Three boys drown in NE after going to the temple for sweets

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

A grandfather came home from work to be told that his grandson was missing for a long time on Saturday.

 

Santi, 60 went out looking with some neighbors and found the grim truth.

 

Shoes and sweet wrappers by the side of a large pond leading up to the Rian Thing Resort in the Nong Phai area of Muang district, Udon Thani.

 

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In the pond and dead from drowning were his grandson Theeraphat, 8, and friends Phuttipong, also 8 and seven year old Thepmangkorn. 

 

Khreuawan, their teacher at the local school said she'd always warned them not to go and get sweets at the nearby temple as she feared they would go for a swim, reported Thai Rath. 

 

The pond is large and 3-4 meters deep. 

 

It is believed they went to the temple then died on their way home after going to swim. 

 

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[worgeordie]

Very sad , RIP kids , 

regards Worgeordie

[realfunster]

Absolutely tragic. Drowning is the number 1 killer of Thai kids between 2-15 years old.

The government must do more on educating on the risks of water and teaching basic swimming!

 

 

[tracker1]

With the amount of access to water in Thailand and the know attraction for children to play in it one would think basic swimming lessons were a must but just like road fatalities nothing is done about it !

[Enoon]

38 minutes ago, tracker1 said:

With the amount of access to water in Thailand and the know attraction for children to play in it one would think basic swimming lessons were a must but just like road fatalities nothing is done about it !

 

 

https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/thailand-successful-in-reducing-children-drowning-fatalities-391458

 

"Teams that were formed through multi-agency and public collaboration have been able to reduce the number of child drowning deaths to 658 in 2021, down from around 1,500 the previous year."

 

 

 

[sammieuk1]

What with covid and moving my 7 nearly 8 year old hasn't been to school for two years now the appalling safety standards around drowning boiled alive in a van beaten mowed down either to and from or at school make me nervous in sending him for the new term RIP little ones failed by adults again ????

[bbko]

Tragic. Too young.

The one thing about drowning victims is, when they start to drown/panic they will cling/climb/push down anyone near them in their panicking state to try and stay above water and could end up drowning others. 

[DaveE13]

Very sad. RIP to the boys

 

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, realfunster said:

Absolutely tragic. Drowning is the number 1 killer of Thai kids between 2-15 years old.

The government must do more on educating on the risks of water and teaching basic swimming!

 

 

Or teach guardians to look after children . 

[jschorr]

Very sad, sad news!!  As a recent poster stated, drowning is the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 15 in Thailand and most of SE Asia. In 2014 the WHO published a report documenting this.  The Thai Ministry of Public Health has developed a program called Merit Maker: Drown No More to address the problem in some locations and we at the Chiang Mai International Rotary Club have programs for all municipal school children in Chiang Mai City and in nearby Phrao.  We use the Royal Lifesaving Society of the Commonwealth curriculum and teach water safety and survival swimming in a 15-hour, 10 lesson course at no charge for the mostly poor municipal school children.   The Rotary Club of Patong Beach in Phuket has also adopted this approach and the Rotary Club Royal Hua Hin is seeking to begin a similar program there.  Since 2015 we have taught over 3,000 children. And we hope to expand further.  The majority of Thai children do not know how to swim and even fewer know what to do when a friend or sibling is in trouble in the water, that's the reason multiple drowning deaths are so common!

 

In 2017 the WHO published another book: Preventing Drowning: An Implementation Guide.  It's free online and has some very practical ideas on how to make pools, ponds, rivers, streams, beaches, drainage ditches, rice fields, retention ponds, quarries, flooded areas safer.  So almost everyone can do something to make their areas near water safer!

 

Anyone who wants to learn how they can help can PM me here, or email me at [email protected] .  

 

Thanks for reading this long message and giving it some thought.

 

[RichardColeman]

3 hours ago, tracker1 said:

With the amount of access to water in Thailand and the know attraction for children to play in it one would think basic swimming lessons were a must but just like road fatalities nothing is done about it !

