Foreigner Missing While Paddling In Heavy Rain

[george]

Heavy rain hits Surat Thani, Samui tourist missing in rough sea

SURAT THANI: -- A foreign tourist heading out to sea off Samui island in a kayak is missing after being hit by a three-metre wave, while torrential rains last night may caused a flash flood in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Marine police were informed that the missing tourist was last seen about two kilometres off Samui island in Surat Thani province Wednesday morning. Witnesses said that the man's kayak -- an especially sea-worthy and water-tight craft -- was smashed by a wave estimated to be three-metres high.

Rescue workers are searching for the tourist, whose identity has not been established.

Meanwhile, Nakhon Si Thammarat remains an official disaster area following last month's declaration by the governor when it faced this year's first seasonal flooding.

Relief centres have been re-established in every district to prevent imminent losses from another possible flash flood.

The local weather centre warned residents in Nakhon Si Thammarat of incessant rain and heavy downpours Dec 7-8, which can cause inundation -- especially in the low-lying municipality and its environs.

Residents have been advised to move their belongings to higher ground in advance as a flash flood is expected to affect the town Wednesday evening.

--TNA 2005-12-07

[dantilley]

Poor bloke. Not a particularly sensible time to be out kayacking though!

[jrincon17]

Poor bloke. Not a particularly sensible time to be out kayacking though!

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Thats for sure , should be a little smarter than that . He's probably passed out at a bar . Hopefully !

[cobra]

Odds are it wasn't his kayak, someone will rent you anything, anytime, regardless of current danger if there's a few baht in it.

Hope he turns up somewhere OK,

[bkkmadness]

an especially sea-worthy and water-tight craft

This worried me a bit. Don't some of those Kayaks have the fittings that literally hold you into the boat, and thats why they teach you how to roll in a Kayak if you capsize?

Are they easy to get out of if you don't know how to roll?

[seville]

Not so true. All of the places, at least on KPN won't rent out their Kayaks when the seas are big. I can't say that's the case on Samui, but one would hope.

Well let's hope he is okay.

[seville]

They are easy to get out of if you know what your doing. I've yet to find a place that rents, "touring kayaks" on Samui, but havn't looked in a year or so. My guess would be that he owned it or borrowed it from someone. If he got flipped in Shallow water he may have hit his head. Very sad, but it also sounds like he didn't have a life jacket on.

an especially sea-worthy and water-tight craft

This worried me a bit. Don't some of those Kayaks have the fittings that literally hold you into the boat, and thats why they teach you how to roll in a Kayak if you capsize?

Are they easy to get out of if you don't know how to roll?

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[bkkmadness]

Thanks for the info Seville. The thought occurred to me that he hired a piece of equipment that he couldn't handle and then hit rough waters with disastarous results.

[Potato]

Ok,i will kayak whitewater sometimes,but on the open sea in such a

changeable tide & questionable condition of the rented vehicle i think

it was mad.But God willing !!!!!!!!!!!!!?

[Gumballl]

It's hard to believe that a sea-kayak would be damaged so severely from a 3-meter wave. But then who is to say without knowing all of the facts (i.e. the condition of the kayak, whether it was indeed a sea-kayak, was it made of fiberglass or plastic, was the passenger inebriated, etc).

I used to own a 5-meter long sea-kayak and intentionally seek out tall waves (not 3-meter waves, but about 2-meter), and never had any problems. Kayak-surfing is one of the avenues of entertainment for those who own sea-kayaks, since these "boats" are too big/impractical for white-water.

Slipping out of the enclosed kayak is quite simple, unless leg-pressure is used to keep yourself inside. Doing the roll-over is easy, but with lots of practice. I wouldn't expect a novice to know how to perform this just by learning from a video.

Has anyone postulated that perhaps this individual was hit by another boat??? That is a common problem, since sometimes it is hard to see kayakers because they are sitting so close to the water-line.

When kayaking, always wear a life-vest (there are some that are specifically tailored for kayakers). Also, carry a whistle or blow-horn to alert other boaters in the area should the need arise. For an enclosed kayak, a small builge pump should also be accessible by the occupant.

P.S. Kayaks float in the ocean like cork. Not much to it. A lot of fun, and easy sport to enjoy. The "boat" I owned had two sealed compartments, at the fore and aft portions of the kayak. Even if the area occupied by the passenger filled completely with water, the kayak still stayed afloat.

