Dutch Woman Die, 2 Missing In Rough Seas

[Crispy Duck]

Unfortunatly there are no signs on the beeches on koh chang to warn people i have seen someone swept away two weeks ago.its sad for all to see such things and the local authorities need to put signs and red flags on the beeches not only on this island but,all over thailand to protect all. If you came to the island 4yrs ago there were signs on 4 points along the beech, try to find them now.

[jdinasia]

Unfortunatly there are no signs on the beeches on koh chang to warn people i have seen someone swept away two weeks ago.its sad for all to see such things and the local authorities need to put signs and red flags on the beeches not only on this island but,all over thailand to protect all. If you came to the island 4yrs ago there were signs on 4 points along the beech, try to find them now.

yes ... each beach has flag system

[Mossfinn]

This place IMO is Mae Ramphueng or near there.

This beach (Mae Ramphueng) looks nice and not dangerous you can think at first while playing or swimming in the sea. You can not see the danger is always lurking - it is lurking in undertows and currents.

That is always a tragedy and my condolences to the familes.

This story is posted somewhere else and I said on that thread that my wife was on Mae Ramphueng beach and I could hear the waves crashing at that time when she phoned me, she said the sea was very unsettled.

I wondered at the time whether it was near where the trajedy happened, eugeneri, I think you have confirmed it might have been.

I hope the family will come to terms with their loss.

Moss

[sriracha john]

and the day following the drownings...

MORE people are still going in and nearly drowning???

There is a definite PROBLEM there with communicating the danger...

Teens rescued in rough seas

Two Thai tourists were rescued from the sea off Koh Chang Lagoon Resort here yesterday. The male tourists, aged about 17, were swimming in front of the hotel with three foreign tourists when they were suddenly swallowed by big waves and disappeared. The three foreign tourists went to their rescue and provided first-aid. Rescue officers said the Thai tourists, from Phetchabun, visited Koh Chang with their families before the incident. On Saturday, a Dutch woman drowned in waters off Koh Chang while swimming with her family. On the same day, four local tourists were swept away by a big wave, but rescuers saved them.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/14Aug2006_news10.php

[Jai Dee]

Duplicate threads merged.

/Edit - and can we keep the language clean please?

Edited August 14, 2006 by Jai Dee

[merlion]

:

Duplicate threads merged.

/Edit - and can we keep the language clean please?

For goodness sake, where are the lifeguards? Don't they have the least safety protoccols in place ?

[Thaising]

Canadian tourist drowns in Mae Hong Son white-water rafting

Mae Hong Son - A Canadian women drowned and became unaccounted for after falling off a raft during white-water rafting on the Pai River, police said.

Pol Capt Watchara Jaidee of Mae Hong Son's Muang district police station said the accident happened early Monday morning.

The tourist was identified as Susan van Amerom, 26.

Her body was found at 4 pm.

Watchara said the woman and three other foreign tourists were rafting from Pai district to Muang district on the river.

When the rubber raft reached the Kaeng Hin Mong rapid in Tambon Huaypha of Muang district, the raft lost control and the woman fell off and disappeared, the police officer said.

The Nation

[terry57]

oo boy im dutch myself to , condolance aan de familie.

I used to rent a jetski in pattaya like 4 times a week ,and had some motoric prob with them somethimes but I always managed to get them running again .

one day i had this jetskie for myself all day and wanted to go the the nearby island with it,its was already gettin dark but i thaught I could make it .anyways half the way this fukkin engijne stopt and I didnt get on on again ,so I paniced I waited for like 2 hours and saw no boat whatsoever ,Ive was being swept away into the ocean,I really paniced I saw already had visions of my al burned from the sun and dryed out in the middle of the ocean floatin on a dead jetskie ,,luckely I had a lifevest with me ,it was already dark and I sw the pattaya light gettin further and futher away ,so i said to myself fukkit i have to make a swim for it, otherwise im death for sure ,let me tell you ive been swimming for over 15 hours ,I swim all fukkin night ,till a local toerist boat spotted me ,they got me aboard and I was almost death ,after they gave me some cold beer en food I was feeling better again,never again I go alone on sea ,it was a life lesson .

cricky's mate thats a real scary story and im real happy your still with us.

but i got 2 things to say here and dont go getting angry at me ok.

A have you lost your dictionary?

B you got to be carefull about using the F word mate.

look ive been in the bin and some mods are a bit touchy so to speak so take my top advise and say frigging.

cheers mate

This is off-topic, but necessary I feel.

I guess you must not have read that he was a Dutch-speaker!

You might not know this, but spelling/writing in English is extremely difficult for native speakers, but --understandably-- even more so for non-native speakers-- as it is full of exceptions. I should know. English is my second language and I'm a learning-assistance teacher in Canada.

Even though Dutch is a Germanic language (like most of English), paradoxically it is more difficult to manage English spelling, as the words are so closely related.

