued for each death while under contract.

There is no company under contract to provide lifeguards to that beach... and even if there was, negligence would need to be proven. (Death alone, does not mean negligence was present)

 

So.... the presence of lifeguards does not mean that no one will die in the ocean.... it’s just less likely

 

and then.... is anyone else really responsible and accountable for the death of a person, freely swimming in one of the worlds oceans, (vs in a commercial operation)?

 

And worth noting..... given the contract amount, I very much doubt that the company would have an insurance policy to cover being sued, or the nessesary cash to self insure.

 

 

 

 

8 minutes ago, farcanell said:

So.... the presence of lifeguards does not mean that no one will die in the ocean.... it’s just less likely

But conversely more likely to occur in the absence of lifeguards.

When an area promotes tourism in large part due to the attraction of a beach and surf, and includes in lodging room charges a fee for lifeguards (as some suggest), it is civil (if not criminal) negligence for the absence of lifeguards.

1 minute ago, Srikcir said:

But conversely more likely to occur in the absence of lifeguards.

When an area promotes tourism in large part due to the attraction of a beach and surf, and includes in lodging room charges a fee for lifeguards (as some suggest), it is civil (if not criminal) negligence for the absence of lifeguards.

Yes... but what a minefield.

 

IF there is some form of fee associated with providing lifeguards, as a part of any hotel booking, then a class action would need to be taken against the hotels, provided that they did not pass along the “fee”, if they did, an action would need to be taken against the recipient organization. (Thai government ?)... or both, as both failed

 

to be honest... I don’t get the “fee” deal.... which hotels pay? Beachfront hotels only? Hotels within 5 k of water? Mountain retreat hotels?.... in which case, all hotels in Thailand would need to be included in a class action.... more than messy.... years in a real court... decades to never in Thailand.

 

And if there ever was a “fee”, I’d say it’s purpose is long forgotten, and now just a part of accommodation costs. Someone smarter with the search function, might be able to discover the truth behind this.

 

and then.... where does that leave people who would not be subjected to a fee, because their accommodation choice doesn’t pay it (eg...friends visiting.... or in this case, a National)... or rather, where does it leave the lifeguard folk or whomever, if a non fee paying person drowns ( I know that’s an extrapolation... but it shows the ineffectiveness of a fee system as described)

 

More than anything, this is a PR nightmare (easily and cheaply solved) which shames the nation (another one!).... perhaps a responsible government is needed to fix Thailand.

 

42 minutes ago, farcanell said:

There is no company under contract to provide lifeguards to that beach... and even if there was, negligence would need to be proven. (Death alone, does not mean negligence was present)

 

So.... the presence of lifeguards does not mean that no one will die in the ocean.... it’s just less likely

 

and then.... is anyone else really responsible and accountable for the death of a person, freely swimming in one of the worlds oceans, (vs in a commercial operation)?

 

And worth noting..... given the contract amount, I very much doubt that the company would have an insurance policy to cover being sued, or the nessesary cash to self insure.

 

 

52 minutes ago, farcanell said:

There is no company under contract to provide lifeguards to that beach... and even if there was, negligence would need to be proven. (Death alone, does not mean negligence was present)

 

So.... the presence of lifeguards does not mean that no one will die in the ocean.... it’s just less likely

 

and then.... is anyone else really responsible and accountable for the death of a person, freely swimming in one of the worlds oceans, (vs in a commercial operation)?

 

And worth noting..... given the contract amount, I very much doubt that the company would have an insurance policy to cover being sued, or the nessesary cash to self insure.

 

 

 

 

My mistake,I took it from the confusing head line that they had been ordered or in other words life guards had been paid for and not ordered off the beach which is just as confusing.anyway with the amount of tax I think there should be enough to supply all the beaches with life guards.we are talking about tourism and safety here which should be top priority for phuket.now the storm seasons approached and things will get worse than better because TIT.

18 minutes ago, happy chappie said:

 

I agree... this should be a top priority for the government, in general, and the province in particular.

 

more defined guidelines are required, to allow better oversight and accountability, amongst other things.

 

accountability.... ????.... i suppose it would be fair to ask what I’m smoking

IIRC, this Bangkok Laikhum group got a 13 million baht contract for certain beaches, and the rest of the beaches were supposed to be covered by the local government body which was supposed to hire lifeguards.  Guess the local guys decided to not spend the money on lifeguards while this Bangkok group is stuffing their pockets.  Last year the total contract was less then 20 million for all of the beaches to be covered, while this new 13 million baht contract awarded to a Bangkok company, only covers a few beaches...............  No pocket lining there.

21 hours ago, saakura said:

"during the notorious southwest monsoon, when dangerous surf and flash rips dominate along Phuket’s west coast."

 

And why does the idiot ignore all this and go out swimming/surfing??

 

I'm afraid your tough love and common sense wont go down well.

Many ( not all ) on here want a scapegoat when these things happen.

I wont speculate on who I believe they will on the blame on.

Why cant we just show some rwspect for the poor victim and his family

He probably really drowned whilst choking on toxic turds and black water.

Seems to be many drownings in Phuket with or without lifeguards.