Samui Expats Rescue Tourists from Drowning: Thaivisa member report

[webfact]

Samui Expats Rescue Tourists from Drowning

 

On New Year's day, authorities on the holiday resort island of Koh Samui had raised warning flags advising the public not to swim that day due to rough seas at Chaweng Noi beach by The Beach Bar. Yet, it seems two Russian tourists in their early 30’s did not notice (or ignored) the warning flags and went for a swim anyway.

 

Numerous sunbathers watched in horror as the girl and man were being swept out to sea. Long time Koh Samui resident, Mr. Cord Biggs, and three friends quickly went to rescue the two drowning tourists. Instincts of these three expats kicked in.

 

Cord said, “We were playing beach volleyball about 40 meters from the sea, I spotted a couple swept out to sea - screaming and panicking in the rough waters. No one on the crowded beach was swimming out to rescue them. Myself, Andrea Malvestiti, Johnny Gherardi, and Cristiano Cappellacci ran down from the court and started swimming to them.”

 

The Beach Bar staff of Samui Beach Club threw them life buoys as they reached the water.

 

Mr. Biggs continued, “I went for the girl first as she appeared to be in higher danger. Andre came with me and while we were trying to bring her back, her boyfriend was getting swept out further, so I went back after him. While I was bringing him back Andre and the girl started going out further so I had to go back out and get them. Luckily, a surfer came to us as I was struggling and he was able to get her on board to paddle in. It was the worst time for me and ended up tossing the buoys away and digging deep to fight the rips & outsmart the rips to make it in.”

 

Koh Samui, one of the most beautiful islands in the South Bay of Thailand is well known for its stunning coastlines, warm water and fine sandy beaches. Occasionally though, like many beaches around the world, rip-currents can occur causing water beneath the surface to move away from the shore, especially during the 6-week rainy season.

 

In the end all rescuers and the couple reached the beach safely. The couple were transported to Thai Inter Hospital by ambulance and made a full recovery.

 

It’s a lesson to visitors and a tale that has their friends on the island calling them ’authentic heroes’.

 

Cord's final words on the incident were “Please watch for the red flags on any beach and if you see those, do not swim. Thanks to my volleyball boys for having my back and good karma for all of us as we start the new year on this January 1st!

 

-- Thaivisa member report 2017-01-03

[Thechook]

Where was the beach patrol and life guards on this tourist area especially during peak period?

[impulse]

10 minutes ago, Thechook said:

Where was the beach patrol and life guards on this tourist area especially during peak period?

 

The what and the who?

[rhythmworx]

So no sign of SamuiJimmy during the rescue?

[Benmart]

Cheers for the rescuers. A life lesson for the rescued. 

[samuijimmy]

Good job by the members who saved these tourist!~

 

 I stick to the calmer beaches on the north end of Samui, Maenam, Ban Tai or Ban Por beaches~! ! 

 

It's nice to see a positive story ..lets see how many members can turn it in to negative one........

[geriatrickid]

3 hours ago, Thechook said:

Where was the beach patrol and life guards on this tourist area especially during peak period?

 

No need. Thai beach safe.  To say otherwise is being negative.

Tossing a buoy at the rescuers didn't seem like much help. How about one of the jetskii operators or paraglide operators helping?

Edited January 3, 2017 by geriatrickid

[robertson468]

A big well done Guys.  Hope the Russians bought you a beer or two.  Me, I'm sticking to the swimming pool for a while!

[evadgib]

Well done :)

 

If any footage of the beach that day/this week exists how about posting it?

 

Is there a live webcam there?

 

Our drowning season typically occurs between 01 Oct and 31 March.

Edited January 3, 2017 by evadgib

[flyingdoc]

Good positive story for once !

[Chua]

4 hours ago, evadgib said:

Well done :)

If any footage of the beach that day/this week exists how about posting it?

Is there a live webcam there?

 

 

There's some photos of this incident with the article at  http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Samui-expats-rescue-tourists-drowning/66072

 

Don't know of any webcams on Chaweng beach, but this site has several different webcams from areas all over Koh Samui -- http://www.samuiwebcam.com/

[Basil B]

Good it ended well, my thoughts are that it was a close call for all involved.

 

Thailand could do with a lifeboat service or at least a voluntary system of being able to call up the service of speed boats to assist.  

[Ace of Pop]

I think talking about Big Wave does nothin,aNotice of Rips makes good swimmers take notice,those sneaky things bother me anyway,rough means watch the kids



Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[PoorSucker]

22 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

 

No need. Thai beach safe.  To say otherwise is being negative.

Tossing a buoy at the rescuers didn't seem like much help. How about one of the jetskii operators or paraglide operators helping?

No jetskis or paragliding on Chaweng Noi beach.

[Tahoe]

I don’t usually do this, but I am going to get on a soapbox for a minute…Since the rescue I have been quite ill with fever and body aches and last night was the worst with a temperature of 39 degrees (much better today though). It gave me some time to reflect and at the risk of sounding selfish myself, I must admit I am disappointed with the couple I rescued. They ignored all warning signs (big swells, red flags, crazy strong rip), but yet they decided to go out in the ocean anyways and put themselves at risk and others. The day after the incident I went to the hospital the ambulance sent them to see if they were ok and I was told they made a full recovery and were already discharged. Good news…but…while I was laying in bed last night suffering with a high fever because of their actions, they were probably enjoying life somewhere and I have not heard from them since the incident.

 

Had the tables been turned and somebody risked their own life to save my life (and my girlfriends life) I would have gone through hell and high water to find them to at least say ‘thank you’ because I am alive today. All the staff at The Beach Bar know me and it would not be hard to track me down. Even if I was leaving the island the day after the incident I would have stayed an extra day just to thank those who saved my life. I lived in Japan for 8 years and one of the big lessons I learned there was to always think about other people first and how your actions affect them. Their unwise decision to swim in those conditions not only affects them, but others who are also risking their life for them.

 

The beach incident is a big example, but it also transcends into small, everyday things in life such as parking in the middle of the street to go into a store, not re-racking your weights in gym so the next person has to do it for you, littering on the beach or elsewhere, or in my personal case, someone building a house 1 meter from your border when they have 10 meters of empty land on the other side of the house. I guess my point here is that a good chunk of this world needs to wake-up and start thinking selflessly instead of selfishly. It would make the world a much better place. In the end, I am happy the couple survived and made a full recovery, but I also hope they can somehow read this message and start taking responsibility for their actions.

Edited January 4, 2017 by samuijimmy
Spaced out for easier reading

[samuijimmy]

Thankyou  for posting Tahoe... sorry to hear of your problems since... 

 

There is a Russian community page for Samui, I think (perhaps the Islands)...... I'll pass this onto one of my Russian friends and see if they can help by posting your wows there and see if it connects with the couple you saved.  

[evadgib]

You'd be surprised what's doing backstroke out there...

 

[sash66]

Nice story, I'm sure the Russians bought them a few Vodkas for their efforts