Incidentally, I am a French-speaker. 1/2 of English is made up of latin words. It is much easier for speakers of Latin languages because we know how it is spelled in French (or in Italian,...). We only have one set of spelling rules to learn, namely the Anglo-Saxon set, which --by itself-- is fairly logical.

As far as the use of the word "f*cking" is concerned, let me remind people that --like kids-- tourists listening to English native-speakers will pick up the words they hear the most often. I think one cannot fault tourists for using it. However, I am with you in that I find its use deplorable. BTW, that word (like "you know",...) is called in linguistics a filler. It is usually used by people who have a limited vocabulary, who have limited abilities to formulate their thoughts, or who are in a hurry or emotional. Or, here, when one is a non-native speaker not aware of all of the ... rules. I don't see any problems mentioning it, but you could have sent a private message to the person, instead, I think.

So, let's be aware that not all people have learned English (as a first language) in this forum. Please let us all continue to show some tact and good judgment for people who so respectfully try to write to us in a language that's not their first language.

Thank you.

mate, can you please tell me if you been drinking or just smoking wacky tabbaci.

thanks mate.

cheers

[geoffphuket]

The waters around Phuket take their toll every year when the monsoon season arrives. The problem we have here is that tourists arrive for a 'beach holiday' and, regardless of what notices or flags are displayed, ignore them thinking they know better determined to get what they've paid for.

I've personally intervened when I've seen families with young children playing in huge waves - more often than not being told to mind my own business. I guess for as long as I remain living here I'll have to continue reading about these tragedies.

Condolences to all concerned on this occasion

[sriracha john]

Canadian tourist drowns in Mae Hong Son white-water rafting

An equally sad, but separate incident covered in a separate thread:

Canadian Woman Killed In Rafting Accident, Fell out of raft on Pai River

Edited August 14, 2006 by sriracha john

[jaapfries]

Unfortunatly there are no signs on the beeches on koh chang to warn people i have seen someone swept away two weeks ago.its sad for all to see such things and the local authorities need to put signs and red flags on the beeches not only on this island but,all over thailand to protect all. If you came to the island 4yrs ago there were signs on 4 points along the beech, try to find them now.

yes ... each beach has flag system

==================================================================

So: what is it ? ? ? Are there warning-flags up, during "rip-tide" periods or re htere NOY ? ? ?

If they "should" be up, but someone had forgotten to do his job, then I reckon the families of the victims should put in a huge bloody claim to this government and pronto.

My sincerest condolences to all family and friends.

They have a saying in Holland; goes something like this:

"When the calf has drowned, they fill-in the well"

Jaap

Pattaya

[Scott]

My condolences to the family and friends. What a tragic holiday.

[meemiathai]

Unfortunatly there are no signs on the beeches on koh chang to warn people i have seen someone swept away two weeks ago.its sad for all to see such things and the local authorities need to put signs and red flags on the beeches not only on this island but,all over thailand to protect all. If you came to the island 4yrs ago there were signs on 4 points along the beech, try to find them now.

yes ... each beach has flag system

Not that I don't have feelings for others, but as someone said earlier people die everyday. These things happen everyday.

What I don't understand is do people really think it is the responsibility of someone to warn others the danger of the sea? Does the person himself have no responsibility at all? The sea is something natural, it has always been there. It's not something man-made being placed there, with some hidden dangers that no one has any ideas what it is all about.

And I could see here someone even expect that there are life-guards in every beach in the world.

[merlion]

Unfortunatly there are no signs on the beeches on koh chang to warn people i have seen someone swept away two weeks ago.its sad for all to see such things and the local authorities need to put signs and red flags on the beeches not only on this island but,all over thailand to protect all. If you came to the island 4yrs ago there were signs on 4 points along the beech, try to find them now.

yes ... each beach has flag system

Not that I don't have feelings for others, but as someone said earlier people die everyday. These things happen everyday.

What I don't understand is do people really think it is the responsibility of someone to warn others the danger of the sea? Does the person himself have no responsibility at all? The sea is something natural, it has always been there. It's not something man-made being placed there, with some hidden dangers that no one has any ideas what it is all about.

And I could see here someone even expect that there are life-guards in every beach in the world.

For your information, not everyone can make rational decisions and behave in a responsible manner - children, drunkards, idiots, and the arrogant <deleted>.

[meemiathai]

For your information, not everyone can make rational decisions and behave in a responsible manner - children, drunkards, idiots, and the arrogant <deleted>.

And the responsibility goes to?

[jdinasia]

Unfortunatly there are no signs on the beeches on koh chang to warn people i have seen someone swept away two weeks ago.its sad for all to see such things and the local authorities need to put signs and red flags on the beeches not only on this island but,all over thailand to protect all. If you came to the island 4yrs ago there were signs on 4 points along the beech, try to find them now.

yes ... each beach has flag system

==================================================================

So: what is it ? ? ? Are there warning-flags up, during "rip-tide" periods or re htere NOY ? ? ?

If they "should" be up, but someone had forgotten to do his job, then I reckon the families of the victims should put in a huge bloody claim to this government and pronto.

