Picture: Thai Rath

 

Tragedy struck in a village in Taling Chan sub-district of Muang district Suphanburi in central Thailand yesterday evening when two four year old cousins drowned in a pond behind where they lived.

 

Noraphat or Beam and Natthaphat or San had wandered off together unnoticed around 5 pm sparking a search that was put on social media.

 

When that proved fruitless rescue teams were called to inspect three ponds. In the third - 20x30 meters in area and 5-6 meters deep - they found the two boys had drowned.

 

There were scratch marks on the bank made by hands. Their aunty Pornthip Sangwian spoke to the media who said that nobody saw them go off together.

 

Capt Phisit Pathumsute of the Muang Suphanburi police attended noting that it was most likely that one of the boys fell into the pond with the other trying to save him but he fell in and drowned too.

 

Autopsies were being performed. 

 

Drowning remains one of the two leading causes of death in Thai children, notes ASEAN NOW. It is only rivalled by death on motorcycles, reported Thai Rath. 

 

Many hazardous unguarded and unprotected ponds and klongs exist in the Thai countryside just waiting for tragedies such as this. 

 

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26 minutes ago, webfact said:

Drowning remains one of the two leading causes of death in Thai children

Yeah and let's worry about the mammoth problem of falang spreading omicron. Save youth Thailand or you have nothing left, this is your future drowned. RIP !!

From the age of about 6 weeks my daughter has been in the community estate pool. Now at 5 she swims like a fish from one side of the pool to the other.

 

However, these kids I would hazard a guess at did not die from drowning and not being able to swim as such, more it seems an inability to be able to get out of a steeped bank pond. A simple rope hammered in the ground could have helped them.

 

'Cause, having stupid parents that let 4 year old kids wander off knowing there are deep ponds about did not help the little mites.

 

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

From the age of about 6 weeks my daughter has been in the community estate pool. Now at 5 she swims like a fish from one side of the pool to the other.

 

However, these kids I would hazard a guess at did not die from drowning and not being able to swim as such, more it seems an inability to be able to get out of a steeped bank pond. A simple rope hammered in the ground could have helped them.

 

'Cause, having stupid parents that let 4 year old kids wander off knowing there are deep ponds about did not help the little mites.

 

 

 

 

Yes...and why in earth are the ponds 6 meters deep!?  What were they raising in there, whales? 

Another tragic case of neglect.

 

I will never understand parents here.

41 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

Yes...and why in earth are the ponds 6 meters deep!?  What were they raising in there, whales? 

2 meters or 6 meters does not make much of a difference for a 5yo kid.  And they probably raised fish more volume is more fish.

Gut-wrenching story. RIP little ones. ????

13 minutes ago, 2009 said:

Another tragic case of neglect.

 

I will never understand parents here.

yes that brings the total to? this week alone.

all these so called parents should have their MOBILE PHONES TAKEN OFF THEM,it is always the same excuse i only turned my back to them for 1minute.poor kids R.I.P.

32 minutes ago, 2009 said:

Another tragic case of neglect.

 

I will never understand parents here.

Why only here? Plenty of amazing parents in this country and plenty of horrible ones as well just the same as in any single country across the world. 

 

I don't understand parents who neglect their kids.

It can happen even to the best of us.  All it takes is a moment of inattention.  I once had a call from a neighbor about a naked kid in my front yard - our son.  Another time I was fixing the roof and his little head popped up on the top of the ladder.  Kids are curious and on the go.  

 

But this unprotected pond stuff and kids not being taught to swim is too much. It's inviting trouble.  So sad. 

8 minutes ago, sleepwalker999 said:

Why only here? Plenty of amazing parents in this country and plenty of horrible ones as well just the same as in any single country across the world. 

 

I don't understand parents who neglect their kids.

....."the same"......

 

Not a chance. Some places are FAR worse than others.

22 minutes ago, meatboy said:

yes that brings the total to? this week alone.

all these so called parents should have their MOBILE PHONES TAKEN OFF THEM,it is always the same excuse i only turned my back to them for 1minute.poor kids R.I.P.

Kids can disappear before you know it. It is truly difficult to keep an eye on a kid every-single-minute. Particularly if you have more than one.

1 hour ago, jak2002003 said:

Yes...and why in earth are the ponds 6 meters deep!?  What were they raising in there, whales? 

A certain depth is needed to allow for ground saturation and evaporation in dry seasons. Fish and shrimp don't do well in dried up environments.

7 minutes ago, Bohemianfish said:

Kids can disappear before you know it. It is truly difficult to keep an eye on a kid every-single-minute. Particularly if you have more than one.

Lost our oldest boy at an open-air flea market in the USA one time.  He was there one second, then gone.  Panic!  Finally found him at the announcers trailer, sitting all fat and happy.  I ran around so much that my gold wedding ring that I had on a chain around my neck jiggled off.  So be it.

 

When we were young, our family went to Chinatown in New York City during some big festival.  My older brother disappeared.  OMG!!  But he found his way back to our parked car several blocks away.  Boggles the mind.

