" Summer Season" ( Tm ) Drownings

[CFIT]

I have to hold the tourism ministry responsible for the recent spate of drownings in dangerous surf.

I would post a link to the Phuket Gazette article but the paper has chosen to not include it online.

Rebranding the low season as " Summer season" is deliberately enticing tourists to visit that want to swim off Phuket Beaches.

As four have drowned this week alone in the dangerous " Summer Season " surf, I would seriously consider that perhaps , in the interest of safety, Phuket NOT brand or advertise itself as a beach destination during the summer monsoon months.

Just in the interest of safety, not profit.

Edited June 13, 2009 by CFIT

[Moonrakers]

Or maybe people should just take note of the warnings and flags that are on the beach, the warnings are made quite clear and I'd hazard a guess that all 4 who died could read English and/or Thai.

Just a thought like

[BigSnake]

Or maybe people should just take note of the warnings and flags that are on the beach, the warnings are made quite clear and I'd hazard a guess that all 4 who died could read English and/or Thai.

Just a thought like

Concur, bottom line you must take responsibility for your own safety, no matter how many signs, flags and even lifeguards there are is someone is a hard(hot) head, won't listen/read there will be accidents and death. Sad and true.

[CFIT]

There are no written warnings, and Phuket , because of a contract dispute is no longer staffing the beaches with life guards, also metioned in the Gazette article ( why isn't that article online? ) yet they are pushing " Summer Season" .

And the red flags offer no inherent warning and I've seen them fly all year round in the mildest of conditions.

[anothertorres]

people shouldn't need government to tell them what and what not to do. besides, i'm pretty sure using the term "summer season" is not misleading.

[bravingbangkok]

As we are on the topic, are there a lot of sharks in the surf of Thailand ?

My Thai friend claims that Thailand does not have many sharks in it's waters as he jumped over the side of the boat off the coast of Phangan, I thought I was crazy to have followed him.

Does anyone know what the shark situation is in the Gulf ?

There must be Tiger sharks or Bulls.

[thunder30101]

So what part of the contract suit affected your income ? I mean come on, liability stupidity has ruined the west lets not bring it here.

[anothertorres]

As we are on the topic, are there a lot of sharks in the surf of Thailand ?

My Thai friend claims that Thailand does not have many sharks in it's waters as he jumped over the side of the boat off the coast of Phangan, I thought I was crazy to have followed him.

Does anyone know what the shark situation is in the Gulf ?

There must be Tiger sharks or Bulls.

rumor has it, there are 3 sharks sleeping in a mystery container in Sattahip.

[robblok]

As we are on the topic, are there a lot of sharks in the surf of Thailand ?

My Thai friend claims that Thailand does not have many sharks in it's waters as he jumped over the side of the boat off the coast of Phangan, I thought I was crazy to have followed him.

Does anyone know what the shark situation is in the Gulf ?

There must be Tiger sharks or Bulls.

I dive a lot in Thailand and snokle a lot too.. your really lucky to come across a shark in Thailand. So far i have only seen small reefsharks in Phi Phi and Similan and some leopard sharks while diving. There are supposed to be tiger sharks.. one has been caught in pattaya harbor many years ago. But i my friends in the dive industry never saw one or hear things about them.

[IanForbes]

Speaking as a person who has had to be rescued off a beach in Mexico I can personally say that people have to be responsible for their own actions. No amount of signs or advertising will prevent people from doing something stupid... anywhere in the world. Here in Canada we lose people every year to avalanches and most were in areas they shouldn't have been. We also lose people every year who go swimming down rivers that have rapids and falls below. We lose them to hypothermia when they go skiing in blue jeans and light jackets and then go out of bounds. The beaches on Phuket Island vary dramatically from totally placid to areas with rip currents. People should understand that they are the ones responsible for their own actions and it's nobody else's fault if they get in trouble. With the number of people playing in the water on the beaches of Thailand I am surprised that there aren't more drownings.

