6 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Maybe your school it wasn't, where did I say I was talking about your school? 

 

I remember reading..... Aren't you one of those imported half Aussie guys, Pommy parents? 

 

Not surprised your a pom., talking backwards, sideways... .swim.programs  are part of.schoolimg  but def  not mandatory to.pass or.be.held back from passing yearly!  Dumd  to.suggest  it.really. Equal  Opportunity.Duh! 

13 minutes ago, Hellfire said:

From my experience, many people underestimate the dangers of swimming. I personally realized this only after I nearly drowned in a 2.5-meter-deep swimming pool. There are countless videos warning about rip currents, but in reality, you don’t need a riptide to drown — even a calm swimming pool can be deadly if you’re not physically fit .

 

Just a 'cramp' can debilitate you enough to cause drowning....     

 

I cramped up he other week playing football - it was 10mins of sheer hell, I was completely immobile, my calf just locked up, I couldn't move... had I been swimming in deep water I'd have been in real trouble - hence one of the golden rules is never swim alone.

 

I'm a very strong swimmer (used to swim competitively) - I recall being in Phuket with my Son, we went in the sea and the waves gave us a battering... Fit and healthy and both of us swimmers, however, it still gave me cause for concern and we remained in the pool after that.

 

 

6 hours ago, Olmate said:

7 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

This is so sad. 

 

In Australia we had swimming as a compulsory subject.

When I was in Primary school students were not allowed to progress to the next year level if you were unable to swim. 

Next level what? Schooling or swimming. Never heard that story before. Swimming was never a.must do. school subject.

 

In the UK, swimming forms a compulsory element of the national curriculum for physical education (PE), particularly at the primary level. It is a statutory requirement for children in Key Stage 2 (ages 7–11).

 

That said - it was never a 'pass or fail' subject that prevents a child from progressing onwards academically, nevertheless, the swimming lessons are compulsory and are most certainly a non-negotiable part of schooling in the UK.

 

During my son’s early education here in Thailand – both in his infant and junior years – swimming was also a key component of his curriculum, with lessons held at least once a week.

 

We’ve been fortunate to have access to swimming pools both at home and at his schools, which has undoubtedly made a difference. However, such infrastructure is far from the norm across Thailand on a broader scale.

 

 

 

6 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Maybe your school it wasn't, where did I say I was talking about your school? 

 

I remember reading..... Aren't you one of those imported half Aussie guys, Pommy parents? 

 

To be fair A large proportion of Australian people do have British or Irish ancestors 
 

8 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

 

File picture courtesy of Amarin.

 

Contrary to popular belief that drowning is a hazard primarily for young children, new data from The Department of Disease Control under the Ministry of Public Health reveals that the highest number of drowning deaths occur among adults, particularly those aged 45 and above.

 

Alarming National Statistics

 

Over the past decade, more than 36,870 people in Thailand have lost their lives to drowning, averaging over 3,600 deaths annually, or approximately almost 10 people every single day. These figures raise serious concerns about water safety awareness and prevention across the country.

 

While the number of child drownings has significantly decreased, from around 1,500 per year to approximately 560, it remains well above the national target of 290 deaths per year set in the 20-Year National Strategic Plan (ending in 2037). Most child victims are under the age of 15, with an average of nearly two children drowning daily.

 

A Rising Threat Among Adults

 

Since 2014, the 45–59 age group has overtaken children as the demographic with the highest rate of drowning deaths, followed by the elderly aged 60 and above. The steady rise in fatalities among adults highlights an often-overlooked public health risk.

 

Common Causes and Locations

 

In children, drownings frequently occur due to unsupervised play near water, accidental falls, or slipping into bodies of water. For adults, especially in rural areas, drownings are often linked to occupational activities such as fishing, foraging or gathering aquatic plants. Incidents also occur due to slips and falls, particularly near agricultural water sources.

 

The most common sites of drowning include irrigation ponds, canals, swamps, reservoirs and weirs. Both children and adults face heightened risks in these environments, with a worrying trend that most victims were not wearing life jackets.

 

Preventive Measures

 

Authorities recommend several key safety practices to reduce drowning incidents:

 

• Avoid walking or standing close to pond or canal edges to prevent accidental falls.

• Install clear warning signs, barriers or markers to indicate water boundaries.

• Children should never be allowed to enter water without adult supervision.

• Avoid swimming in unfamiliar waters where currents, depth, or underwater conditions may change.

• If water entry is necessary, always wear a life jacket or strap an empty plastic container to the body with rope for emergency flotation.

 

Drowning is a silent killer that claims thousands of lives in Thailand each year, not only children but a growing number of adults as well. Public awareness, stronger safety measures and community education are essential to reversing this troubling trend.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Amarin 2025-08-01

 

 

 

why is that number so high?

main reason: they don't know how to swim!!!

you can hand out lifejackets, arrange all kinds of safety-measures, but main issue is that not many Thai can swim!

this goes on for many years, no promotion for swimclasses, no swim tournements, no swimclubs...

1 hour ago, Rimmer said:

I am just surprised there are not more. 

 

When we had our pond dug we had a big excavator reaching out to the middle and down around 2m, the sides inevitably become a very steep 45 degree slope and when combined with slippery clay on the bottom, a person who can not swim has no chance, only solution is education of the dangers, swimming lessons at schools for school kids, and a fence all around or big 'Danger No Swimming' notices.

