Thailand News

pmcd8243 · #1 26-06-2006, 03:24

I was out riding my bicycle along the beach in Karon on Saturday and came upon rescue activity on the beach. It turns out that a group of young people here in Thailand to teach English were on a holiday in Karon. Despite warning signs to the contrary they ventured into the ocean where at one point 4 of the group got caught in a rip current. 3 made it back to the beach safely but the fourth, a 20 year old American girl had disappeared into the surf. A large scale search was underway including life guards and Thai Navy SAR( SEarch and rescue) on jet skis and in the water with mak snorkels and fins. Sadly the body of the young girl was found about an hour later 1 mile down the beach just off shore. The surf was so rough they rescue crew had a jet ski sink.
http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=22842

dawsey · #2 26-06-2006, 03:29

Despite warnings every year somebody drowns at Karon during this time of year.
Such a waste of a young life. Why the hell don't people take notice of the warnings.

steve@thaib · #3 26-06-2006, 03:31

Wow, what a shame.

The sea looks so tempting I guess, but it's a scary place and I only ever go into it far enough to pee (seriously). With the jetskis and boats flying around, and seriously strong currents trying to drag you off I keep away, swimming should be done in a hotel pool IMHO.

marc26 · #4 26-06-2006, 03:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawsey

Despite warnings every year somebody drowns at Karon during this time of year.
Such a waste of a young life. Why the hell don't people take notice of the warnings.

i should take heed. i always ignore warning signs. i am an extremely strong swimmer but should start using my head
sometimes you just think your invincible

cybernator_uk · #5 26-06-2006, 03:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve@thaib

Wow, what a shame.

The sea looks so tempting I guess, but it's a scary place and I only ever go into it far enough to pee (seriously). With the jetskis and boats flying around, and seriously strong currents trying to drag you off I keep away, swimming should be done in a hotel pool IMHO.

Such a waste of a life..... Still when your young you do believe you are invinciable....Why people do it still i will never know....

I agree with you tho.... I personally never swim in the sea... Although it has attractions to some there is a lot of danger that goes with it... i will only ever use a swimming pool just like yourself

dawsey · #6 26-06-2006, 03:51

IJ, Petter,Heywood,Seafox and I were swimming at Surin this April and the undertow was really strong and kept pulling your feet from under you. This was on a calm day with no danger flags flying,so I hate to think how bad things really get in the monsoon season.

andy50 · #7 26-06-2006, 04:23

on my first visit to phuket, i stayed in a hotel in karon.
i used to frequent a bar that was owned by 3 londen guys

one told me that a guy who also frquented their bar, went in to the water for a swim at night, with his russian girl-freind,
he was drowned
there are quite a few reports of people getting caught up in swirling tides over the years

stevem · #8 26-06-2006, 05:17

Even when the red flags are out on Patong Beach, you still see heaps of stupid bloody tourists in the water. I doubt alot of these would be Aussies, as we are taught that a red flag means you dont go in the water.

urtheman · #9 26-06-2006, 12:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawsey

IJ, Petter,Heywood,Seafox and I were swimming at Surin this April and the undertow was really strong and kept pulling your feet from under you. This was on a calm day with no danger flags flying,so I hate to think how bad things really get in the monsoon season.

Surin Beach has some of the worst rip tides that you can sometimes see by the way the water is swirling and it gets deep quickly so very easy to get swept out.

If I were to in the water I would wear fins, this as you need them to catch waves and also just to get around. Anyone going in without is gambling.

It's a shame to hear about the young woman.

Hobbsy · #10 26-06-2006, 13:27

yes, unfortunately Surin is probably the most dangerous beach to swim on the island at this time of year.

S1MON · #11 26-06-2006, 14:29

I could not believe people had thier kids in the water in Surin, a few times i was taken and thrown onto the beach, dragged under and washed up on the sand, it was pretty fukin scary, far too dangerous for kids i reckon.

Devman · #12 26-06-2006, 15:58

An absolute and unnecessary tragedy.

The beach looks great but you really have to swim between the flags & hopefully with lifesavers on watch.
When I was at Patong beach early last month I had a parasailer's rope come within a couple of meters of my head while I was in the water, then the parasailer crashed into the beach umbrella's on the beach; no-one was hurt but only due to luck.
Then 2 jetski's came close to the shore where I was swimming looking for someone to pick-up & they were powering on & off amongst the swimmers, not a safe experience. All this in the space of 15mins.
It seems like there are no rules on that beach & the operator's do as they please.

nickels · #13 26-06-2006, 16:11

That's terrible.

So are there any beaches that aren't rough this time of year?

Insomniac · #14 26-06-2006, 16:19

Yes it is a shame, but the truth is it happens every year. From the beaches here in phuket to the beaches in Bali... I think people generally have the idea "it couldn't happen to me" And when it does they are completely shocked and they're generally lucky to come away with their lives... if even that.