[gisele]

I rented a kayak on Samui a few weeks ago. They are not the same as kayaks you see in the Olympics or sporting events on white water, at least all the ones on Chaweng. These look more like a low canoe, they are molded plastic, either one seat or two and you get a kayak paddle as opposed to a canoe paddle. These would not withstand a 3 metre wave. My 11 year old daughter and I tipped it over a few times, fooling around alot and trying to get back on it.

I would think no one would rent them out in bad weather.

[Soph]

Dont know about Samui, but a few years back, similar sea conditions in Koh Chang, a (rather brainless looking back) friend of mine was allowed to rent a canoe. It subsequently sunk and my friend nearly drowned. Luckily he was found by two people in a sea kayak and bought back to shore, blue and with a few burst blood vessels in his lungs. Very bad time - and the canoe was lost. Three days later when my friend finally had the energy to walk, the canoe owners asked him for the money for canoe!

[seville]

It says the boat was air tight and sea worthy, which to me implies a touring Kayak like Gumball describes. I've never owned a boat, but have paddeld a lot.

Maybe there will be some kind of follow up, but I agree a wave flipping the boat should not be that much of a problem. Unless the person hit his head, but even if he did a life vest would have at least had him stay on top of the water.

It's sad, but some people just don't understand how dangerous the sea can be if your not careful.

[Galong]

It was in all likelihood a sit-on-top boat and not a real kayak. Three meter waves are no problem for experienced kayakers in REAL kayaks, not FeelFree or Ocean Kayak sit-on-tops.

It it as much the responsibility of whomever rented it to him as it is his fault.

Math: 1 idiot kayak renter + 1 moron without sufficient skill or experience to make sound judgment = more bad press for tourism.

[Maigo6]

I don't know why you guys are slamming the people who may have rented out this Kayak, the Farang guy has to take responsibilities for his own actions, the Thais are just trying to make a living.

If a guy wants to rent and he can see it's a rough sea then he tries to tackle big waves, that's his responsibility, if it was a Thai guy that went missing, you would only be slamming him for being so stupid, because it's a Farang, you turn your attention to the Thai once again.

I know it's common on any Thai related Forum dominated by Farangs to blame Thai people for anything bad that ever happens to a Farang, cos Farangs are much too smart to do wrong or make wrong judgements right ?

When tourists hire high powered Motorcycles in Pattaya, then go out racing each other or get drunk and crash and kill themselves or others, is that the fault of the people who rented out the Bike, or the Farang who should have known better ?

Sorry for the guy that went missing, but it's wrong to blame Thai people for this accident.

Sometimes we all have to accept consequences for our own actions.

[Maigo6]

The above post is not aimed at anyone in particular, but there is an underlying trend to blame Thai people for just about every misfortune that happens to a Farang.

[seville]

I can't speak for all the sections in the forum, because I only tend to read posts in a hand full, but I don't think the average poster on Thai Visa blame the Thai people for the mishaps that happen to Farangs.

I think most of us think that the Farang was not using common sense and got caught up in a bad situation. The comments on this topic show that.

I must say though again, I tend to make comments in sections that I have an interest in. Being that this happened in Samui etc.

I think most of us that live in the Gulf, blame the tourist for being stupid not the Thais, but maybe in other sections it's different.

[SamuiRes]

Odds are it wasn't his kayak, someone will rent you anything, anytime, regardless of current danger if there's a few baht in it. 

Hope he turns up somewhere OK,

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According to the Samui Express this was an American tourist and he was rescued safely. The report states that he was in "a especially sea-worthy and watertight craft "

So all's well that ends well!

[sonthaya]

I can't speak for all the sections in the forum, because I only tend to read posts in a hand full, but I don't think the average poster on Thai Visa blame the Thai people for the mishaps that happen to Farangs.

I think most of us think that the Farang was not using common sense and got caught up in a bad situation. The comments on this topic show that.

I must say though again, I tend to make comments in sections that I have an interest in. Being that this happened in Samui etc.

I think most of us that live in the Gulf, blame the tourist for being stupid not the Thais, but maybe in other sections it's different.

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Well not me, this guy was stupid, and I must say very lucky to survive, this has nothing to do with the Thais, they probably couldn't have stopped him even if they had tried.

[jrincon17]

Odds are it wasn't his kayak, someone will rent you anything, anytime, regardless of current danger if there's a few baht in it. 

Hope he turns up somewhere OK,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

According to the Samui Express this was an American tourist and he was rescued safely. The report states that he was in "a especially sea-worthy and watertight craft "

So all's well that ends well!

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darn americans , we are so stupid . maybe he thought there was a tsunami !