A 22-year-old Ugandan tourist was found drowned in the swimming pool of a villa in Phuket's Kamala area early on Thursday, 23 July 2026.

Kamala police said Claire Nabimanya was found face down at the bottom of the pool at the villa in Kathu district. Her body has been sent to Vachira Phuket Hospital for an autopsy.

Emergency responders alerted police at about 05:15 after receiving a report that a foreign tourist had drowned. Rescue workers had received and responded to an earlier medical emergency call at around 04:30.

Police examine account from Indian tourist

An Indian tourist who reported the death told investigators that he had arrived in Thailand on the first day of his holiday and met Nabimanya at an entertainment venue on Bangla Road.

According to police, the pair drank alcohol before returning to the villa. The man said they entered the swimming pool at about 04:00.

He told officers that Nabimanya was not a strong swimmer. The pool was about two metres deep and had a sloping floor, he said, and she appeared to get into difficulty before drowning.

The man said he tried to rescue her but was unsuccessful. He then left the pool and attempted to call 191, Thailand's police emergency number, but could not get through before contacting the 1669 medical emergency hotline.

Police later tested 191 using the witness's phone and confirmed that they too were unable to connect.

No pool safety equipment found

Officers who inspected the villa confirmed that the pool was about two metres deep. They found no lifesaving equipment nearby.

Investigators reported no evidence of a struggle, while the villa room had not been disturbed. The Indian tourist was taken for further questioning and underwent a drug test as part of standard procedure.

Police are coordinating with the Ugandan Embassy to update Nabimanya's family and make arrangements to repatriate her body.

The autopsy is expected to establish further details about Nabimanya's death.

Picture courtesy of Khaosod

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24 July 2026

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Where's all the keyboard detectives? Times a wasting.

We need to solve this crime, I mean accidental drowning. 😶‍🌫️

Small pool, only a few feet from where you can stand, and he couldn't pull her there?

Strange that the Indian swimming with Claire was unable to help her.

Very small pool and it’s hard to believe he couldn’t dive down to get her up. Either he can’t swim or there’s more to the story. I can’t imagine just watching someone drowning while on the telephone calling for help. I would have tried using any means to get her out, but maybe he just panicked. Very sad way for her to go.

Maybe all rental villas pools should be 1.5 meters deep max. Seeing way too much of this.

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@Front Row you constantly seem more interested in criticising the news team, than commenting on the article. Next time expect a time out.

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11 minutes ago, jcmj said:

I can’t imagine just watching someone drowning while on the telephone calling for help.

Look at this incident involving some Indians. They used to living in chaotic conditions where it's everyman for themselves so I'm not surprised really.

1.5 m will not help to prevent drowning of children which is a major cause of death in this age group in Thailand.

On topics of Indians in the pool: I lives in The Base for 3 years, my apartment looking down on the inside pool. Frequented heavily by Indians, mainland male groups. Usually wearing some sorts of underpants or boxers, convenient. Swim and wash at the same time.

They would usually jump into the pool, thrashing a lot of water and pretending some kind of freestyle swimming or -failing to keep the head above the ware - some apnea contests. Everything of course recorded by a mate and sent home to the village.

Pathetic to watch.

Anyhow: none of these guys had the slightest idea of swimming and would have immediately sank to the bottom of the pool, depth providing. But: each and every of these guys was absolutely convinced that he can swim and can pull this out when he jumped in the pool.

Must be an Indian thing.

Edited July 24Jul 24 by omega2017

Very sad. Longterm waterman sees this and says, just jump in and get them out. My gosh, you can't swim, when the pool is 3meters deep jump in and get them out, you'll be ok !!!!! Dang, imbeciles.

A sad end to a very young woman

RIP

Was he the only one there? unusual for one person to be renting a pool villa, Both of them nationalities are not good swimmers, let alone life saving,

7 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

An Indian tourist who reported the death told investigators that he had arrived in Thailand on the first day of his holiday and met Nabimanya at an entertainment venue on Bangla Road.

I guess the relationship was most likely pay for play and the woman conveniently died before the indian man had a chance to pay her.

3 hours ago, Priorexpat said:

Very sad. Longterm waterman sees this and says, just jump in and get them out. My gosh, you can't swim, when the pool is 3meters deep jump in and get them out, you'll be ok !!!!! Dang, imbeciles.

You think it's easy to drag the comatose body of a Ugandan prostitute from the bottom of a pool where the water depth is above your head? Or perhaps your sarcasm was to subtle for me?

Edited July 24Jul 24 by Liverpool Lou

5 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

You think it's easy to drag the comatose body of a Ugandan prostitute from the bottom of a pool where the water depth is above your head? Or perhaps your sarcasm was to subtle for me?

Do you mind if I answer your question with a question?

