Another Phuket Drowning

[LeungKen]

More sad news

Google.... "Dane Drowns at Karon"

A TOURIST drowned on Sunday at Karon beach,

The man, named as Anders Jorgen Hauge, 57, came from Denmark. His body was taken from the water at the southern end of the beach, opposite the Karon sports stadium, about 1.50pm.

R.I.P.

[ScubaBuddha]

Maybe time to re-evaluate our "lifegaurd" system again. There have been many drownings since they are back on the job. This would be totally unacceptable in almost any other country.

[Phuket Stan]

I saw a person drown here recently....he would not take any notice of the life guard boys on the beach...."The I know better attitude"...lot of people just dont realise how strong the rip/undertows are....I am quite a strong swimmer but there is no way I would go into the sea when the waves are crashing onto the beach...common sense prevails

[TheWalkingMan]

They should put up a big sign with the number of deaths... No names, but maybe the ages and home country.

TheWalkingMan

[steelepulse]

I was at Karon on Sunday and the waves weren't necessarily big, but there was a lot of water moving.

Unfortunately the only lifesaving skills I have seen being used by a "lifeguard" is blowing a whistle.  These guards dare not venture out into the waves until someone else has performed most of the lifesaving, then these guards tend to run up and take the credit. 

It makes me  question these lifeguards when they rent out their jet skis all day long for profit, yet when it's time to rescue someone, they don't use the ski nor a surfboard, nor anything else except their whistle.

[LivinLOS]

Theres some superb comments about the lifeguard system, what should / could be done to improve it, etc etc.

Just normal sensible stuff but..

[Wellington]

Theres some superb comments about the lifeguard system, what should / could be done to improve it, etc etc.

Just normal sensible stuff but..

TIT

same in the car parks. whistle to stop whistle to go. whistle to turn. and then stand behind you to get run over

But Life guards need proper training and a lot of strength if they are to be any use

I think the Board with death totals and dates is a good idea, certainly at Karon/Kata/Patong.

[HDRIDER]

Hi

What lifeguard????

[steelepulse]

Hi

What lifeguard????

The guys in the orange shirts with the whistles . Some of their shirts even say "LIFEGUARD'".

[LivinLOS]

Hi

What lifeguard????

The guys in the orange shirts with the whistles . Some of their shirts even say "LIFEGUARD'".

One photographed even said liftguard

[LivinLOS]

Anyway. I'm a good swimmer, and much stronger than local people. Not an wimp. "

.. and then we'll have another case of Darwin awards wannabe.

Sorry but thats crock..

A rip itself is not dangerous at all, only the panic from a weak swimmer who tires themselves out fighting it. If you experience a rip, simply relax, float, let it move you to deeper water, where it loses power (the rip is the flow of water over the shallow sand bottom) and you can then swim in. What happens is people panic, they fight the ocean, and that you will lose. The rip itself presents no real danger, we do after all float, but the exhausting yourself panic is what kills people. If you swim out beyond the breakers, a couple hundred meters out, theres no rips, and thats only where any rip would push you.

Everyone keeps talking about the 'dangerous surf' but lets be real.. Heres a pic of this weekends surf just down from my brothers house, believe it or not thats not even that big, about a mid / high average.. And it crashes over a few feet of razor sharp coral.. Hes in it daily, thats why he lives there. But you dont go out in that water unless you have a bit of an idea what your doing.

[LivinginKata]

The last 2 posts were so far off topic that they were removed. I remind members that this topic is about 'drownings' on Phuket beaches. Thank you.

[LivinLOS]

Ideas?

A mass of ideas can be found by reading the life guard comments..

The idea of safe zones actively patrolled, the idea of coralling swimmers on pupular beaches.

Lets not forget there was a 10m budget for lifeguards, for only 5 months, with 66 lifeguards thats 30k per person per month for the months they were to be active. Yet they are getting paid 5k a month ?? What equipment is costing them ?? Or is it merely or bor tor junkets to Bali thats eaten that fund up ??

If they would be a little less xeneophobic about work permits, they could reach out to the Oz or other nations with an active lifeguard scene and recruit young farangs on volunteer basis.. Give them a tiny bit of pocket money, add a couple of Thais to each pair of farangs (so that if they have to tell a Thai to do something the Thai can do it.. For face.. Sigh).. Not only would this put proper qualified experienced lifeguards out there, it would also lend a 'cool' to beach life guards, it would add to the beach games lifestyle idea that Thais have not really got yet (some have but not the majority).. It would give the lifeguards a cheap holiday, they could have a great time.. Its a win win.. But it needs to be accepted from the Thais to ask for help, to fascilitate it, to act like grown up about farangs having a tiny bit of authority and guidance on a subject they actually have experience of. Etc.

[steelepulse]

I met a guy at Karon yesterday that helped administer CPR on the Danish man.  To hear the story of the rescue attempted by the lifeguards sound like they actually cotributed to the drowning via dragging the victim behind their jet ski with his head submerged while they brought him to shore. Unbelievable really.

[Atmos]

Maybe a public function when number hits 50? Invite local politicians - everyone likes a ceremony, and present bereaved family with a souvenir of the ocasion, media publicity. The P Gaz does a good job reporting but not getting the right audience.

Must be mid 30s now; there seems to be approx one per week in last 3 months, 3 in one 3-day spell early june I recall off Karon, I was living there at the time.

Stats seem so vague on drownings - though sure I saw 33 mentioned within last few weeks. happy to be corrected.

Confess I have little sympathy for the ones that have been warned; the signs (OK they weren't there a few months back) are plain enough. How often is alcohol a factor? not recorded . . .

[asiakid]

It is safe to go out to the water reaches your waist when the red flag is up right?

Kata beach seems a little bit safer than Karon and Patong, since you have the surfers just outside where most people enjoy them self in the water.