 

No swimming pools at schools do I hear you say, Hotels have swimming pools that could be hired out for a couple of hours and children could be bussed to them, we were bussed once a week down town to public pools from the outskirts of Sheffield and everyone learnt to swim.  

 

Another extremely avoidable death event the can be easily avoided for small cost.

 

There ought to be a legal requirement for all ponds to have a rope stretched across them – a simple, low-cost safety measure that could allow anyone who ends up in the water to grab hold and pull themselves to safety. At the very least, this should be complemented by a ladder on one side, even if it’s nothing more than a makeshift wooden one.

 

This kind of basic standard could prevent countless avoidable tragedies. It's a modest intervention with the potential to save lives.

I'm missing something:

Teach them swimming !

Basic stay afloat/ swimming lessons 1 day a week for all children should be be introduced into The thai education system if there is any education system in place 😀 555.

6 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

total rubbish.  staying afloat requires control of breathing, impossible when panicking

As usual your comment reflects having to say something rather than having something to say

"having to say something rather than having something to say"

 

That is such a profound statement! 🙏

I may use that in the future?😎

One thing that I learned many moons ago, is just how simple the mind of a typical Thai country girl is!

 

My TGF asked me to buy her a small dinghy or rowing boat so she could go out to fish in the sea and help with houshold finance.

 

I never asked her if she had done this before (fishing from a boat in the sae) I just asked her why she wanted to go out and endanger herself for a minimal reward. 

 

She said it is not dangerous, I then said but you can't F*****G SWIM!🤬

 

She then said rather angrily: "I am NOT going swimming I am going FISHING!🤬

 

I then just turned around and walked away to open a beer, shaking my head! Bless her...🙏

Quite a few people where I live,  give up their time at weekends to teach young Thai kids to swim.  Mainly foreigners, but some Thais too. Being able to swim can not only save lives, it can open up a world of fun too.

14 hours ago, henryford1958 said:

Hard to understand how anyone can drown, except maybe in rough open seas. Even a basic knowledge of how to swim would keep you afloat.

 

It may be hard to understand for some or even for many.  But perhaps getting to familiar with the dangers (and there must be dangers, if an average of 10 people per day are drowning in LOS) that are at the root of the statistics would make it easier to understand, and might be the beginning of fewer drowings. 

11 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

I asked my mrs why they don't teach the kids to swim, she said its because there are no swimming pools nearby . Ok I said why not use one of the numerous ponds that they play (and drown) in ?   cannot she said "water not the same" 

Same answer regarding why getting wet from the rain will cause one to catch there death from a cold, but a soaking during Songkran is perfectly ok.    Bless her

My mates mrs claims rain water all belongs to the king, work that one out

About 15+ years ago, my Thai missus and I were living in a Bangkok condo, and it was there she learned how to swim in the pool. She got pretty good. Several months later, we took a holiday to Koh Lipe. Sometime around the beginning of the holiday, I asked her why she wouldn’t go for a swim in the ocean. She looked at me and said, (I am paraphrasing)  “you know I do not know how to swim in the ocean water, only the pool water.” 

 ❣️

19 hours ago, henryford1958 said:

Hard to understand how anyone can drown, except maybe in rough open seas. Even a basic knowledge of how to swim would keep you afloat.

Indeed. But not many children are taught to swim if they don’t live near the coast. It seems to be a real blind spot for Thai society in general.

 

If there was an organized consistent effort to teach every Thai kid to swim as part of the education program, perhaps not so many of them would drown in early and adult years.

 

But that type of multi year national program will never happen here. If the government announced it tomorrow, it would last two weeks at most.

All the focus in many comments is on being able to swim or not.

 

Possibly the biggest danger is not being able to get out of the water because for example of steep slippery slopes at the edges of the pond.

 

There are hundreds of big man-made ponds all over Thailand built to breed fish and hold irrigation water. They all have steep slippery slopes. Are there any life rings with a rope so that people can be hauled out?

 

 

Great Australian Swim coach Laurie Lawrence.. "Do the 5".. KIds learn toswim campaign. 

Let's put it this way. How many Thai people in your circle know how to swim?

Every now and again we get these awful stories of children drowning in their local lake. The kids (who can't swim) ask a relative if they can go swimming. The relative says yes, the kids go swimming and drown. And then there is shock, horror and despair. This story gets repeated all the time. Why would you let children play at a lake when they can't swim? There are many reasons for this including lack of parental supervision, fatalism, poor education.

On 8/1/2025 at 8:04 AM, Peterphuket said:

If you also look at the warnings being ignored on the beaches, especially on Phuket, where I used to be able to look at the beach daily in Patong, I am not surprised by this.

Mostly by arrogant Russians because they think they're invincible.   

Not a surprise as a lot of Thais can't swim.  

I think many who know how to swim may underestimate the power of water at times, including me. The water on the river Khwae for example flows very quickly in places, yet people love to jump off their partyboats. I was also swimming off the phraya nakhon cave beach a year or so ago and it was very difficult to swim back to my start point due to the direction of the waves. In the end I swam to the other side, away from the side if the beach I wanted to go and that allowed me to get closer to the shore and walk back. Not a big deal, but I was tired after that. If I weren't a decent swimmer or  a person who doesn't panic, I'd have been in trouble there.