BANGKOK (NNT) - The Thai Children Can Swim project, which is being run by the Department of Physical Education and aims to teach children basic swimming skills and water safety, has received support from the government.

 

This follows the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that drowning is the second leading cause of death among children worldwide.

 

In response to United Nations General Assembly resolutions on youth drowning prevention, Rachada Dhnadirek, the Deputy Spokeswoman for the Prime Minister’s Office said the National Child and Youth Development Promotion Committee (NCYDP) has approved the project and its efforts to reduce drowning incidents.

 

The Department of Physical Education has so far signed up 9,311 children under 15 for the project and has also proposed ideas for preventing child drownings, such as making introductory swimming courses a compulsory school subject and allocating funds for swimming pools, to the Ministry of Digital, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Public Health.

 

According to the WHO, the ASEAN region had the second-highest drowning rate in 2021, and in Thailand, drowning deaths among children under 15 made up approximately one-fifth of the national average of roughly 3,600 deaths per year between 2011 and 2020.

 

The highest drowning rates, according to the WHO, occur among children aged 1-4 and 5-9 years old.

 

Source: https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG230106123042629

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2022-01-06

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Monthly car subscription with first-class insurance, 24x7 assistance and more in one price - click here to find out more!

3 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

The Department of Physical Education has so far signed up 9,311 children under 15 for the project

Excellent... only about 11 million to go then... 

 

This is a great idea of course basic life saving skills and swimming should be taught in all schools to all children...  But, I fear this is simply another piece of ‘media lip-service’ and nothing will really change - does it ever in Thailand ?... 

 

 

7 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

The highest drowning rates, according to the WHO, occur among children aged 1-4 and 5-9 years old.

The other facet of this is ‘atrocious care giving’ (parenting / grand parenting)....  1-4 year olds should never be left alone full stop, let alone in areas where they could drown (yes, I know it happens elsewhere - but its happened a lot (relatively) in Thailand). 

 

 

Needs to be piloted with 'Parents can stop being idiots' program

Good idea to improve swimming. Bad idea for parents to encourage any swimming in the filthy klongs.

This is a great idea as long as the money goes towards the cause and doesn't get siphoned off thru corruption. Over the years I don't know how many times I've read about Thai children drowning. Plus parents need to keep an eye on their children more, especially in the villages around klongs or those pits they dig out. I've seen numerous pits dug where the walls of the pit were so steep not even an adult would be able to get out of it.

I worked in a high school with Olympic sized swimming pool for a decade and only 1% of students could be classified as swimmers. The main reason for that was teaching the first swimming technique that is too difficult. As the first swimming technique they teach freestlye instead of breaststroke. What could go wrong? If they are serious about this project, building swimming pools will not suffice. Get some qualified swimming teachers from overseas that would make a difference. 

Edited January 10, 20233 yr by nowhereman