My sincerest condolences to all family and friends.

They have a saying in Holland; goes something like this:

"When the calf has drowned, they fill-in the well"

Jaap

Pattaya

Were there? CD says no ... I wasn't there so cannot tell you. There are red flags all over Phuket though. I can't say I have seen signs though. Frankly your willingness to blame someone other than the people in the water is a trifle mind boggling though. I RESEARCH things (not to death ... but certainly enough to be informed about the conditions of places I will be travelling ... like Thailand and the Beaches ... or when I go out of the country ... then about where I am going.) There is no person responsible for my safety from the world but me. If I had children I would be responsible for them too.

All that being said ... I am very sad that things like this happen. I Choose to live in Thailand because it isn't a nanny-state and not overly litiginous. I scuba ... I swim .. I ride motorcycles ... I go to places upcountry where I don't speak the local dialect ... Many Many things that people consider unsafe! If something happens ... well ... I LIVE life and enjoy it ... beats dieing of clogged arteries in Ronald McDonald town!

Edited August 15, 2006 by jdinasia

[Sphere]

Let's all get together and call for the heads of those involved - all those uneducated, lowly-paid, heathen guides, officials and general 3rd world idiots.

How on earth could those petty imbeciles allow our educated, intelligent, well bred & generally better aware tourists (& english teaching volunteers) to endanger their own lives.

Oh Mummy - do call for the butler will you, I wet my nappies just thinking about this horrendously criminal 3rd worldly negligence.

[merlion]

For your information, not everyone can make rational decisions and behave in a responsible manner - children, drunkards, idiots, and the arrogant <deleted>.

And the responsibility goes to?

Use your "educated" brain. Could you?

[sibeymai]

of the many ways to die it is said that drowning is one of the more peaceful ways to go, perhaps with the exception of dying in one's sleep. Everyone who goes in or on the water, be it ocean, lake or river, must realise that there is the chance they will not survive due to some unforeseen circumstance, could be an accident or something as simple as a muscle cramp while swimming. Similar events on land may not be life threatening, but water is unforgiving. Golden rule whatever happens is DON'T PANIC AND ASSESS THE SITUATION RATIONALLY.

[mitrapaap]

How was that local warning given? Would that be a sign written in thai or by the local vendor while ripen off the tourist tell them in Thai. hmm . This country for being dependent on tourism seems to do nothing at all to ensure the safety of the visitors. Ever see a lifeguard here? Ever see a first aid center? Sorry, I have never even seen a warning sign but then again I can’t read Thai.

Two things. One is that you can put as many warning signs as you want, in how many languages it may be, you will always have some (stupid) tourists ignoring them. I'm coming from a country with mountains and snow and dogs who try to find those buried under snow because they have crossed the barriers and believe me the signs are in many languages.

The other thing is that I lived in Rayong for a few months and went to that beach several times. A friend and her family with other friends, we were playing in the water, 4 adults 2 children the weather was fine, the sea was calm. The sky covered, wind cam up. We were not far out at all, I could stand on the floor - until the waves came and then not anymore. It became very scary in absolutely no time and I really thought we might not make it. People saw us and came towards us from the beach to help us. I have learnt that the ocean is as nice as the mountains but not any less dangereous. Later I learnt that a few hundred meters further a little girl died at the same time. Now tell me, what sign should they have posted? Be careful when the sky gets cloudy? Nature sometimes is faster than any warning. For me, Mae Raem Phueng is a dangereous beach where people get killed every year. I won't wet more than my feet at this place. And yes, if I ever see a warning sign somewhere, I'll believe it!!!

[mitrapaap]

of the many ways to die it is said that drowning is one of the more peaceful ways to go, perhaps with the exception of dying in one's sleep. Everyone who goes in or on the water, be it ocean, lake or river, must realise that there is the chance they will not survive due to some unforeseen circumstance, could be an accident or something as simple as a muscle cramp while swimming. Similar events on land may not be life threatening, but water is unforgiving. Golden rule whatever happens is DON'T PANIC AND ASSESS THE SITUATION RATIONALLY.

I'm sure glad to hear that emergency situations in your case still allow you to assess the situation, maybe over a cup of tea, before making the decision how to proceed best. I admit I did not use any diver or rescue knowledge when making the instinctive decision to swim towards the beach but I suspect that if I had started to evaluate the situation in which we were before acting, I might have become responsible for the death of two kids.

If you have the knowledge and/or the experience to be sure to do the right thing, then do that. If you don't know anyhow, then just do something.

[sibeymai]

MITRAPAAP,

faced with any unexpected situation the human instinct is reaction. Amazingly the mental process of determning the reaction also seems to be able to assess the urgency of the reaction. Once it has been determined, in an instant, that an instant reaction is not required, then possible reactions can be considered with the intention of both choosing the most advantageous reaction and more importantly, not making the situation worse. Choosing the wrong reaction could be worse than not reacting at all.

I hope this makes the point of my post clear to you.