Frustrated Phuket beach guard lashes out at Russian tourist

[hercdogules]

The Russion was in the water BECAUSE of the waves - look at the surfboard. So there goes my toursism dollars, since I am not welcome to surf there anymore - the only reason I went. Thankfully the beaches I go to have no crowds or lifeguards. I guess there is no more surfing in Phuket so ("F" word) you Phuket!

Sorry, but I'm gonna say this - Thai mentality - it just doesn't exist.

I would love to take that (reference to female genitalia) lifeguard to northern california and let him see some real 50 footers at mavericks in half moon bay.

P.S., if the lifeguard or any thai kicks you, they are wrong. Police have told me 3 times that whoever hits first is wrong, I am free to fight back and beat the $h1t out of them. Only problem is in Thailand, these (reference to multiple female genetalia) dont' go one on one, but rather 20 to 1.

I'm just glad this is all that happened and I hope we don't see this Russian surfer committing suicide with his hands behind his back.

P.S. these (reference to male genetalia) suckers are probably hopped up on yabba as well.

Edited January 15, 2015 by hercdogules

[smotherb]

"They were tired" is often an excuse for bad behavior. They are punks is more to the point.

Yes, agree with you.......

They are punks because they are trying to prevent other people from drowning.

They are punks because they risk their lives to save other peoples lives.

I hope when you are in danger, one of those punks is near you to save your life.

Yeah, and they think all tourists speak English--what if the Russians had no idea who they were or what they were saying--remember, it was the life guard who gave the finger first.

[MobileContent]

If a lifeguard in Germany puts up a stunt like this he will be arrested and the prosecutor and judge will see him/her in court. For sure he would be fired on the spot but then again this is Thailand a lawless country.

BTW I am not anti Thai or bashing the Thais but the lifeguard should be fired on the spot.

[stevenl]

They should go back to renting out jetskis.

Huh? Maybe best to only comment on things you have at least a marginal idea what you're talking about.

He does know what he's talking about. When they reduced the amount of jet skis on Phuket beaches they called on the ex jet ski employees to help with life guard duties. Hence why these thugs acted the way they did and the poster suggesting they go back to renting jet skis. How silly do you feel now, apologise to the man!!

They reduced the amount of jetski's on Phuket, I must have missed that news article.

And no, these guys have been employed by the life guard organisation for quite some time already.

Edited January 15, 2015 by stevenl

[Reigntax]

I suggest some of the readers be less racist or do not live here. These guys day in day out risk their life to help and save people with very little equipment like jet-skis in Australia. Then you get people who ignore red flags which should be obvious what it means and be disrespectful. The lifeguards have to put up with disrespect probably every day. I see some of the tourists they come here and look down on Thais. They would not behave the same in their own country. Most of the tourists here are budget end people and not educated.

I would suggest the lifeguards actions are exactly why people would look down on them.

I'm yet to hear of an Australian lifeguard assaulting a beachgoer in the last 50 or so years despite the 10s of thousands of foreign tourists they occasionally have to deal with. Physical violence and lack of intelligence are usually related.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Reigntax

[SOTIRIOS]

.....welcome to Thailand.......

...the lifeguard is excused by virtue of the headline.....always a ready excuse...

....he is right or justified....the tourists are in the wrong......

[Rickster]

They should go back to renting out jetskis.

Huh? Maybe best to only comment on things you have at least a marginal idea what you're talking about.

He does know what he's talking about. When they reduced the amount of jet skis on Phuket beaches they called on the ex jet ski employees to help with life guard duties. Hence why these thugs acted the way they did and the poster suggesting they go back to renting jet skis. How silly do you feel now, apologise to the man!!

They reduced the amount of jetski's on Phuket, I mist have missed that news article.

And no, these guys have been employed by the life guard organisation for quite some time already.

Obviously not as up with Phuket current affairs as you think you are, so better you do some more research before insulting other posters who are obviously better informed than yourself!!

[Jimbolai]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

"They were tired" is often an excuse for bad behavior. They are punks is more to the point.

Yes, agree with you.......

They are punks because they are trying to prevent other people from drowning.

They are punks because they risk their lives to save other peoples lives.

I hope when you are in danger, one of those punks is near you to save your life.

They are punks. Period.

The flags are a warning device for the tourist. They are not " do what I say or get kicked"

Time for Thais to learn manners or they will be big losers when the tourists stay away.

looks like life guards are the bigger danger to the tourists.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Jimbolai

[kannot]

I suggest some of the readers be less racist or do not live here. These guys day in day out risk their life to help and save people with very little equipment like jet-skis in Australia. Then you get people who ignore red flags which should be obvious what it means and be disrespectful. The lifeguards have to put up with disrespect probably every day. I see some of the tourists they come here and look down on Thais. They would not behave the same in their own country. Most of the tourists here are budget end people and not educated.

