Frustrated Phuket beach guard lashes out at Russian tourist

[Thaiready]

What pathetic excuse is this? That's like saying I am tired of these imbicil Thai drivers, so can I run them over now?

This country is going completely wrong and if nothing is done about this monkey behavior they will all get to go back and plant rice...

Why not give the life guards a sign with explanation of flags in few languages... Then those tourists not understanding their southern Thai will know what that means. Red flag = no swimming. Swimming only allowed in XXX zone. Put this in English, Chinese, and Russian and you got 90% of tourists covered...

How about "Red flag = No swimming, lifeguard not allowed to risk his life to save your dumba**"

takes one to know one.

[smedly]

someone needs to explain to these guys that the way of the thug has no place anywhere when dealing with touristsThe guy in question should be spoken too and if he still doesn't get it then sack him

All these arrogant posts have me frustrated. Go visit the Russian filled beaches in Phuket, and you would want to scream. Their rudeness, and outright cruelness towards Thai's, to me, is criminal. I was so glad to leave Karon Beach last week, after a few day visit,...but I feel so sorry for the Thai's who live there, and feel they have to put up with these Russians (and Muslims).

This is just the beginning of the retaliation against arrogant tourists,...a beginning that anywhere else, would have began long ago,...when the first Russian tourists came.

I am no lover of Russians Germans Indians as I find them rude ill mannered and generally disgusting people apart from a few that have proven to be the opposite (very few) or muslims for that matter, but this thread is not about them - it is about the Thai mentality towards tourists.

Look if you are Thai and you run a business that depends on tourists to make money you will not be in business very long if you treat your customers with shouting confrontation and threats of violence, these guys are not in business they are in the service sector and are paid a wage with little to gain by being polite - so they don't see it as a priority - that comes down to one thing - training and lack of incentive to be polite - the incentive comes from the local administration setting standards - codes of conduct and rules with the threat of being sacked if they break them - they have got to learn that threatening abusing or assaulting tourists will have implications for them.

They are doing a job on the beach and like I said above if they are ignored by tourists then they no longer have responsibility to them, the other point raised in a previous post was that they need to be clear about what the flags mean and make sure everybody on the beach understands what they are for and how/why they are placed and if ignored then you are on your own

I understand mostly the way Thais think and it is generally immature primitive and child like - for a country that has been in the tourist business for so many years and rely on it as a major part of their economy and income - they have learned little.

Can you imagine a bargirl getting on with this type of attitude - she wouldn't be working in the bar very long and would be back in the rice fields in the blink of an eye - they generally know what side the butter is on and if they don't they soon learn

[stevenl]

"if they are ignored by tourists then they no longer have responsibility to them"

Have you made that decision?

[Bung]

Great. These guys are on the frontline of tourism here and what happens? He loses it and his mates jump in and "squared up"

Just typical thugs.

No. They are not typical thugs. These guys on occasions put their life on the line to save complete strangers. Most are volunteers, not being paid for what they do. They too would probably like to be sitting in a bar like you, but civic duty comes first with these guys. . It is sometimes, in Thailand, a thankless job. Everyone knows how Russians behave. They are belligerent pig-headed ignorant fools. Yes the life guards are at the front-line of tourism, protecting it. How would it look when increased drownings also start appearing on front page of newspapers, along with the murders, the rapes, theft and petty crime. TAT would not like that.

In countries like Australia and USA, Life Savers (Guards), together with the bush fire brigades are treated as heroes. They are brave folk. But how would you know ? You wouldnt know how terrifying it can be out in a huge surf pulling someone in who disobeyed the life guards instructions. How many lives can you with hand on heart say you saved in your life.

Get with your volunteers, and stop jumping on the band wagon with idiotic whining. Maybe you would like one of the "brave-souls" from Syria to come out and pull you in out of the surf.

So would you consider a lifeguard who decides to kick a tourist for whatever reason and his co workers who jump in not to diffuse the situation but instead square up to fight heroes?