Was in Kuta beach about 5 years ago, just graduated from high school and a big group of us went to Bali for a month on holiday to celebrate... Well our celebration would have turned into funeral if it hadn't been for a japanese surfer... My friend mel who is a scuba instructor now and still strong swimmer back then was sucked in by the current and pulled under, we all lost sight of her and those in the water were careful to look for her as they would have risked themselves in the process... After much screaming and shouting, two heads emerge from the water in the distance... Its a surfer who had managed to find my friend... He put her on his surf board and swam towards us... He didn't speak much english and just handed her over to us and whilst we all gave our attention to mel, we didn't notice him leave...

Mel likes to think of this guy as her guardian angel but i just keep telling her she's lucky he was there... i will never forget this little guy for bringing my friend back...

So we all learned our lesson then, but no matter how many stories people read or no matter how many times people see other people drown, there will still be those dummies that think "Oh it'll never happen to me"...

shark1963 · #15 26-06-2006, 17:39

Fortunatly i got warned by a bar owner i was talking.He told me that even the sea is looking harmless i never should go in as long the red flags are set.He is living there over 30 years and told me even he is very good swimmer he once ignored the warnings and just came back by luck and will never do it again. As i dont like swimming pools i didnt swim at all but used the time for different activity then

andy50 · #16 26-06-2006, 20:24

i think that some people arrive for their holiday on phuket and don,t know anything about the sea danger before they come
then when they go down to the beach and find there are red flags flying, they think to themselves "we have travelled all this way (to los,)- so we are going to have a swim no matter what"

dawsey · #17 27-06-2006, 02:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by andy50

i think that some people arrive for their holiday on phuket and don,t know anything about the sea danger before they come
then when they go down to the beach and find there are red flags flying, they think to themselves "we have travelled all this way (to los,)- so we are going to have a swim no matter what"

No matter how far you have travelled,only stupid people ignore the red flags.

A pity some of those who ignore them pay dearly.

midatlantic · #18 27-06-2006, 02:50

I think another thing that you have to take into consideration is: where is the traveller from, and what their individual experiences were like prior to arriving.

Many beaches in the US have life guards who make it their mission to drive up and down the coastline to ensure that everyone is out of the water, or rather to make sure that no one is actually in the water.

Also, I think many make the mistake of assuming " if i've been to one beach, I've been to them all"; or "my feet can touch the bottom, i'll be fine."

As bad as I want to dive when i'm out there in July, I will ultimately choose life over death-and will only attempt it, if a licensed professional gives the thumbs up.

JayBee · #19 27-06-2006, 09:05

For all the times I have been caught in riptides, I am very lucky to be alive today, but never had a problem in LOS.

The first time it happened, I will never forget. Just a teenager, and a very poor swimmer at that time, and it was my first time in the ocean in New Jersey. When I felt myself being pulled out, I didn't understand it, and panicked pretty bad. I swam like crazy for the beach, but wasn't making much progress. Realizing that I might die, then I gave it every last bit of strength I had. I got in as far as where my feet touched the bottom, when I went under, and I pushed off and jumped to get a breath, but really had no strenght left, and could feel myself being pulled down and going backwards. I really thought the end was near, and there were no lifeguards or people around. Just then there was a really big muscular black girl walking dwon the beach alone and she saw me. She went out, grabbed me and pulled me back in. I ended up spending the next couple of days with her. I was sad to say good-bye to her, since I felt I owed her my life, and she wanted me to come to Philadelphia, and live with her. But I had to say No. My friends from white suburbia that I went to the shore with were already freaked out enough that I had hooked up with this big Amazon black girl. Just the same, I will never forget her!

Even after that experience, I never learned, and had a few close calls later in California and Mexico. But that was after I learned to swim much better, and was able to get myself back to shore, just barely!!

Crazy_Matt · #20 27-06-2006, 15:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevem

Even when the red flags are out on Patong Beach, you still see heaps of stupid bloody tourists in the water. I doubt alot of these would be Aussies, as we are taught that a red flag means you dont go in the water.

You would be amazed mate - I did one summer volunteer at Kawana beach, the first beach south of Mooloolaba in the sunshine coast. Heaps of Aussies from Melbourne and Sydney get all caught up. You'd think they would know. But the worst was the japenese and european tourists.

jimholio · #21 28-06-2006, 15:13

Im not surprised, the sea was REALY rough in Karon and Kata when i was there, a few weeks ago, red flag all the time. Patong beach was not bad tho, big waves somedays but mostly they had the orange flag up.

I wouldnt go swimming without a surfboard or some kind of floating device while the red flag is up tho.

nickels · #22 28-06-2006, 19:52

Are the beaches down on the south tip any safer this time of year?