Yes thats right, dont follow the rules and if you dont drown dont worry we'll kick your head in anyway.

Dont forget to keep smiling and wai them as their feet enter your mouth.

[brain150]

"They were tired" is often an excuse for bad behavior. They are punks is more to the point.

Yes, agree with you.......

They are punks because they are trying to prevent other people from drowning.

They are punks because they risk their lives to save other peoples lives.

I hope when you are in danger, one of those punks is near you to save your life.

I don't need a nanny.

I think for myself and evaluate dangers for myself ! No need for punks to tell me

what I can do or cannot do because they know better than I do [so they think]

But I also don't complain when stupid people drown in rough water.

[stevenl]

Huh? Maybe best to only comment on things you have at least a marginal idea what you're talking about.

He does know what he's talking about. When they reduced the amount of jet skis on Phuket beaches they called on the ex jet ski employees to help with life guard duties. Hence why these thugs acted the way they did and the poster suggesting they go back to renting jet skis. How silly do you feel now, apologise to the man!!

They reduced the amount of jetski's on Phuket, I mist have missed that news article.

And no, these guys have been employed by the life guard organisation for quite some time already.

Obviously not as up with Phuket current affairs as you think you are, so better you do some more research before insulting other posters who are obviously better informed than yourself!!

Or you can simply stop writing nonsense. Which would of course be 'stop writing'.

[BlackJack]

I am confused as the pic shows a guy with a surf board and I know surf boards and big waves go together

what am I missing

[kannot]

I have lived in Thailand for 4 years.

Phuket sucks. Period. Full stop.

I went there last week and instead of staying over (for FREE) ... I took the last flight home.

What many people are missing is that it is not the money ... we simply tire of people treating us in a way that says "You are an idiot."

Example:

700 THB for a cab ride that on a BKK meter would be about 126

Botle of water 30 THB

and on and on and on and I am tied of it.

God, it was great to get back to "cheap" BKK where you can have a great dinner FOR LESS than the cost of Phuket Mafia ride to a restaurant.

Stuff it Phuket.

Try Bangkok Airport, 50 baht a bottle for water

[Chao Lao Beach]

Awsome Spew-ket shines again, Thainess and Happyness

“He then got into a Thai boxing stance as if to continue. A few people got in the middle and more lifeguards arrived on the scene. But rather than simply ushering their co-worker away, the other lifeguards basically squared up to everyone as well."

[hansgruber]

Easy just to ignore these local baboons. They aren't worth acknowledging and treat them as invisible.

Unpredictable Neanderthals with a short fuse.

[Phuketboy]

Was a life guard/saver on the Gold Coast in Australia for 15 years, started about 15 and finished when I was 30. Yes it can be frustrating when you are trying to get people to swim within the flags and not where it's dangerous. This can be even more frustrating when there is a language barrier and people can't understand what you are trying to explain to them.

However, I was at the beach in Patong on the weekend with my daughter and I was trying to explain to her what the flags were and where it's safe to swim. These flags were everywhere and even as a trained life guard/saver, it was hard for me to see where they wanted us to swim. There would have been close to 100 flags on the beach. What is needed is a couple of flagged safe areas and one red flag between each area to indicate rips/currents etc. As for heavy waves, that is no reason to mark a danger area unless there is a strong rip or current running. I have never seen large heavy waves in Thailand and certainly nothing to be alarmed about. The life guards duty to remain calm at all times and ensure the safety of people on the beach, firstly to those in the flagged area and secondly to those outside. No matter what safety precautions you put in place, you can't cater for everyone's stupidity and they will swim where they want regardless. I can understand the guards frustration but the first thing to remember is to remain calm to go attacking people for not listening to your instructions. More training is obviously needed for the guards as well as some signs near the beach in multiple languages to educate tourists.

[stevenl]

I am confused as the pic shows a guy with a surf board and I know surf boards and big waves go together

what am I missing

The pic is a stock photo.

[Rickster]

Or you can simply stop writing nonsense. Which would of course be 'stop writing'.

Why is it nonsense, you are uninformed and insulted a poster who stated facts. What you're trying to say to me is stop writing because you've got me over a barrel and I have no way out other than reply with pathetic come backs....as I said an apology to said poster would be nice but nah you won't do that will you.......

[wowfactor10]

"They were tired" is often an excuse for bad behavior. They are punks is more to the point.

Yes, agree with you.......