25 minutes ago, Bohemianfish said:

Kids can disappear before you know it. It is truly difficult to keep an eye on a kid every-single-minute. Particularly if you have more than one.

Reminds me of what they say about one-child families:  You know who did it.  I still don't know which of my 2 boys put the sandwich in our VCR player.  They were both technically oriented, 555.

 

I have a large extended family, and the ones who seem to do well are the ones with the most children.  They all seem to look after each other.  An Aunt of mine died recently at a ripe old age (~88).    Between her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren, I counted 80 progeny. 

1 hour ago, jak2002003 said:

Yes...and why in earth are the ponds 6 meters deep!?  What were they raising in there, whales? 

They are deep to store as much water as possible. They are not for swimming in. Dual purpose is as a fish pond too. An increased danger is to prevent poaching  with nets  branches of trees get thrown in to tangle them.

Cause of death Failed by adults again ????Rip

  This is why I got my kids into “Water babies” class at the local facility within just a couple months of being born. They quickly were taught how to automatically roll onto their backs and relax, enabling them to breath. They were perfectly comfortable in the deep end of the pool and able to swim at the local lake by the time they were two and three years old.  No worries if they fell in. 
   Highly recommended to all parents. Becoming comfortable in deep water shortly after being born should be normal to all. 
    See videos on YouTube about babies and infants learning how to be safe in deep water. Toddlers much less than a year old knowing what to do if they fall in deep water. 

6 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

From the age of about 6 weeks my daughter has been in the community estate pool. Now at 5 she swims like a fish from one side of the pool to the other.

 

However, these kids I would hazard a guess at did not die from drowning and not being able to swim as such, more it seems an inability to be able to get out of a steeped bank pond. A simple rope hammered in the ground could have helped them.

 

'Cause, having stupid parents that let 4 year old kids wander off knowing there are deep ponds about did not help the little mites.

 

 

 

 

Yes.. Water Babies classes. My wife and I did the same for each of our kids shortly after their births. They learned fast. At just a few months of age they knew drown proofing…i.e.  how to automatically roll on their backs and relax and float and breathe if they fall in or are thrown in.

     No matter how deep the water. Swimming not long after that. 
   Why don’t parents get their toddlers learning how to drown proof and learn to swim ? ?  The only reason these two kids are dead is their parents never had them taught, or never taught them themselves. 
   Sad…. And so unnecessary.

A very very sad story.  RIP. 

5 hours ago, meatboy said:

yes that brings the total to? this week alone.

all these so called parents should have their MOBILE PHONES TAKEN OFF THEM,it is always the same excuse i only turned my back to them for 1minute.poor kids R.I.P.

2yr old niece of former girlfriend drowned in the family pool. The mother was playing with her phone and not taking care of the child. Tragic. As are all these drowning deaths. Children should be taught dangers of water and how to swim at the earliest age. Parents should be aware of the dangers. Whenever it went quiet with my son it was always a case of "ok where is he and what's he doing now?"

 

4 year old's , wander off , kids that age need to be

watched all the time, and with ponds nearby especially

so, RIP  someone needs to be charged with neglect ,

regards worgeordie  

8 hours ago, webfact said:

When that proved fruitless rescue teams were called to inspect three ponds. In the third - 20x30 meters in area and 5-6 meters deep - they found the two boys had drowned.

Ohhh dear God not again.. when will people learn.

2 hours ago, Catoni said:

Yes.. Water Babies classes. My wife and I did the same for each of our kids shortly after their births. They learned fast. At just a few months of age they knew drown proofing…i.e.  how to automatically roll on their backs and relax and float and breathe if they fall in or are thrown in.

     No matter how deep the water. Swimming not long after that. 
   Why don’t parents get their toddlers learning how to drown proof and learn to swim ? ?  The only reason these two kids are dead is their parents never had them taught, or never taught them themselves. 
   Sad…. And so unnecessary.

Are Water Babies classes available in Suphanburi or any of the multitude of small villages with ponds throughout Thailand?

 

 

I have no problems with ponds…it’s the ignorant people who manage them….

 

this is not an accident just a willful negligent incident…

 

the proper charge is child endangerment but nothing ever happens/behavioral modification so nothing ever changes…water off a duck’s back

 

where is the next one? Need to get to the county’s annual 1000 children drowning quota….  

The question is .......Will the Police prosecute the Parents or responsible adult for neglect.............if not RIP kids let down by ADULTS as usual , who will blame anyone but themselves

 

On 2/12/2022 at 4:59 AM, nahkit said:

Are Water Babies classes available in Suphanburi or any of the multitude of small villages with ponds throughout Thailand?

 

 

You can also teach your kids yourself. You do your study online, and then teach your kids down-proofing and then how to swim.

      . Same as I did to teach my kids to read at home before they started grade 1.  I kept them out of kindergarten and taught them myself. Fluent readers when they entered grade 1 and the top readers in their classes.  Best accomplishment in my life. Now my kid’s home libraries are way bigger than mine.