News Forum - Russian man tragically drowns off Patong Beach

[Thaiger]

A tragic incident occurred yesterday off the coast of Patong Beach when a Russian man drowned while swimming in the sea. The drowning was reported to the Patong police station at 7.55am, Bangkok Post reported. Rescue workers, lifeguards, and Patong Hospital personnel, attempted to save the man. Despite their best efforts to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the … …

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[Ramanathan.P]

"Pavel swam around 7 kilometres away from the shore amidst strong waves when he began to struggle  

Woow...the wife might be having a telescopic eye to see her husband struggling 7 km in the middle of the sea. If 700 meters then it is something which can be acceptable. May be in Russia the interchange meter with Kilometer. 

[Alavan]

Due to the rounding of the earth 7 km or 3,8 seamiles is behind the horizon

[HolyCowCm]

Rip current. 

[Smiler]

I myself got caught in a rip current off the same beach last year, a young Thai man came on a board and without a doubt saved my life, that beach is treacherous with the tides changing constantly. 

[HolyCowCm]

  On 5/28/2023 at 1:27 PM, Smiler said:

I myself got caught in a rip current off the same beach last year, a young Thai man came on a board and without a doubt saved my life, that beach is treacherous with the tides changing constantly. 

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Yes I too felt the tug there a long time ago and instantly knew. I think it was at the beginning of Karon beach that I really felt it and it took me over 30 minutes to get back to the beach safely. If you don’t know then it can easily take your life if you do the wrong things. 

[Guest1]

  On 5/28/2023 at 1:27 PM, Smiler said:

that beach is treacherous with the tides changing constantly. 

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Tides changing is about every 6 hours, worldwide, yes, constantly. 

[Smiler]

  On 5/28/2023 at 4:10 PM, Guest1 said:

Tides changing is about every 6 hours, worldwide, yes, constantly. 

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I was talking about the rip tide off Paton beach smart ass

[Vigo]

  On 5/28/2023 at 1:17 PM, HolyCowCm said:

Rip current. 

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Sorry, but the Rips are not that bad at Patong. It's relatively shallow and protected.  The Rips are  when you swim past the point or there is a heavy discharge from the klong at the Kamala end of the beach that dumps the effluent.  Karon on the other hand has a few deadly zones. I think the poor guy's heart just gave out.

[stuhan]

What the hell was a 53yr old doing swimming 7km from the shore anyway, that's asking for trouble..

[KaptainRob]

  On 5/29/2023 at 1:46 AM, stuhan said:

What the hell was a 53yr old doing swimming 7km from the shore anyway, that's asking for trouble..

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He wasn't 7km offshore, that's a mistake. 

7 or 70  metres is more like the true distance.  No other report that I read quoted any distance at all.

[kiwiian]

If his wife saw him struggling whilst 7km away from the shore she has an incredible eyesight!

[Marc26]

  On 5/29/2023 at 12:59 AM, Vigo said:

Sorry, but the Rips are not that bad at Patong. It's relatively shallow and protected.  The Rips are  when you swim past the point or there is a heavy discharge from the klong at the Kamala end of the beach that dumps the effluent.  Karon on the other hand has a few deadly zones. I think the poor guy's heart just gave out.

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I am a very strong swimmer( yes bragging a bit    )

I never felt in danger but Karon has the strongest rip tide out of any Phuket beaches

But Patong's can be strong as well at times

One time I decided to go for a swim at 6am coming home 

I took my clothes off but my boxers

I would say I ended up a good 4min walk down the beach from my clothes without even noticing 

[HolyCowCm]

  On 5/29/2023 at 12:59 AM, Vigo said:

Sorry, but the Rips are not that bad at Patong. It's relatively shallow and protected.  The Rips are  when you swim past the point or there is a heavy discharge from the klong at the Kamala end of the beach that dumps the effluent.  Karon on the other hand has a few deadly zones. I think the poor guy's heart just gave out.

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20 years ago I felt the tug of the force of the water from swimming out in Patong. I thought the same as you as it is pretty well protected and shouldn't have it to a big degree, but my memory does serve me well and I was after that in the be careful mode. Now yes, Karon was definetely a place that you are either a strong smart swimmer and can overcome it or you will be in serious trouble. Either way Patong I most certainly did feel a pull that made my safety radar go up, and Karon is totally another story of things not to do again. Any of the such, I have another vacation planned down there coming up in less than 2 weeks with my kids, and even though they are in their twenties, they are not the strongest swimmers and I will mother hen over watching them so they are safe. I was AAU when I was young but for them no as they grew up here. But yes we will swim and have fun in some places down there. We are totally avoiding Patong and that area. Had enough of that place last year.

[RNikoley]

Time for the public-service announcement. I had a cousin, avid mountaineer and rock climber all his life, drown in a rip, off of Miami Beach. High winds, which is essential for strong rip currents (they are currents, "tide" has nothing to do with it).

Everyone who ocean swims (I've swum all the beaches in Phuket from Patong to Nai Harn and Yai Nui) should understand rips and how to easily get out of them.

Rips are caused by stronger than average winds pushing the water en masse toward the beach. Since the water can't just stay there as it's being pushed and accumulating in excess, it escapes by forming channels back out to open sea. This is easily visible from above, like footage from a drone or aircraft. So, there will be a number of channels where the excess water is heading back out to sea to relieve that pressure buildup. That's the rip.

What do you do?