[CFIT]

My income is not affected at all, the contract dispute I refer to is between the company that supplies " Life Guards" ( dubious , minimal training) and the government of Phuket,

which is why is there are no no guards in the most dangerous purposely rebranded "Summer Season" ( TM)

The term, a " Re Branding " made up to draw tourists , is misleading as it encourages summer activities , such as swimming of the beaches which is what a twelve year old girl who drowned off Surin Beach last week was doing .

Yesterday I went and looked at the beach.

From the parking lot , and I had to look for it- there is one clear sign ( a crossed out red circle with a swimmer ) that is erected where it and faces the middle of the parking lot , not the beach and depending on your angle of approach, is hidden behind the dolphin sculpture and overgrowth and any truck that happens to have parked in front of it . If you park on either send of the lot and walk to the beach directly , you will not see it or any sign ( at least in English. )

On the north end of the beach where there is Twin Palm's Beachclub, there is a prominent red flag and another small flag 100 meters to the south where some jet skis are for rent.

If you drive to the beach through the southern entrance, or enter from the south end of the parking lot you wouldn't see any signs or any flags OR any signs explaining what flags mean but you would see people swimming in the surf.

I can't say about Kata beach, where the other drownings occurred

So it would seem that in the haste to draw in more money, basic safety and regard for human life is thrown to the side.

Yes, business as usual, but Thailand markets itself as a safe tourist destination, it's time she was called on this.

Edited June 14, 2009 by CFIT

[JetsetBkk]

There are no written warnings, and Phuket , because of a contract dispute is no longer staffing the beaches with life guards, also metioned in the Gazette article ( why isn't that article online? ) ...

The old managing editor Chris told me once when I asked him the same thing - if they put everything online as soon as it was printed, they may as well pack up shop and go home. All those 25 bahts help pay for the paper.

After 3 or 4 weeks, the full edition is online.

[bangkokrick]

I have taken my kids to on holiday to Phuket a few times and we stayed around Karon and kata. Yes the flags were up, but there were many people in the sea. There were no life guards to be seen. You know, when you see a lot of people swimming you tend to think that things are OK irrelevant of the flags. I went in waist deep and I could feel myself being pulled away from the beach, ferking scary. Needless to say we spent the rest of the day doing other things.

The thing that really pissed me off was that there was no warning at all given by the hotel staff regarding the dangers of swimming at this time of year.

Cheers, Rick

[BusyB]

As we are on the topic, are there a lot of sharks in the surf of Thailand ?

My Thai friend claims that Thailand does not have many sharks in it's waters as he jumped over the side of the boat off the coast of Phangan, I thought I was crazy to have followed him.

Does anyone know what the shark situation is in the Gulf ?

There must be Tiger sharks or Bulls.

rumor has it, there are 3 sharks sleeping in a mystery container in Sattahip.

got overtaken by a whale shark at din daeng - but they're just cuddly

[MediaWatch2009]

All those 25 bahts help pay for the paper.

After 3 or 4 weeks, the full edition is online.

As does printing a front page picture of a young woman, captioned " Pregnant Girlfriend," in shock, crying- having just found out her boyfriend has drowned.

The editor really sank to new levels with that one.

After last week's far right wing US Congressional race propaganda ( in a Phuket local?) and the misinformation on the Phi Phi deaths...I'll never buy another one.

[JetsetBkk]

All those 25 bahts help pay for the paper.

After 3 or 4 weeks, the full edition is online.

As does printing a front page picture of a young woman, captioned " Pregnant Girlfriend," in shock, crying- having just found out her boyfriend has drowned...

The Thai papers probably had a picture of her prostrate over the dead body. TiT.

...I'll never buy another one.

Up to you.

[AleG]

As we are on the topic, are there a lot of sharks in the surf of Thailand ?

My Thai friend claims that Thailand does not have many sharks in it's waters as he jumped over the side of the boat off the coast of Phangan, I thought I was crazy to have followed him.

Does anyone know what the shark situation is in the Gulf ?

There must be Tiger sharks or Bulls.