Do you honestly believe they are doing it for free? Hahaha!

[Aussiescott]

Maybe all this press has had an effect, the lifeguards weren't even there today... lmao and the beach was pretty packed...and still a big swell.... NOT!!! a 1 ft shore break like it is almost 100% at this time of year...

[laislica]

3 years ago on the beach at Karon in February.

No flags, water looked lovely.

In we went, it was great for a few minutes.

About waist deep when, with no warning a huge wave came in, knocked several of us over and under water.

I lost a lens from my expensive varifocal, colour changing specs and lost the skin off one knee.

Copped a couple of bruises.

Gulped a lung full of water and thought I'd bought it!

Luckly it was only one wave, had there been a second wave I would have drowned for sure!

It appears that it can happen very quickly on those beaches, the lifeguards must know that and this knowledge causes the urgency perhaps.

As another poster said, provide the guards with info in several languages.

Put up big notices to explain how quick things can change and that the public must act immediately to instruction from the Guards.

Again, in several languages.

The guard was wrong to react violently but if I were a Life Guard, I might also get frustrated as well.

The answer must be better tools and regular training of both the guards and the public.

There is a not-so-fine line between being frustrated and trying to kill someone with your thug friends.

Like in every tourist country, there are visitors with different backgrounds and habits, some more polite, some less. A big part of being in the tourist industry is understanding this fact and being accommodating even when people are not so nice to you.

Apparently, this is not so in Thailand, especially in hotspots like Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Tao, Samui, etc. For every tourist asaulted, scammed or killed there will be 10 new ones to go to the same place. Good for Thailand, I'd say.

Hmm, we also live part of our lives in a quiet part of south east Spain.

In a small pizza restaurant in a nearby sea side town, they normally give you a free garlic bread as a starter.

However, in the High Season, some friends went there, had to wait ages for the food, no free anything and the topping on the pizza was pathetically small.

My friend commented that she was quite disappointed as the meal was nothing like as good as it was in the low season - they were frequent visitors.....

The manager replied that it is High Season so she should feel lucky to get anything at all and stormed off!

They never went back in any season and told their story to many so I'm sure that the restaurant lost money in the long run.

You are quite right, courtesy and civility doesn't cost a penny and it should be part of the job of taking care of tourists to be polite and calm no matter what.

They should receive adequate training and reviews.

The public should be warned how quickly conditions can change in multi-lingual notice boards.

Maybe there should be an area of beach marked out telling the public that there will be

NO lifeguard service in that area - enter at your own risk.

This would cater for the surfers and thrill seekers and leave folk like me to be Nannied LOL

[lvr181]

3 years ago on the beach at Karon in February.

No flags, water looked lovely.

In we went, it was great for a few minutes.

About waist deep when, with no warning a huge wave came in, knocked several of us over and under water.

I lost a lens from my expensive varifocal, colour changing specs and lost the skin off one knee.

Copped a couple of bruises.

Gulped a lung full of water and thought I'd bought it!

Luckly it was only one wave, had there been a second wave I would have drowned for sure!

It appears that it can happen very quickly on those beaches, the lifeguards must know that and this knowledge causes the urgency perhaps.

As another poster said, provide the guards with info in several languages.

Put up big notices to explain how quick things can change and that the public must act immediately to instruction from the Guards.

Again, in several languages.

The guard was wrong to react violently but if I were a Life Guard, I might also get frustrated as well.

The answer must be better tools and regular training of both the guards and the public.

There is a not-so-fine line between being frustrated and trying to kill someone with your thug friends.

Like in every tourist country, there are visitors with different backgrounds and habits, some more polite, some less. A big part of being in the tourist industry is understanding this fact and being accommodating even when people are not so nice to you.

Apparently, this is not so in Thailand, especially in hotspots like Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Tao, Samui, etc. For every tourist asaulted, scammed or killed there will be 10 new ones to go to the same place. Good for Thailand, I'd say.