Is it a crime to watch someone drowning right in front of you and not even attempt to help them? Or should it be a crime if it isn't?

Never seen anything like this in my life.

1 minute ago, save the frogs said:

6 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

You think it's easy to drag the comatose body of a Ugandan prostitute from the bottom of a pool where the water depth is above your head? Or perhaps your sarcasm was to subtle for me?

Do you mind if I answer your question with a question?

Is it a crime to watch someone drowning right in front of you and not even attempt to help them

Do I you mind if I answer your question with a quote from the OP?...

"The man said he tried to rescue her but was unsuccessful"

He wasn't standing there watching her drown, he attempted to help her and when he couldn't he called for help.

This whole incident smells fishy.

From the pick-up at an "entertainment venue" to the death in a pool.

A comprehensive autopsy would answer a lot of questions.

Whether or not that happens remains to be seen. TIT.

14 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Do I you mind if I answer your question with a quote from the OP?...

"The man said he tried to rescue her but was unsuccessful"

He wasn't standing there watching her drown, he attempted to help her and when he couldn't he called for help.

That story just doesn't sound credible.

If it was in the ocean with large breakers, well maybe, but a small pool, I think not.

8 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Do I you mind if I answer your question with a quote from the OP?...

"The man said he tried to rescue her but was unsuccessful"

He wasn't standing there watching her drown, he attempted to help her and when he couldn't he called for help.

You were there? The man said means nothing.

A woman struggling in 2 meters of water less than 3 meters from being able to stand only needs an outstretched hand to pull her to that position. She wasn't comatose but struggling in front of him.

He could stand a meter from her unless he was very short, but Ugandan males are average in height so close to my height and i could surely pull her a meter or so to safety.

How long after she drowned did her call for help? Most adults know a person drowns in less than 3 minutes.

He knew she wasn't a strong swimmer yet was okay with her going in over her head?

4 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

you mind if I answer your question with a quote from the OP?...

"The man said he tried to rescue her but was unsuccessful"

He wasn't standing there watching her drown, he attempted to help her and when he couldn't he called for help.

You were there? The man said means nothing.

A woman struggling in 2 meters of water less than 3 meters from being able to stand only needs an outstretched hand to pull her to that position. She wasn't comatose but struggling in front of him.

He could stand a meter from her unless he was very short, but Ugandan males are average in height so close to my height and i could surely pull her a meter or so to safety

You were there? What you say means nothing.

the article does not say she was struggling in front of him, it says that she drowned and that he was unable to help her. Bear in mind they were both pissed.

"He could stand a meter from her unless he was very short..."

He could? You were there? What was the distance between her body lying on the bottom at the 2m depth and the shallower end of the pool?

"...Ugandan males are average in height"

What's the average height of Ugandan men got to do with anything?

Edited July 24Jul 24 by Liverpool Lou

11 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

You were there? What you say means nothing.

the article does not say she was struggling in front of him, it says that she drowned and that he was unable to help her. Bear in mind they were both pissed.

"He could stand a meter from her unless he was very short..."

He could? You were there? What was the distance between her body lying on the bottom at the 2m depth and the shallower end of the pool?

"...Ugandan males are average in height"

What's the average height of Ugandan men got to do with anything?

At that maximum depth where you could stand is 2 meters away. He was close to her in the water and could have brought her to where she could stand fairly easily. I've been in countless pools that size where you could stand in most of it, besides that small slope to maximum depth. Yes, he could have been stone drunk and couldn't move but he "said" he tried to rescue her, meaning he was in the pool close. She was struggling. Not at the bottom of the pool. It also doesn't say her body was at the maximum depth. How did he know she wasn't a strong swimmer if they just met?

Edited July 24Jul 24 by fredwiggy

27 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Bear in mind they were both pissed.

that probably explains it

drunken fools the whole lot of them

So basically two idiots who can't swim go into a pool together drunk with no safety gear, and what can go wrong does. His version actually sounds credible when you consider he was probably drunk and can't swim either and would be terrified to go anywhere past the beginning of that slope (who builds a pool with a steep slope like that?! safety hazard in itself!). If the pool didn't even have basic safety gear like a lifebuoy the owner is going to have some big problems soon. Knowing Phuket I believe it - money is the ONLY thing any business owner there cares about, in my experience - the customers are literally just numbers on a spreadsheet for them.

BREAKING NEWS: Indian man involved in an incident with an African whore instead of a ladyboy

My laugh of the day; A 22 year old solo female Ugandan tourist in Thailand.

Sure. 🙂

For people who can swim, which i suspect is everyone on here commenting, it would have been a very easy situation to deal with. For someone who can't swim, reaching the depth where they can still breathe but are unable to reach the person in difficulty must induce panic and rational thought would be compromised.

RIP to the lady and i should imagine the gentleman will have mental scars to deal with.