1. Never swim against it. You will lose, tucker out, and drown. Swimmers who make it do so because it's not a huge strong rip, or they accidentally get to its edge and out of the channel.

2. Swim parallel to the beach, traversing/crossing the rip. As channels, most are not very wide. From a few meters (the strongest) to the width of a canal or small river. The wider, the weaker.

3. Learn how to flip over onto your back and float, or at least only lightly propel yourself with gentle kicking and arm treading which you conserve energy or rest...always going parallel to the beach.

And that's it. Don't panic. Even if you're still in the channel and getting carried farther out. Keep gently moving across the beach, and eventually you'll exit the channel and find yourself in water that's slowing moving toward the beach.

You can find more details online. Teach your kids. One of the coolest things I've done in the years living in Thailand was teaching my GF's 2 daughters how to swim, and to do so confidently. The first thing I taught them was how to flip over and rest on their backs. Once they didn't have the fear anymore, they could excel in skills.

Cheers.

[HolyCowCm]

  On 5/29/2023 at 8:18 AM, RNikoley said:

Time for the public-service announcement. I had a cousin, avid mountaineer and rock climber all his life, drown in a rip, off of Miami Beach. High winds, which is essential for strong rip currents (they are currents, "tide" has nothing to do with it).

Everyone who ocean swims (I've swum all the beaches in Phuket from Patong to Nai Harn and Yai Nui) should understand rips and how to easily get out of them.

Rips are caused by stronger than average winds pushing the water en masse toward the beach. Since the water can't just stay there as it's being pushed and accumulating in excess, it escapes by forming channels back out to open sea. This is easily visible from above, like footage from a drone or aircraft. So, there will be a number of channels where the excess water is heading back out to sea to relieve that pressure buildup. That's the rip.

What do you do?

1. Never swim against it. You will lose, tucker out, and drown. Swimmers who make it do so because it's not a huge strong rip, or they accidentally get to its edge and out of the channel.

2. Swim parallel to the beach, traversing/crossing the rip. As channels, most are not very wide. From a few meters (the strongest) to the width of a canal or small river. The wider, the weaker.

3. Learn how to flip over onto your back and float, or at least only lightly propel yourself with gentle kicking and arm treading which you conserve energy or rest...always going parallel to the beach.

And that's it. Don't panic. Even if you're still in the channel and getting carried farther out. Keep gently moving across the beach, and eventually you'll exit the channel and find yourself in water that's slowing moving toward the beach.

You can find more details online. Teach your kids. One of the coolest things I've done in the years living in Thailand was teaching my GF's 2 daughters how to swim, and to do so confidently. The first thing I taught them was how to flip over and rest on their backs. Once they didn't have the fear anymore, they could excel in skills.

Cheers.

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Well put. This years weather is more unpredictable than last years weather and the go sideways paraelle cuting back and forth and floating is exactly how I survived a pretty strong rip at Karon. But it did take me a bit to get back to shore and I should have known better in the first place. And yes, I was still tired. 

[oldschooler]

  On 5/29/2023 at 8:18 AM, RNikoley said:

Time for the public-service announcement. I had a cousin, avid mountaineer and rock climber all his life, drown in a rip, off of Miami Beach. High winds, which is essential for strong rip currents (they are currents, "tide" has nothing to do with it).

Everyone who ocean swims (I've swum all the beaches in Phuket from Patong to Nai Harn and Yai Nui) should understand rips and how to easily get out of them.

Rips are caused by stronger than average winds pushing the water en masse toward the beach. Since the water can't just stay there as it's being pushed and accumulating in excess, it escapes by forming channels back out to open sea. This is easily visible from above, like footage from a drone or aircraft. So, there will be a number of channels where the excess water is heading back out to sea to relieve that pressure buildup. That's the rip.

What do you do?

1. Never swim against it. You will lose, tucker out, and drown. Swimmers who make it do so because it's not a huge strong rip, or they accidentally get to its edge and out of the channel.

2. Swim parallel to the beach, traversing/crossing the rip. As channels, most are not very wide. From a few meters (the strongest) to the width of a canal or small river. The wider, the weaker.

3. Learn how to flip over onto your back and float, or at least only lightly propel yourself with gentle kicking and arm treading which you conserve energy or rest...always going parallel to the beach.

And that's it. Don't panic. Even if you're still in the channel and getting carried farther out. Keep gently moving across the beach, and eventually you'll exit the channel and find yourself in water that's slowing moving toward the beach.

You can find more details online. Teach your kids. One of the coolest things I've done in the years living in Thailand was teaching my GF's 2 daughters how to swim, and to do so confidently. The first thing I taught them was how to flip over and rest on their backs. Once they didn't have the fear anymore, they could excel in skills.

Cheers.

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Excellent Mitigation….if you really must risk the many dangers.Such as we all do for Essential Road Use.

Consider to simply avoid all open water. Under it -in it - on it. Simply too many health / life hazards. For very little Reward indeed. Rips- currents- tides- waves- cramps- toxic sewage- bacteria- hypothermia- jet skis- speed boats- capsizing boats- various water craft idiots- sharp objects- gear failure- heavy floating objects- sea animals- heart attack- knocked unconscious- panic. Drownings practically every day in Phuket.

My family completely banned from all open water. Sea- Lakes- Rivers. Zero boat trips.
Strong Swimmer & former Scuba Diver here. Any basic risk & reward assessment screams just NO.
Self- Limited now to  fin swimming in controlled clean villa pool & safe water parks.

No Worries.Pure Pleasure Only.