They are punks because they are trying to prevent other people from drowning.

They are punks because they risk their lives to save other peoples lives.

I hope when you are in danger, one of those punks is near you to save your life.

Maybe he was better of drowning in the sea then what that pack of so called life guards had in mind for him !!!

[cookee68]

Well if the tourist refuses to listen, then just walk away, maybe he did not understand the Thai man, but when you put your middle finger up, then in most country's this is understood, then comes along the thug brigade, and we all know how it works from then on.

[Eli1]

"They were tired" is often an excuse for bad behavior. They are punks is more to the point.

Yes, agree with you.......

They are punks because they are trying to prevent other people from drowning.

They are punks because they risk their lives to save other peoples lives.

I hope when you are in danger, one of those punks is near you to save your life.

Why he is telling the truth jet sky scamming is where they belong, they could not save you if they tried they are the most hopeless lifesavers you can ever imagine.

[cooked]

I am a qualified life saver.

I constantly had to fight against the 'I tell these idiots the same thing every day and they are still doing it' illness. Others amongst my colleagues lost that battle.

Secondly, if we found that people were habitually doing the wrong thing, we would discuss what WE had been doing wrong, not blaming the customer, which is a Thai trait.

ONE flag? Was it immediately obvious that this meant that the water was becoming dangerous, indeed was it really red at all, not some drab brown rag?

We had very few drowning incidents in life saver protected areas in Switzerland but I can remember the depressed and gloomy atmosphere when something happened.

I find reports like this utterly miserable and repulsive at the same time.

(Edit): furthermore one of the first things we learned was NOT to risk your life if things looked dangerous. 'Push the b***er under the water if he tries to claw you down' was one thing we learnt. A good life saver does NOT risk his life, he may be needed the next day.

Edited January 15, 2015 by cooked

[arrowsdawdle]

someone needs to explain to these guys that the way of the thug has no place anywhere when dealing with tourists, if the water is choppy and they put up a red flag and some tourists ignore it then that Is up to them but they shouldn't expect any help if they get into trouble - up to them

Thais have a habit of overstepping their authority that they think they have when they don't and then trying to enforce it with violence, also shouting and being rude is no way to get anyone to listen, these people need to be taken to the side and given a few training days on how and how not to deal with tourists

The guy in question should be spoken too and if he still doesn't get it then sack him

You're not in Kansas any more, Smedly.

[HerbalEd]

I don't condone the lifeguard's behavior, but I understand his frustration. Indeed it's the lifeguard who has to risk his own life to save the life of a stupid tourist who goes out in dangerous water, in spite of the red flag warning.

[Morakot]

They are punks

[akc1956]

I suggest some of the readers be less racist or do not live here. These guys day in day out risk their life to help and save people with very little equipment like jet-skis in Australia. Then you get people who ignore red flags which should be obvious what it means and be disrespectful. The lifeguards have to put up with disrespect probably every day. I see some of the tourists they come here and look down on Thais. They would not behave the same in their own country. Most of the tourists here are budget end people and not educated.

So that gives them around to start fighting??? Remember that 80% of this country is uneducated.. But that doesn't give me or anyone any right to fight them...

[laislica]

"They were tired" is often an excuse for bad behavior. They are punks is more to the point.

Yes, agree with you.......

They are punks because they are trying to prevent other people from drowning.

They are punks because they risk their lives to save other peoples lives.

I hope when you are in danger, one of those punks is near you to save your life.

I don't need a nanny.

I think for myself and evaluate dangers for myself ! No need for punks to tell me

what I can do or cannot do because they know better than I do [so they think]

But I also don't complain when stupid people drown in rough water.

Mate, see my post above - I bloody nearly drowned!

I need a nanny!

Many of us do!

Where do you like to wizz along with your surf board,

in crowded places where your board can do great damage if you hit someone by accident?

Let the flags warn us and give you a chunk of beach, partitioned off so you can surf all you want and where there is no life guard cover!

To me that sounds like a win-win.

I appreciate that there is a thrill to be had by surfing and 50 years ago I'd a loved to have a go, but I'm a tad past me sell by date LOL

Give me a Nanny anytime!

[akc1956]

More like 96%

[arrowsdawdle]

Or you can simply stop writing nonsense. Which would of course be 'stop writing'.

Why is it nonsense, you are uninformed and insulted a poster who stated facts. What you're trying to say to me is stop writing because you've got me over a barrel and I have no way out other than reply with pathetic come backs....as I said an apology to said poster would be nice but nah you won't do that will you.......

Don't make me stop this car, boys.

[Jimbo2014]

Lucky you cant pack a gun easily into speedos or there would have been beach time carnage