Controversial Beach Booms claim their first life on Jomtien Beach

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Controversial Beach Booms claim their first life on Jomtien Beach



PATTAYA: -- Following previous reports of people sustaining injury after falling off beach booms on Pattaya and Jomtien Beaches, they have now claimed their first life and residents of Pattaya are now calling for their immediate removal before the booms claim further victims.

On Tuesday evening Khun Chontawat aged 19 was pulled from the water off Jomtien Beach in front of Soi 8, after a 3 hour search by more than 20 Pattaya Sea Rescue Officers.

He was in Pattaya with 10 other family members and was celebrating his recent graduation from High School and he was due to start University in a few weeks’ time.

Khun Chontawat had joined his family on Jomtien Beach and decided to walk along a Beach Boom which is used to section-off a swimmers-only area. Large waves caused Khun Chontawat to fall off the boom, in front of an 18 year old cousin who was with him on the boom.

Full story: http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/123657/controversial-beach-booms-claim-their-first-life-on-jomtien-beach/

-- Pattaya One 2014-04-02

[ZigZagMan]

Attention:

People that cannot swim should not be walking on the booms into deep water.

They may fall off and drown.

[shirtless]

They have probably saved hundreds of swimmers from being hit by Jet skies and motor boats. I fail to see why these booms should be blamed for this death.

[LennyW]

Death by misadventure i would say, but why did it take 3 hours to find him if he "fell off in front of his cousin"? in broad daylight.

[hanno]

I was in Pattaya last week and saw people running and frolicking on these things. It is wrong to say that the booms claimed a life, if a non-swimmer falls off say a wharf and drowns, who is at fault.

Personally, I do not swim in Pattaya but if I did, I would be pretty happy to have something that keeps the idiot jet-skiers and power boat drivers away.

[petedk]

Instead of removing them, why not change the design? Use small round balls that people cannot walk on.

[Spalpeen]

What a sensationalist headline. Who are these "residents of Pattaya" that are "now calling for" the removal of the booms? Everyone I know thinks they are a great thing and that they physically prevent the jetskis from entering the swimming area. Sad that the young lad died, but if he couldn't swim he should have stuck to the shallow water.

[andre47]

The beach booms are very helpful to protect against the jet skies. Small round balls would not keep them off the swimming zone. They would just drive over them.

Why Thais don't learn swimming (and many other subjects as well) in school?

[bangkokheat]

i would hate to be the family member who suggested/organised the celebration, imagine the guilt they would be feeling

[stickylies]

Not the fault of the guy on the boom who could not swim

Nah, fault of the boom. Bad boom! Boom maidee!

[retell]

Dont walk on the booms ,

If someone climbs a tree and falls to his death all trees should be removed immidiatly

Rip

[JoeThePoster]

What's the next headline? Geezer falls of cliff - locals call for flattening all mountains.

Edited April 2, 2014 by JoeThePoster

[jacko45k]

They have probably saved hundreds of swimmers from being hit by Jet skies and motor boats. I fail to see why these booms should be blamed for this death.

They need not be flat/ rectangular.

Cylindrical and small enough to make walking impossible would be better.

'Hundreds' were not being hit by jetskis and motor boats prior to the installation of these booms.

The design was ill conceived.

[lawrence1366]

Instead of removing them, why not change the design? Use small round balls that people cannot walk on.

No brainer solution. ?..perhaps 'cost' is the mitigating factor that made them use foam instead of 'balls'.

[DoctorG]

Why do they call it "common sense", when it is not so common after all?

You cannot idiot-proof the world.

[i claudius]

The are a great idea ,they keep swimmers safe and while i feel sorry for this young guy and his familly ,if you cannot swim ,you have to be pretty stupid to go walking on these things.

[ZigZagMan]

Why not separate the booms with lengths of rope?

[JesseFrank]

Instead of removing them, why not change the design? Use small round balls that people cannot walk on.

No brainer solution. ?..perhaps 'cost' is the mitigating factor that made them use foam instead of 'balls'.

They could have used foam balls, don't you think ? The point is that one is not supposed to walk on them.

In related news : It is suggested that all balconies and bridges in Pattaya will be removed, as there have been several cases of people falling off them.

[TexasRanger]

I was watching a group of older kids/teenagers walk and run around these a few days ago. My first thought was that they end up so far from the beach I could never get to one in time if they got into trouble.

The real crime here is people being unable to swim, if you can't swim you need to wear flotation. A lifeguard on each swimming area would also be nice.

[MMarlow]

Attention:

People that cannot swim should not be walking on the booms into deep water.

They may fall off and drown.

Nobody should be walking on the booms into deep water. Swimmers or non-swimmers can drown, how do you know he wasn't able to swim? Panic, deep water and wearing clothes can make staying afloat very difficult.

[monkey4u]

I guess all his time in school didn't teach him not to do dumb things

The booms are there to protect swimmers not to be used as a walk way

[hanno]

I guess all his time in school didn't teach him not to do dumb things

The booms are there to protect swimmers not to be used as a walk way

In all fairness I saw more foreigners walking them than locals. And whilst they may be able to swim, I saw one group that was so wasted they would have gone down like lead ducks if they had fallen in.

[Maroon Watcher]

... so theres no life guard system on that busy beach?

That's what they are trained to look for...

What a sensationalist headline. Who are these "residents of Pattaya" that are "now calling for" the removal of the booms? Everyone I know thinks they are a great thing and that they physically prevent the jetskis from entering the swimming area. Sad that the young lad died, but if he couldn't swim he should have stuck to the shallow water.

[chrisinth]

The booms are more of a visual deterrent than a physical one. I expect their design would be to give a swimmer in distress a landing area, but if people are allowed to 'play' on them, then a change in design would be best as restricting access from swimmers would be extremely difficult.

To blame the concept of the barriers, IMHO, is out of order.

[Trentham]

I mean no disrespect for the departed. However one is more likely to die of poisoning than drowning by falling into the water along that part of the Thai coast.

[lostmebike]

Instead of removing them, why not change the design? Use small round balls that people cannot walk on.

Agreed.

Some posters can't seem to understand that most kids love to play in the water whether they can swim or not.

A simple change of design could prevent further loss of life.

Sad story.

[media]

I saw a bunch of kids and teenagers enjoying the "Boom Walk" the other day it looked like good fun at the beach.. at the time I didnt realise they could be dangerous, But YES if the person cant swim he shouldnt be doing it! - The boom looked like it was superbly protecting the swimmers from jet ski etc

[joepattaya1961]

I can't find any information on how he drowned........everybody is assuming that the lad couldn't swim, but what if he fell off and during his fall smashed with his head to the barriers?

[ZigZagMan]

I just drove by the beach.

More than 50 people running around on the barriers where this incident took place.

[Awohalitsiktoli]

I was apparently there when it happened, sitting in a beach chair right in front of the beach boom, but I did not see it happen.

I do not know whether he could swim or not, but if he could not swim, he should not have been out there. Blaming the beach boom device is a mistake, IMHO.

It is obvious that the City does not want people walking on it, which is why they removed several segments to make it difficult for people to go from one section to the next. But that has not stopped people from walking the short segment, then wading to the next, long segment.

Enforcement might be one solution, but common sense (don't go out there if you cannot swim) is likely a better solution.

There were loads of people on the beach when it happened. A Thai lady told me that "a friend of the deceased saw him in the water but thought he was playing a joke." By that, I am assuming that they thought he was pretending to be drowning. Then he went under and never came up.

The search for him was intense. One has to wonder if a lifeguard on duty would have made any difference.