Tourist Arrested in Fatal Jet Ski Incident at Phuket Beach

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture captured from CCTV.

 

A 25-year-old tourist, reported in the Thai media as being Austrian, has been arrested in connection with a fatal jet ski collision that claimed the life of a Russian swimmer at Karon Beach on December 17.

 

The victim, identified as 58-year-old Kirill, was swimming near the Sue Puen Mon Bai restaurant when he was struck by a speeding jet ski. Initially reported that the victim was also on a jet ski, the case took a darker turn after witness statements and CCTV footage revealed that the victim was swimming when hit by a jet ski, which then fled the scene.

 

Local fishermen discovered Kirill’s body shortly after midnight on December 18. At first, authorities were unable to identify the deceased, but a hotel-branded beach towel left onshore led them to confirm he was a Russian tourist traveling alone.

 

Police reviewed CCTV footage from a nearby hotel, which showed two foreigners operating jet skis in the area. Local rental operators identified the jet skis as belonging to the “Chao Mai” company, which had rented out three vessels, at the time of the incident.

 

Subsequent inspections revealed that the jet ski operated by Austrian national, identified only as Mr David, bore scratches and paint damage on its front section, while the other jet skis showed no damage.

 

Following an intensive investigation, authorities tracked the suspect to a resort on Phi Phi Island, Krabi Province. A joint operation involving Phi Phi Island Police, Karon Police, Immigration officials, and Tourist Police led to David’s arrest at around 18:30 on December 19.

 

Police Colonel Surasak Jaidee, superintendent of Phi Phi Island Police Station, led the arrest team, acting on a warrant issued by the Phuket Provincial Court. The suspect, who denies all charges, faces accusations of reckless endangerment resulting in death.

David has been transferred to Karon Police Station in Phuket for further investigation.

 

RELATED TOPIC:
https://aseannow.com/topic/1346604-russian-tourist-dies-in-jet-ski-collision-off-phuket-coast/

 

 

-- 2024-12-20

 

 

[KhunLA]

Kudos to the PoPo ... well done 👍

[stevenl]

According to the earlier report the accident happened in the dark. Would be important information to establish if the jetski rider could see the swimmer.

[Katatonica]

5 minutes ago, stevenl said:

According to the earlier report the accident happened in the dark. Would be important information to establish if the jetski rider could see the swimmer.

Certainly not dark in the CCTV still above although the quoted time of death at the time he was found would suggest it was a lot later.

[richard_smith237]

Aren't there 'swimming zones' and anyone swimming outside of these zones does so at their own risk ?

 

So, what is the degree of accountability of jet-skiers, speed boat pilots, long tail boat pilots etc when swimmers are are outside of these area's ???

 

 

IF this was one of the speed boats or long tail boat pilots would charges even be discussed ??

 

 

 

 

[Georgealbert]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

According to the earlier report the accident happened in the dark. Would be important information to establish if the jetski rider could see the swimmer.

This is the latest coverage in the Thai media. It is clear from the released CCTV that the incident occurred before night fall. The body was not located and recovered until after midnight.

 

 

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Police Colonel Surasak Jaidee, superintendent of Phi Phi Island Police Station, led the arrest team, acting on a warrant issued by the Phuket Provincial Court. The suspect, who denies all charges, faces accusations of reckless endangerment resulting in death.

Scratches and paint damage on a rented jet-ski is not real evidence... but hey.. TiT

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, MalcolmB said:

Well that is a stupid thing to say.

 

When you are operating any vessel in the sea you have to look where you are going and be responsible.

 

And the Aussie surely must have known he had hit someone and left him for dead.

 

I hope they don’t hire you a jet ski or boat with that attitude. It is bad enough looking out for you on you bike. 

What Aussie?

 

These jetskis bounce up and down a lot, and can hit even small waves with force. So not unthinkable he thought he hit a wave.

[Captain Flack]

Flame post and reply have been removed to stop the topic getting deflected into a bickering contest.

[novacova]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Scratches and paint damage on a rented jet-ski is not real evidence... but hey.. TiT

Sure it does, if the vehicle was in good shape when it was rented out and returned damaged. That would be clearly documented by photos before and after as most rental joints take photos.

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

These jetskis bounce up and down a lot, and can hit even small waves with force. So not unthinkable he thought he hit a wave.

Hard to imagine that he didn’t see the swimmer at least at the last moment, high visibility in an open field riding a jet ski beside it was obviously a hard hit and normally after hitting something one would go and inspect the object they hit…

[Red Forever]

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Aren't there 'swimming zones' and anyone swimming outside of these zones does so at their own risk ?

 

So, what is the degree of accountability of jet-skiers, speed boat pilots, long tail boat pilots etc when swimmers are are outside of these area's ???

 

 

IF this was one of the speed boats or long tail boat pilots would charges even be discussed ??

 

 

 

 

Ah, more victim blaming .

Just accept that, thus far, circumstantial evidence points to this guy being the pilot of the dangerous big boy’s toy which killed the poor guy.

[transam]

I was the owner of a fairly quick boat that I used to take out to sea angling, I can tell you that there are times when the light and waves pay tricks with your eyes, so make it near impossible to see anything near submerged or floating in/on the water, I had a few misses with logs and once made contact with a wooden palette, so perhaps we should not take any guesses or pointing at this time....🤗

[impulse]

42 minutes ago, novacova said:

Sure it does, if the vehicle was in good shape when it was rented out and returned damaged. That would be clearly documented by photos before and after as most rental joints take photos.

 

Maybe, but that's a long running jet ski scam.  Covering up damage with water soluble or poorly bonded paint that gets washed off while the renter is bopping around.  Then claiming damages when the innocent renter returns it.

 

Obviously, I have no clue whether that's the case here.  But I'd hate to see an innocent rider getting banged up. 

 

If that's the actual photo, I doubt that was cause by a collision with a swimmer.  And I see quite a bit of Bondo, indicating previous damage.

 

[khunJam]

4 hours ago, stevenl said:

What Aussie?

 

These jetskis bounce up and down a lot, and can hit even small waves with force. So not unthinkable he thought he hit a wave.

I’ve driven jet skis a lot and you’ll definitely know it if you hit a person.

[khunJam]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

If that's the actual photo, I doubt that was cause by a collision with a swimmer.  And I see quite a bit of Bondo, indicating previous damage.

Don’t know what picture you looked at but I don’t see any bondo.

[impulse]

5 minutes ago, khunJam said:

Don’t know what picture you looked at but I don’t see any bondo.

That's Bondo.

 

[khunJam]

I watched the video and it looks like the guy on the jet ski was trying to maneuver to avoid the swimmer. They changed him with wrongful death of another person. I read some of the comments here and it’s always the same nonsense of faulting the Thai people. Well no Thai person was involved in the accident so blame the cops for jumping to conclusions. If a Thai person was involved in the accident then you would blame them and their so called lack of education. The cops here did their job, traced the culprit and nabbed him.  Someone was killed, try not to forget that.

[khunJam]

25 minutes ago, impulse said:

That's Bondo.

 

No it’s not. You want it to be to find blame on some Thais instead of the white perpetrator

[impulse]

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Scratches and paint damage on a rented jet-ski is not real evidence... but hey.. TiT

 

If there was more than one jet ski on CCTV (there were at least 2 according to the OP), and the only criteria they used to determine which one hit the swimmer was "damage", I think they have, at best, a 50:50 chance of having the right guy.  Even lower if there were several jet skis out at the time.

 

If witnesses and/or CCTV could differentiate between the riders, so be it.  Good on the police for getting the guy.  But it needs to be based on something other than damage shown in that photo.