Hmm, we also live part of our lives in a quiet part of south east Spain.

In a small pizza restaurant in a nearby sea side town, they normally give you a free garlic bread as a starter.

However, in the High Season, some friends went there, had to wait ages for the food, no free anything and the topping on the pizza was pathetically small.

My friend commented that she was quite disappointed as the meal was nothing like as good as it was in the low season - they were frequent visitors.....

The manager replied that it is High Season so she should feel lucky to get anything at all and stormed off!

They never went back in any season and told their story to many so I'm sure that the restaurant lost money in the long run.

You are quite right, courtesy and civility doesn't cost a penny and it should be part of the job of taking care of tourists to be polite and calm no matter what.

They should receive adequate training and reviews.

The public should be warned how quickly conditions can change in multi-lingual notice boards.

Maybe there should be an area of beach marked out telling the public that there will be

NO lifeguard service in that area - enter at your own risk.

This would cater for the surfers and thrill seekers and leave folk like me to be Nannied LOL

Please do not try a "farang" common sense approach here in Thailand. It is NOT usually wanted (or understood) because Thai people can solve all their own problems.

If the "macho types" want to kick women, then so be it. Maybe it is a part of Thai psyche? Who knows? But it ain't about to change anytime soon. So many of these "males" are legends in their own mind (or lunchtime)! So sad when the authorities are trying to encourage tourism.

[LivinginKata]

Inflammatory/illegal post removed.

[samsensam]

"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.

you're clearly missing the point. lifeguards are responsible for safety, they need to be professional and calm at all times. not only did one life guard lose his cool but the other lifeguards did not seek to calm the situation but looked like they wanted to escalate it. and the boos of the life guards appears to condone their behaviour.

sure, lifeguarding can involve stressful situations especially if there is no common language. the life guard should be trained to deal with such situations in a calm, professional and responsible way.

if the lifeguard could not cope with this situation i wonder how well he is trained to deal with a real life saving situation.

[Rorri]

Bogan Koori, on 15 Jan 2015 - 22:01, said:

canman, on 15 Jan 2015 - 16:56, said:

FiestyFarang, on 15 Jan 2015 - 16:14, said:

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.

This is just bigotry of lowered expectation.

I have been to beaches all over Australia and have never seen an Australian lifeguard assault a tourist. Same in Bali. You seem to think that we should make allowances because these thugs are Thai.

You never heard of the Cronulla riots? Started by Australian lifeguards who didn't like Arabs. You want to see Australian lifeguards in action then take a can of VB to Bondi beach and watch the tactical response group roll up.

Well you certainly are a bogan, spreading liars... as for the Cronulla riots...On 4 December 2005, a group of volunteer surf lifesavers were assaulted by a group of young men of Middle Eastern appearance, with several other violent assaults occurring over the next week.

Further reading for you,<removed>. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Cronulla_riots

[timewilltell]

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 really do get your point and sometimes people are pig headed and don't like being told what to do. I am sure the lifeguards do a good job, for which they are paid, but that does not give them an excuse to start attacking someone for disagreeing with them. I think the Thai lifeguard should be educated as to his position and expected behaviour and told in no uncertain terms that such behaviour is inexcusable with the sack the option if he continues. As for the Russian, probably didn't understand and is ignorant about flags so not much sympathy for him.

[inzman]

I am utterly shocked at the Thai apologists on here who come out and support the lifeguard. Let me emphasize, it is NEVER alright for a lifeguard in a tourist beach to "kick" a beach goer. And for the team to square out against tourists. This is simple thuggery and is not acceptable in any modern society, whatever the reason. It is what is now known as thainess. Why do people still visit this country?

[Mot Dang]

Great. These guys are on the frontline of tourism here and what happens? He loses it and his mates jump in and "squared up"

Just typical thugs.