Along with the education of the local numpties that having steep sided 'ponds' with no easy exit if someone did accidentally fall in is lunacy

[ross163103]

6 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Along with the education of the local numpties that having steep sided 'ponds' with no easy exit if someone did accidentally fall in is lunacy

Agree totally, I've noticed these ponds many times up in the villages and always thought bout how you would get out of them if you went in. Even an adult would be hard pressed on some of them to get out let alone children.

[jak2002003]

6 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Along with the education of the local numpties that having steep sided 'ponds' with no easy exit if someone did accidentally fall in is lunacy

It's madness why people make all these 3 -4 or 8 meters deep death traps....with steep, slippery, crumbling banks, with no way of getting out 

 

They might as well just dig pit fall traps lined with poison tipped spears on the bottom.

 

Also, children at 8 years old should instinctively be scared to go swimming in such a dangerous looking pond in the first place.  What's wrong with people these days?  Have they lost basic survival instincts?

 

The owners of that death trap should face criminal charges due to not fencing the thing off ..or at least not having signs to warm not to swim.  

[realfunster]

22 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

 

https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/thailand-successful-in-reducing-children-drowning-fatalities-391458

 

"Teams that were formed through multi-agency and public collaboration have been able to reduce the number of child drowning deaths to 658 in 2021, down from around 1,500 the previous year."

 

 

 

A large pinch of salt should be taken when assessing any announcement from the Thai government. I am aware of Government projects in this area but I seriously doubt this has led directly to a >50% decrease in drowning fatalities amongst kids. 

 

Ultimately, there could be numerous reasons for the decrease in 2021, there was, for example, some disease going around last year that may have severely limited social and outdoor activities for kids...

 

My concern here is premature backslapping and complacency, I believe this remains a very serious issue in Thailand. Let's see the figures for 2022 in due course..

Edited March 15, 2022 by realfunster
Typo

[phetphet]

Are swimming lessons even part of the Thai school curriculum? Because without it, I doubt many children will get the opportunity to learn to swim. Especially in the poorer parts of the country.

 

It's something all children should be taught. Even if just a basic breaststroke. Enough to maybe get them out of trouble

[jschorr]

PhetPhet, we agree completely.  Right now our CM International Rotary Club is providing 15 hours of survival swimming and water safety instruction to every 4th-grader in the 11 Chiang Mai Municipal Schools.  Working with other Rotary Clubs and NGO's we have also expanded this school-based program to Phrao, Phuket, and coming soon, we hope, Hua Hin.  We are hoping that someday the Thai Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Health will use our programs as a prototype for a school-based nationwide program and that a swim-instructor track could be added to the Phys Ed. University curricula.  Big dreams, I know, but in the meantime, we do what we can!  Anyone want to help? PM me here or at [email protected]

[phetphet]

6 hours ago, jschorr said:

PhetPhet, we agree completely.  Right now our CM International Rotary Club is providing 15 hours of survival swimming and water safety instruction to every 4th-grader in the 11 Chiang Mai Municipal Schools.  Working with other Rotary Clubs and NGO's we have also expanded this school-based program to Phrao, Phuket, and coming soon, we hope, Hua Hin.  We are hoping that someday the Thai Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Health will use our programs as a prototype for a school-based nationwide program and that a swim-instructor track could be added to the Phys Ed. University curricula.  Big dreams, I know, but in the meantime, we do what we can!  Anyone want to help? PM me here or at [email protected]

Prior to Covid there was a similar project going on here in Samui. The pandemic seems to have put a stop to it for the foreseeable future.

[StayinThailand2much]

On 3/14/2022 at 9:32 AM, webfact said:

Khreuawan, their teacher at the local school said she'd always warned them not to go and get sweets at the nearby temple (...)

Is that a thing, 'sweets at the temple'? Why?

[VocalNeal]

Steep sides. Couldn't get out?