French tourist dies from waterfall plunge on Koh Samui

[webfact]

French Tourist Dies From Waterfall Plunge in Southern Thailand
By Khaosod English


A rescue operation was conducted at the Na Mueang Song Waterfall on Koh Samui today, where a French tourist died in a fall.

SURAT THANI — A French tourist died and another was seriously injured after they fell from a waterfall on Koh Samui.

The two tourists were found on the rocks near the base of the Na Mueang Song waterfall by police officers and rescue workers, who pronounced one of the victims dead on the scene while the second was transported to hospital with broken bones.

The two tourists were identified as two French men in their early 20s. Rescue workers reportedly spent two hours navigating through tall and slippery precipices to retrieve the body of the deceased.

The surviving tourist broke bones in his leg, hip, rib cage and arms.

Full storyhttp://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1441022636&typecate=06&section=


-- Khaosod English 2015-09-01

[samuijimmy]

This is running here....http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/852492-french-tourist-dies-falling-from-na-muang-waterfall-2/

[SOTIRIOS]

...how or why should anyone be allowed access to such a place...

[spidermike007]

...how or why should anyone be allowed access to such a place...

Samui is the wild, wild west. When you refer to being allowed access, you are mentioning the possibility of rules, the rule of law, law and order, and he enforcement of such. None of this exists on the forgotten island of Samui. None. Zip. Nada. Exercise care, as you are on your own. The authorities there have no concerns about tourist safety. There is zero there, in the way to traffic safety, or any other kind of safety. Samui boasts one of the highest incidents of tourist deaths on the planet, per capita. Between the jungle jeeps, road accidents, and this kind of thing, alot of people leave Samui in a wooden box.

[DKUNPUTAF713]

+1

[PoorSucker]

...how or why should anyone be allowed access to such a place...

How do you suggest stopping the tourists entering the djungle, barb wire around the resorts?

[Pomthai]

...how or why should anyone be allowed access to such a place...

Perhaps people should take responsibility for their own actions instead of expecting some higher authority to hold their hand through life.

RIP to the victim and condolences to their family and friends - I hope the one that was hurt recovers fully and learns from the experience.

[animatic]

...how or why should anyone be allowed access to such a place...

Samui is the wild, wild west. When you refer to being allowed access, you are mentioning the possibility of rules, the rule of law, law and order, and he enforcement of such. None of this exists on the forgotten island of Samui. None. Zip. Nada. Exercise care, as you are on your own. The authorities there have no concerns about tourist safety. There is zero there, in the way to traffic safety, or any other kind of safety. Samui boasts one of the highest incidents of tourist deaths on the planet, per capita. Between the jungle jeeps, road accidents, and this kind of thing, alot of people leave Samui in a wooden box.

There are accidents here, no doubt, and I will never ride atop those tourist pickups driven by speed demon fools. But hundreds of people go to this waterfall everyday and don't do stupid things that get them killed. These two were actively complicit in their injuries. RIP to the français who passed on.

But don't blame Samui just because tourists throw common sense to the wind on vacations there. And the majority of tourist deaths are from driving motorcycles with little skills and experience, coupled with no observation of the local driving style.

Been up and down that waterfall for 10 years, last time with a 75 year old woman who climbed it without incident.

Edited September 1, 2015 by animatic

[Shermanator]

If I recall correctly there are signs on almost each waterfall saying "no climbing, no jumping" etc. - if anyone decides to do otherwise, he has to pay the price, simple as that!

[Ulic]

...how or why should anyone be allowed access to such a place...

Samui is the wild, wild west. When you refer to being allowed access, you are mentioning the possibility of rules, the rule of law, law and order, and he enforcement of such. None of this exists on the forgotten island of Samui. None. Zip. Nada. Exercise care, as you are on your own. The authorities there have no concerns about tourist safety. There is zero there, in the way to traffic safety, or any other kind of safety. Samui boasts one of the highest incidents of tourist deaths on the planet, per capita. Between the jungle jeeps, road accidents, and this kind of thing, alot of people leave Samui in a wooden box.

I have a bit of a different take. The French are great adventurers and risk takers when it comes to

extreme sports. Off track extreme skiing, paragliding, BASE jumping, on and on. While they may

be near the top in social nanny state support, when it comes to personal responsibility for engaging

in sport it is up to you. No fear of ridiculous lawsuits. Of course hiking up a slippery wet waterfall

to get better photos is dangerous. But in France, up to you. I feel sorry for these guys but, you are

responsible for your decisions. You can't and don't want to put barbed wire everywhere to restrict

access. In the USA a great chance of a lawsuit for not restricting the access, in France hiker beware.

[Kannikapor88]

...how or why should anyone be allowed access to such a place...

Samui is the wild, wild west. When you refer to being allowed access, you are mentioning the possibility of rules, the rule of law, law and order, and he enforcement of such. None of this exists on the forgotten island of Samui. None. Zip. Nada. Exercise care, as you are on your own. The authorities there have no concerns about tourist safety. There is zero there, in the way to traffic safety, or any other kind of safety. Samui boasts one of the highest incidents of tourist deaths on the planet, per capita. Between the jungle jeeps, road accidents, and this kind of thing, alot of people leave Samui in a wooden box.

There are accidents here, no doubt, and I will never ride atop those tourist pickups driven by speed demon fools. But hundreds of people go to this waterfall everyday and don't do stupid things that get them killed. These two were actively complicit in their injuries. RIP to the français who passed on.