No. They are not typical thugs. These guys on occasions put their life on the line to save complete strangers. Most are volunteers, not being paid for what they do. They too would probably like to be sitting in a bar like you, but civic duty comes first with these guys. . It is sometimes, in Thailand, a thankless job. Everyone knows how Russians behave. They are belligerent pig-headed ignorant fools. Yes the life guards are at the front-line of tourism, protecting it. How would it look when increased drownings also start appearing on front page of newspapers, along with the murders, the rapes, theft and petty crime. TAT would not like that.

In countries like Australia and USA, Life Savers (Guards), together with the bush fire brigades are treated as heroes. They are brave folk. But how would you know ? You wouldnt know how terrifying it can be out in a huge surf pulling someone in who disobeyed the life guards instructions. How many lives can you with hand on heart say you saved in your life.

Get with your volunteers, and stop jumping on the band wagon with idiotic whining. Maybe you would like one of the "brave-souls" from Syria to come out and pull you in out of the surf.

So would you consider a lifeguard who decides to kick a tourist for whatever reason and his co workers who jump in not to diffuse the situation but instead square up to fight heroes?

Do you honestly believe they are doing it for free? Hahaha!

No, they are volunteers, as most life savers around the world are. Keep your ill informed irresponsible thoughts and pussy laughter to yourself.

I spent 10 years on one of the toughest surf beaches in Sydney as a life saver. To be honest I am quite sure by your attitude that you are the type to get themselves into difficulties, by ignoring warnings, and panic. When a life saver approaches a swimmer who is panicking we try to calm them. Some panic, and violently, climbing all over you, we are taught to go for the bottom after all you wont follow, would you. We come up and try again, if that fails we can only wait to see what happens when the next 10 footer hits you. If you come up you get a third chance. But I doubt I would haul your ass in from 1 kilometer out to sea.

As I said before, get behind the volunteers whether life savers or bush fire fighters. And get a life (helping others).

[Bogan Koori]

Bogan Koori, on 15 Jan 2015 - 22:01, said:

canman, on 15 Jan 2015 - 16:56, said:

FiestyFarang, on 15 Jan 2015 - 16:14, said:

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.

This is just bigotry of lowered expectation.

I have been to beaches all over Australia and have never seen an Australian lifeguard assault a tourist. Same in Bali. You seem to think that we should make allowances because these thugs are Thai.

You never heard of the Cronulla riots? Started by Australian lifeguards who didn't like Arabs. You want to see Australian lifeguards in action then take a can of VB to Bondi beach and watch the tactical response group roll up.

Well you certainly are a bogan, spreading liars... as for the Cronulla riots...On 4 December 2005, a group of volunteer surf lifesavers were assaulted by a group of young men of Middle Eastern appearance, with several other violent assaults occurring over the next week.

Further reading for you,<removed>. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Cronulla_riots

No they started a fight after some middle eastern teenagers made an inappropriate comment.

[outboard]

After visiting Phuket many times there does seem to be a problem with Russian tourists (and unfortunately I can not distinguish between Russians and any other nationalities that have the same or similar sounding languages) more often then tourists from other countries and there does seem to be some expectation, amongst not only Thais but also expats and regular visitors (know many FIFO miners that spend time in Phuket) that they(Russians or Russian sounding) will create a problem. This creates a compounding problem because people interacting with them are expecting a confrontational or violent outcome from the beginning and either avoid them or rise to violence more rapidly then they would in dealing with other nationalities.

I've been a lifeguard myself in the past, I do go to Phuket to surf when the surf is up and I know exactly how the lifeguard feels. Easy to lose one's head when people are sometimes just plain stupid.

So how many people you kicked or hit?

early in lifeguard training you are taught how to best defend yourself from those you are saving and how to hit them effectively without the benefit of having your feet on the ground for balance, admittedly one does normally wait until they are actually in the water and in trouble and trying to latch on to anything that floats ie. you

I am fairly certain i actually saw the same lifeguard threatening an Indian family with a hammer a few weeks ago at Nai Harn beach

It is a stock photo not a photo of the actual incident

No excuse for this at all. The tourist in question should have been pulled to one side and giving a stern warning regarding the rules in a professional manner. The supervisor of the lifeguard team should have a basic level of English, at least good enough to communicate with the swimmers.

the "swimmer" was Russian, so no matter what "level of English" the supervisor had the Russian, that did not have enough education to read the signs at the beach that are printed in Russian, would still have not understood him.

