Controversial Beach Booms claim their first life on Jomtien Beach

[jongkolkhoo]

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.

Ya. They should also look into closing the beach as people may drown when swimming in the sea !!!

They should also consider banning the sales of beer at the beach as intoxicated people may fall into the water and drown. Amazing Thailand logic..

[Mrjlh]

Triangles would work.

[davidmann]

stupid people ,they are used in France safe place for small kids to swim ,but you can't walk on them ,just change the design

[Procrastinator]

When i was a young lad, living in the far north west of Australia, the local Broome council installed a shark proof swimming area at the local beach, complete with internal elevated walkways and high walls.

It became the first aquatic playground i ever saw, and unfortunately, kids were always hurting themselves as they abused the design, using it for all manner of dangerous activity (tides there abouts, run at twenty to thirty feet)... But kids will be kids

We all know that water and stupidity goes hand in hand ( songkran is upon us), so expect more incidents in the future, regardless of the past

A primary principle in safety management is design. As has been said, and correctly, in my opinion, these booms need to be redesigned to prevent a reoccurrence... To say otherwise is naive.

Human behavior is the hardest factor in an equation to change, hence the least robust of barriers to prevent accidents..

Unfortunately someone died, but often, and sadly, this is usually the catalyst for change.... And in this case, it would seem that change is quite simple, perhaps, as has been suggested, by retro fitting objects that prevent walking on top of the booms (balls, or a steep pyramid top section???)

To suggest removing them is akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water... Which some wits may suggest is the thai way of doing things

[Jonmarleesco]

Well, the booms are hardly invisible and they have long been used to divide areas off beaches, in the interests of safety. I'm not sure how much news an accident involving one might generate but I haven't heard of any, never mind fatalities as a result. But then I don't think they are intended for walking on.

I assume the main purpose of the booms on Pattaya beach is to keep the jet skis out of swimming areas and considering the Thais' approach to safety issues, their removal is unlikely to see any alternative action taken to deal with rogue ski riders, much more likely 'accidents' waiting to happen.

[circusman]

Attention:

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

They may fall off and drown.

Excellent advice. Im sure no one else thought of that.

[peterbkk9]

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.

Good luck trying to explain this to the Thais

[Jasun]

No boom boom in Jomtien? Doesn't sound right. Why don't they just stick up a sign telling people not to walk on them?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Jingthing]

Keep the booms.

Sensible answer would be hire lifeguards where there are booms, and scream at people walking on them to get off.

The Thainess way would be to empower beach mafia thugs to enforce a fine payment for walking on the booms. "Damage"

I am very sorry for this boy and his family, of course, but this sounds like it might be used as an irrational excuse to dump the booms, and I suspect some other powers don't want the booms for OTHER reasons.

[DLP]

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.

When these booms were designed nobody thought that people that could not swim would walk on them

[DLP]

No boom boom in Jomtien? Doesn't sound right. Why don't they just stick up a sign telling people not to walk on them?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Because no one would take any notice

[SOTIRIOS]

...why not arrest and fine them.....for tampering with safety devices....???

....walking on them is insane........their removal would be insane.....

[peecee]

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?

You can't learn common sense!

[tingtongteesood]

Darwin awards nominee.

[matador007]

Som nam na

[belg]

one thai dies because he does something stupid and cannot swim (or did he think he could walk on water?) and safety measures must go ?

maybe all buildings in pattaya can only be ground floor, so no tourist can go dive off it and die ?

[Ulic]

He died because of a lack of common sense. End of story.

[Scully]

Weigh down on the inner circle so the boom sits like this / . Add triangular booms as far out so non swimmers can't reach the level boom, liberally coat in duck fat so running is impossible.

Ok a little tongue in cheek but this life saving bouy can surely be tweaked/altered to keep people safe.

[BeforeTigers]

I don't really understand what happened between the time when he was alive and the time when he was no longer alive.

Was he entangled with the structure somehow?
Was rendered unconscious in the fall?
It isn't as if he fell into a tar pit.
<deleted>.

[Jingthing]

I don't really understand what happened between the time when he was alive and the time when he was no longer alive.

Was he entangled with the structure somehow?

Was rendered unconscious in the fall?

It isn't as if he fell into a tar pit.

<deleted>.

If you can drown in a bathtub you can drown in deep water (over your head) you fall into if you can't swim.

[EyesWideOpen]

Triangles would work.

Great minds think alike. The instant I saw this story, I thought the simple process

of placing triangle shaped blocks on top of each one would easily do the job. And

anyone who could walk along on the edge of the triangle could probably swim...

[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.

When these booms were designed nobody thought that people that could not swim would walk on them

Why would that obvious possibility not occur to them?

In a country where people ride 3+ up on a motorcycle, one or two of whom are too young to even walk, while the driver talks on his phone.

And even someone who could swim may get into trouble.

Edited April 2, 2014 by jacko45k

[jacko45k]

Triangles would work.

Great minds think alike. The instant I saw this story, I thought the simple process

of placing triangle shaped blocks on top of each one would easily do the job. And

anyone who could walk along on the edge of the triangle could probably swim...

Equilateral triangular blocks or pyramids would float long flat side up...... tempting indeed.

[andygunther]

I wonder how many lives have been saved because of these.
Have read about many deaths where people, been hit by boats and jet skis in Pattaya.

[fakename]

No matter how the booms are retrofitted, or replaced, there will always be people trying to make a game out of climbing, running, or jumping on them. That is just a fact of life, and in this case, death. The same people that run on the booms, are the same people running across the street, without looking, or riding 5 on a motor bike. How many people jump off bridges, thinking its cool, and dont understand there is only a foot of water, and they will break their neck.

[DLP]

No matter how the booms are retrofitted, or replaced, there will always be people trying to make a game out of climbing, running, or jumping on them. That is just a fact of life, and in this case, death. The same people that run on the booms, are the same people running across the street, without looking, or riding 5 on a motor bike. How many people jump off bridges, thinking its cool, and dont understand there is only a foot of water, and they will break their neck.

They walk among us.

[Rimmer]

Troll post removed

[art vandelay]

man killed in road traffic accident. ban cars.

[Basil B]

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.

There is a design issue with these booms...

They look safe to walk on, but they are not, no warning notices are going to stop anyone walking on them, they need to be made so people can not walk on them.

But not forgetting the real problem is the brainless drivers of boats and jet skis that make the need for these booms in the first place.

[Keesters]

Please do not remove the booms. They are there for the safety of swimmers not for walking on.