But don't blame Samui just because tourists throw common sense to the wind on vacations there. And the majority of tourist deaths are from driving motorcycles with little skills and experience, coupled with no observation of the local driving style.

Been up and down that waterfall for 10 years, last time with a 75 year old woman who climbed it without incident.

"local driving style" ... thats a good one ...

Samui is a dump with a crime rate that beats most cities in Iraq, Yemen or Afghanistan ... Stay away from that dangerous place unless you have a deathwish ...

[evadgib]

Once again the Samui bashers are out in force & sharpening their axes which to me reeks of a failed business and/or relationship somehow being the Islands fault. Samui remains a great place to live and bring up children providing those concerned keep their wits about them. For the under 30's this should include avoiding Bang Rak & anywhere within 300m radius of Burger King after 2200hrs or any gathering containing the word 'Moon'!

Edited September 1, 2015 by evadgib

[spidermike007]

...how or why should anyone be allowed access to such a place...

Samui is the wild, wild west. When you refer to being allowed access, you are mentioning the possibility of rules, the rule of law, law and order, and he enforcement of such. None of this exists on the forgotten island of Samui. None. Zip. Nada. Exercise care, as you are on your own. The authorities there have no concerns about tourist safety. There is zero there, in the way to traffic safety, or any other kind of safety. Samui boasts one of the highest incidents of tourist deaths on the planet, per capita. Between the jungle jeeps, road accidents, and this kind of thing, alot of people leave Samui in a wooden box.

There are accidents here, no doubt, and I will never ride atop those tourist pickups driven by speed demon fools. But hundreds of people go to this waterfall everyday and don't do stupid things that get them killed. These two were actively complicit in their injuries. RIP to the français who passed on.

But don't blame Samui just because tourists throw common sense to the wind on vacations there. And the majority of tourist deaths are from driving motorcycles with little skills and experience, coupled with no observation of the local driving style.

Been up and down that waterfall for 10 years, last time with a 75 year old woman who climbed it without incident.

"local driving style" ... thats a good one ...

Samui is a dump with a crime rate that beats most cities in Iraq, Yemen or Afghanistan ... Stay away from that dangerous place unless you have a deathwish ...

I would not go so far as to call Samui a dump. It is a beautiful island and the interior is amazing. It could be alot cleaner. The water would be 100's of times better, if the local authorities cared one iota, which they don't. It could be better managed. They want to turn it into a five star island, but there is very little service there, and an extremely minimal amount of talent and expertise, to support that aspiration. It could be better accessed, if the government accepted its responsibility and took away the Bangkok Air franchise (monopoly). It could have many, many more cultural events, and things going on, than it does. Again, if the local business owners and authorities cared. Few do. Few have much pride. But, it is definitely not a dump. It is a very nice island, that could be 100 times better, if some effort was applied.

[Sviss Geez]

It could be better accessed, if the government accepted its responsibility and took away the Bangkok Air franchise (monopoly). It could have many, many more cultural events, and things going on, than it does.

So the government's responsibility is to steal privately owned land and property (the airport and it's site site) and ban the owners of that private airport from operating their licenced airline?

Bangkok Airways is not a franchise and does not have a monopoly (although it could if it wished), Thai operates flights there.

How would stopping Bangkok Air from using the airport (if that was possible) improve access to the island and allow there to be "many, many more cultural events"?

[Basil B]

It could be better accessed, if the government accepted its responsibility and took away the Bangkok Air franchise (monopoly). It could have many, many more cultural events, and things going on, than it does.

So the government's responsibility is to steal privately owned land and property (the airport and it's site site) and ban the owners of that private airport from operating their licenced airline?

Bangkok Airways is not a franchise and does not have a monopoly (although it could if it wished), Thai operates flights there.

How would stopping Bangkok Air from using the airport (if that was possible) improve access to the island and allow there to be "many, many more cultural events"?

Getting a little off topic, but I feel you raised a point...

I would not think it wrong if the government (local or national) were to compulsory purchase the Airport given that it is infeasible to build another on the island.

[spidermike007]

It could be better accessed, if the government accepted its responsibility and took away the Bangkok Air franchise (monopoly). It could have many, many more cultural events, and things going on, than it does.

So the government's responsibility is to steal privately owned land and property (the airport and it's site site) and ban the owners of that private airport from operating their licenced airline?

Bangkok Airways is not a franchise and does not have a monopoly (although it could if it wished), Thai operates flights there.

How would stopping Bangkok Air from using the airport (if that was possible) improve access to the island and allow there to be "many, many more cultural events"?

From what I understood the land is leased from the government. When they built the airport in 1988, they were granted a 25 year concession. That was the full extent of the government's obligation. It was renewed, without a debate in 2013. BA granted Thai the right to operate a couple of flights a day, as long as the pricing was ALWAYS higher than BA. It was a way of ridding themselves of the monopoly moniker. Same with the couple of others.

Ridding samui of the BA monopoly would open up its airspace. More competitive prices pricing is always a good thing. It might lead to improvement. The lack of culture is on the lazy mayor. He is a good for nothing schlepp.

[PoorSucker]

The lack of culture is on the lazy mayor. He is a good for nothing schlepp.

Again, you blame "the Mayor", he is only the chairman of the Thesabahn. (the Samui Municipality)

What makes you think he has authority over the AOT (airport authority of Thailand) and your previous remarks in the ARK club noise thread , authority over the police??

But he has authority to regulate the "safari trucks", please follow that route and complain at the Thesabahn.