Drowning Off Lamai?

[Tracer Round]

BigC:

the person could have tried the tourist police. phone 1155 or waited to see if he swim back. instead this person just left and seemed to blame everyone else.

First, I don't know where BigC gets the impression that I was "blaming" anyone. I don't know whether this is a breakdown in language, but I never said I blamed anyone (including myself).

I also have to disagree with the poster who said that I, "posted up because of an already guilty conscience."

I was not guilty in the least. I posted this because I thought it was an interesting situation that involved some sort of moral dilemma that we could discuss here.

Let me address a few of the common replies.

You have to remember that I thought he might be in trouble, but that he had made no indication that he was in trouble (as in raising his arms and waving). So I debated whether to mention it at all to anyone. However, I concluded that at the very least I could be conscientious enough to tell someone who could, if they deemed it necessary, take some action. I was not passing the "blame"; rather, in a gesture of what I considered my obligation to alert someone, I did just that.

Look at it this way, if I think I see smoke from a nearby house, but am not sure if it is a leaf fire in the garden or the actual house aflame...and I finally decide to call the fire department, and they say, "Well, it's probably just someone burning leaves," then I feel that I have done my civic duty. I could tell the fire department that I would pay for their gas if they just ran a truck over there to check, but at the time, that would not have occurred to me.

It is possible that this person did swim back; there are folks who can swim the English Channel.

As for renting a jet ski myself, well, this might sound callous, but after talking to the jet ski operators (who did not have binoculars), I thought, "If they do not see it as an issue of life or death, I am not going to spend 800 baht to go out myself (mind you, I was wearing street clothes, not a swim suit)."

If on the other hand, I was 100% certain that a person was in fact about to die, of course I would have paid the money and gone to save the day.

There is an old sign in Lamai, over by the Pavilion, that warns of strong currents during certain parts of the year. The subtext is that you are on your own and as there are no lifeguards, you must use your best judgment on when and where to swim.

As for the Tourist Police, I thought of that, but as I didn't have their number and am well aware of the fact that most people I have spoken with who have tried to call them have had no one answer. Moreover, the Tourist Police, as far as I know, have their office in the north of Chaweng, very far away.

So to recap, I thought I had done what I could to at least bring the situation to the attention of someone who could have investigated. They didn't (at least not as I walked away; it is not inconceivable that they went out later, but highly unlikely). If i had it to do over, I would probably had asked if the jet ski guy would go out for 200 baht. I feel that it was quite likely that he might have refused. Neither of the two looked at all like they wanted to expend any energy to do anything. There also may have been a, "I don't want to get involved," mentality going on, but that's just idle speculation. Calling the police did not seem like an option at all.

[crusty]

This turf is the responsibility of The Marine Police.and every year they train volunteers from the beachside resorts for a week, male and female. Their number is 077 421245 and yes they are on the East side of the island but they will contact the relevant police station to investigate. They can also order the local jetskis to help as they hold and issue their boat registration certificates. Two days ago, there were four young kids playing in the heavy surf at Chaweng and they completely ignored my warnings and also the security guards at Centara. A call to the Marine Police had two Chaweng cops come who then escorted the brats off the beach.