Edited January 16, 2015 by outboard

[CharlieH]

Off topic posts removed

[FireMedic]

Well at least I video'd the life guards that assaulted the farang in the car.....nothing ever came of it. No one of authority cares.

[mrfaroukh]

He was lucky not to get stabbed like the Russian who denied buying watch from a vendor in Pattaya.

[steelepulse]

I WAS THERE - the article mentions 3-4 tourists needed help? It is a LIE - those swimmers were young THAI girls, 15-17s old, and my friend helped them and almost drowned due to the weight of wearing soaked clothes (jeans and t-shirts) and panicking. Secondly, this Russian father did nothing wrong; this thai lifeguard simply became crazy like hell and started to kick him in front of his little girl!!!! Luckily, a few more heavyweight Russians came to his rescue, otherwise, he would have been a non sense fight for nothing... disgusting behavior. should be move to inactive post 555

Just so all of you that don't have the info and believe the OP, here is how it actually happened. No reason or excuse to beat upon the Russian. Despicable behaviour shown by the lifeguards, and BTW for a poster that said these lifeguards are volunteers, they are not, they are paid.

[grumpyoldman]

Need to equip these guys with a card and written in different languages, "I'm advising you to stay out of the water because it's too dangerous now, please do not go swimming".

[balo]

Well . the Russian should be aware of red flags or maybe the life guards just should have let him continue out in the water and drown , mai pen rai .

[MiKT]

"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.

Yes, but surprise, surprise, a whole lot of the complainers on this site will be copying and pasting their anti Thai water safety complaints the next time some poor soul drowns him/herself in Phuket.

No, he should not have kicked the idiot, but don't tell me they don't shout at you on Bondai (et al) when the red flag goes up.

Plus, you are bloody clever if you can look at any beach an predict the tide strengths and the location of the rips in any weather (maybe you really do need a nanny).

[Bogan Koori]

Bogan Koori, on 16 Jan 2015 - 21:32, said:Bogan Koori, on 16 Jan 2015 - 21:32, said:

Rorri, on 16 Jan 2015 - 18:55, said:Rorri, on 16 Jan 2015 - 18:55, said:

You never heard of the Cronulla riots? Started by Australian lifeguards who didn't like Arabs. You want to see Australian lifeguards in action then take a can of VB to Bondi beach and watch the tactical response group roll up.

Well you certainly are a bogan, spreading liars... as for the Cronulla riots...On 4 December 2005, a group of volunteer surf lifesavers were assaulted by a group of young men of Middle Eastern appearance, with several other violent assaults occurring over the next week.

Further reading for you,<removed>. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Cronulla_riots

No they started a fight after some middle eastern teenagers made an inappropriate comment.

So now you are suggesting the media all lied... damn, glad you at least know the truth......

Here's another one to "freshen" your memory http://australian-news.net/articles/view.php?id=118

Any news outlet that starts with "The left-wing, politically correct mainstream media had a field day blackening Australia's reputation following the Cronulla riots." or the other way, 'the right wing ..." is admitting in those first words it is not reporting without bias but colouring events. And that makes the report totally useless for people who would like to find out what really happened.

It's off topic but I was actually rioting at the Cronulla riots. The fight started after a couple of young white life guards intervened when some young lady was being hassled. The Lebanese Australians were doing the hassling. They said. 'She is not worth doing 55 years for' (This was in reference to a heavy jail sentence of 55years given to some ther Lebanese Australians who were raping women in Sydney a few years earlier. The lifeguards took the law into their own hands. We're overzealous and a fight ensued. Then after that the city was rioting.