Don't worry about sharks in Thailand, not a problem at all.

There are some baby bullsharks around the Chumphorn pinnacle, but nobody has ever been hurt by them.

And now I'll throw in a little story...

A couple years ago I was at Phi Phi and took a snorkelling trip around the island, we stopped at one place where they told the people on the tour that we could see reef sharks there. I donned my gear, jumped off the boat and started swimming towards the spot, when I get there I notice that I'm alone in the water, I turn around and I see a boatfull of tourists looking at me bobbing up and down on the sea, somewhere from the back comes out a voice "Are there any sharks there?", I looked around, dove down 6 or 7 meters, saw nothing came back up and reported the situation. Only then the people started getting into the water.

Call me Shark Bait oh-ha-ha!

About the drownings, sad but hard to prevent... well of course the frikking lack of life guards would help a lot with that! But still, most people just don't respect the sea, if you are in a place you don't know you (as most tourists) you don't take any risks at all in the water. No idea of the currents, profile of the beach bottom, anything.

Unfortunately a tourist will want to experience swimming on the beach, undue confidence and pride are added up and you get people going in too deep, literally.

[waza]

I have to hold the tourism ministry responsible for the recent spate of drownings in dangerous surf.

I would post a link to the Phuket Gazette article but the paper has chosen to not include it online.

Rebranding the low season as " Summer season" is deliberately enticing tourists to visit that want to swim off Phuket Beaches.

As four have drowned this week alone in the dangerous " Summer Season " ™ surf, I would seriously consider that perhaps , in the interest of safety, Phuket NOT brand or advertise itself as a beach destination during the summer monsoon months.

Just in the interest of safety, not profit.

Excellent post, you make a valid point.

[JetsetBkk]

PHUKET: It will come as little consolation to the families and friends of those who drowned off Phuket's beaches in recent weeks, but lifeguards are finally in place on 12 of the popular local strands.

New signs have also been erected at the beaches...

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.as...3&display=1

[mahtin]

got overtaken by a whale shark at din daeng - but they're just cuddly

Last time I was in Din Daeng I got overtaken by a pickup full of yellowshirts.

They weren't cuddly

[daveh]

The thing that really pissed me off was that there was no warning at all given by the hotel staff regarding the dangers of swimming at this time of year.

Really? Are you serious? I personally don't want to the hotel staff to also be nannys. It would be horrible if every time you left the hotel, the staff gave you a run down of the dangers you *could* encounter once you left the confines of the hotel. Probably the most dangerous thing you did that day was cross the street or ate street food.

I think you did the right thing. You trusted your own judgment. That's what it is all about. Let's not turn Thailand into another nanny state.

[sushi5734]

As we are on the topic, are there a lot of sharks in the surf of Thailand ?

My Thai friend claims that Thailand does not have many sharks in it's waters as he jumped over the side of the boat off the coast of Phangan, I thought I was crazy to have followed him.

Does anyone know what the shark situation is in the Gulf ?

There must be Tiger sharks or Bulls.

Don't worry about sharks in Thailand, not a problem at all.

There are some baby bullsharks around the Chumphorn pinnacle, but nobody has ever been hurt by them.

I agree theres nothing to worry about, there are sharks out there Reef Sharks, Whale Sharks, Leopard Sharks, Bull sharks, Tiger Sharks and a few other species.

Its subject of debate whether these are Bull Sharks or Grey Reef sharks, having been out to the Pinnacle on numerous occasions I believe that they are Bull Sharks, unfortunatley they are rummored to have been fished out, I was diving in Koh Tao in April and spoke to quite a few of the dive operators on the island non of them had seen the sharks at Chumporn for over 6 months, if you consider how many trips go out to Chumporn every day it doesn't look good. Its a real shame because they were beautiful about 2 meters long and quite curious. The rumour is that either a Thai or Chinese fishing boat caught them as they very sought after by the chinese market.

You can always snorkel with 3-4 foot long black tip reef sharks in shark bay on the south of the island.