Five Children Drowned In Buriram

[george]

Vengeful turtle to blame

BANGKOK - Five children, including two sets of twins, drowned after they capsized a paddle boat by rocking it back and forth in a pond in northeastern Thailand, news reports said on Monday.

Residents of Huay Lampanchoo village in Puthaisong district of Buri Ram province, 300 kilometres northeast of Bangkok, blamed the deaths on the vengeful spirit of an ancient turtle killed by the father of one of the dead children.

The Thai-language daily Kom Chat Luek quoted witnesses as saying the accident happened on Sunday when six children paddled the small boat onto the pond, then rocked it back and forth playfully until it capsized.

The two sets of twins - Veerasak and Verapat Sithanont, 11, and Jirat and Chatchon Phubanchoen, six - and Chanthima Kokthaisong, a nine-year-old girl, could not swim so they clung together and drowned.

Watchara Jai-ngarm, an eight-year-old boy, managed to swim to shore.

Kom Chat Luek quoted villagers as saying Chanthima's father had recently killed and butchered a turtle aged around 100 years and had given some of its meat to the parents of each of the twins.

Other villagers had refused to accept the meat because the old turtle had been well-known in the area for generations.

-- Sapa-DP 2003-12-08

[Jeepz]

Gee, kids skylarking on the water. No safety equipment. Apparently no adult supervision. Let's blame someone. How about the guy that killed the turtle!

Don't get me wrong. I am fond of turtles. I'd rather see them doing their turtle thing than being turtle meat or turtle soup. But really, some poor guy with poor timing is now going to be the brunt of everyone's hostility for these kids death. Oh, well maybe the parents get a bit of it for taking some of the turtle meat. But not for what they really did wrong.

It is a tragedy concerning the children. Water == Float Vest! No if, buts, or maybes.

Jeepz

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Gee, kids skylarking on the water. No safety equipment. Apparently no adult supervision. Let's blame someone. How about the guy that killed the turtle

It is a tragedy concerning the children. Water == Float Vest! No if, buts, or maybes. <_<

Jeepz

So very very true, and so very very sad.

[george]

Why doesn't the teachers teach the kids to swim in school? Mandatory! How many adult Thais can swim BTW?

[KevinN]

My wife is a teacher,and I can't see where it should be her job to teach kids to swim,even if they had a place bigger than a squat toilet.

I think that it should be up to parents to teach their kids to swim,table manners and to show respect,that is not the teachers job,they go to school and then on to higher education to learn to teach the subjects required in later life.

But I do know that some people think that their responsibility for children stops the minute that kid hits the floor and someone else should be responsible for the raising of the kid. I always thought that you should be responsible for then for the first 18 years of their life,,maybe I to old fashioned.

[TizMe]

they go to school and then on to higher education to learn to teach the subjects required in later life.

When you've just been tossed into a lake, I cant think of a more required in later life subject to have studied well earlier on in life than swimming. Calculus wont be of much help.

[Nat]

My 2 cents the school I teach at has a pool and my grade 1's are great swimmers - just depends on the school whether swimming is taught.

Regardless of who's to blame it's a tragedy and feel for the families involved.

[Up2U]

I have a six-year-old daughter who has been taught to swim by my wife and myself. She also receives swimming lessons at school (one of the lucky ones who have the facilities).

But she still wears inflatable arm-bands when in a crowded situation, or when she wants to go in the water unaccompanied.

This is plain common sense to anyone who is used to the water (We live by the sea). But if the parents of the kids in question are not themselves familiar with water, then they may not realise the necessary precautions.

[Pink Mist]

You and wife taught your child to swim admirable, how often does she train and how far?

6 years old swimming by herself with armbands in a crowded situation, you cant be serious.

Get real kids need constant supervision where water is concerned.

I am just an ex clubbie but I know a little bit about water safety.