The point is, a lot of these guys on beaches around the world get carried away by their own self importance. Give them a whistle and a uniform and they think they are some sort of God, beaches are public places where people go to relax and you have these idiots running around annoying everyone. I stopped going to Bondi beach because you can't even have a beer with your lunch there without the tactical response group showing up.

This guy who kicked the Russian is just some baboon with no brains. But who really cares if this Russian idiot drowns? I certainly don't. If the flags are up and you drown then there is no sympathy in my books. Natural selection at its best. Why save morons that can't swim? They just add bad seed to the gene pool.

[simon43]

maybe should have a few laminated cards in other languages

Speaking with my TPV hat on - I have almost completed the design of a laminated card, written in English, Russian, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. I will be able to print/laminate them maybe tomorrow and then distribute them these lifeguards, explaining to them (in Thai), how the cards might best be used.

I'm with Mot Dang's comments. When volunteers are doing a thankless task, you need to accept that these volunteers might not be a perfect fit for the task - consider some of the problems with the police volunteers that we've all read about.

Unless you are personally willing to take the place of that volunteer, it is more realistic to help/train/advise that volunteer, so that he/she can do the job better.

Kicking a tourist is clearly not a good thing to do. Maybe the info cards that I'm producing will help reduce the frustration of the lifeguards when some tourists ignore their warnings.

[grumpyoldman]

maybe should have a few laminated cards in other languages

Speaking with my TPV hat on - I have almost completed the design of a laminated card, written in English, Russian, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. I will be able to print/laminate them maybe tomorrow and then distribute them these lifeguards, explaining to them (in Thai), how the cards might best be used.

I'm with Mot Dang's comments. When volunteers are doing a thankless task, you need to accept that these volunteers might not be a perfect fit for the task - consider some of the problems with the police volunteers that we've all read about.

Unless you are personally willing to take the place of that volunteer, it is more realistic to help/train/advise that volunteer, so that he/she can do the job better.

Kicking a tourist is clearly not a good thing to do. Maybe the info cards that I'm producing will help reduce the frustration of the lifeguards when some tourists ignore their warnings.

And there you go ! Part of the solution, not part of the problem. Well done Simon and I'd be happy to help you distribute these in the south part of the island.

One comment though, again the subject of "volunteers" comes up. These guards are not volunteers, as Steel Pulse has already stated, they're paid.

[smotherb]

Need to equip these guys with a card and written in different languages, "I'm advising you to stay out of the water because it's too dangerous now, please do not go swimming".

Gee, that may work if the tourist is near the life guard, but what if the lifeguard doesn't know which language the swimmer speaks and how big does that card need to be when the swimmer is up the beach or already in the water? Next!

[grumpyoldman]

Need to equip these guys with a card and written in different languages, "I'm advising you to stay out of the water because it's too dangerous now, please do not go swimming".

Gee, that may work if the tourist is near the life guard, but what if the lifeguard doesn't know which language the swimmer speaks and how big does that card need to be when the swimmer is up the beach or already in the water? Next!

Thats why the card has multiple languages on it . Guard would need to be walking the beach and showing it. As guard sees said swimmer entering the water, blows his whistle and walks up with card. Maybe an illustration would need to be on it too. Once in the water, obviously too late.Next!

Edited January 18, 2015 by grumpyoldman

[simon43]

Thats why the card has multiple languages on it . Guard would need to be walking the beach and showing it. As guard sees said swimmer entering the water, blows his whistle and walks up with card. Maybe an illustration would need to be on it too.

Exactly - Here is the card that I'm producing, in English, Chinese, Russian, Korean and Japanese. (I'm just waiting on the Japanese translation and then I can print/laminate the cards.)

I need to check how many lifeguard posts there are in Phuket - any links to this information?

[Felt 35]

Where at Nai Harn Beach are this guards hanging out?

[LivinginKata]

More off topic posts removed