53 Year-Old British Tourist Drowns in Phuket Thailand

PHUKET – Phuket authroties have reported that a 53 year-old British tourist drowned at Phukets Surin beach Wednesday afternoon and his son was saved thanks to the quick actions of a lifeguard.

Phuket’s Choeng Thalay police station told Thai media (warning graphic photo) they were alerted at approximately 3pm that a foreign tourist had drowned and another was injured.

Upon arriving at the scene, police found the body of British National Wan Chau Ming, 53, while his son Wan Chun Tat, 24, had been rushed to the Thalang Hospital.

Mr. Mings body was later sent to the Thalang Hospital for autopsy.

Amnat Chuasman, 26, the lifeguard who rescued the son, said he saw the two tourists arrive on a motorcycle and go into the water despite high waves whipped up by a strong wind.

Amnat said the two were swept out to sea by a big wave and he swam out to rescue them but managed to save only the younger tourist.

He called for an ambulance to take the rescued tourist to the hospital and he resumed the search for the father. However, the man had already drowned and he therefore brought the body back to the beach to await the authorities.

The Phuket tourist police have informed the British embassy of the incident drowned tourist.

Phuket’s lifeguards say always swim between the red and yellow flags in areas patrolled by professional lifeguards. And “NEVER” swim at beaches where there are only red flags.

In the first eight months of 2017 there have been 294 drowning rescues recorded around Phuket’s beaches patrolled with surf lifeguards on duty. Of these, 265 have been foreigners and the remainder Thai locals.

Source: The Nation, The Thaiger