PHUKET: A British holidaymaker riding a jet-ski in Pattaya was killed when his throat struck a taut speedboat anchor rope, according to local authorities.
The family of Stephen Campbell, 38, from Blackpool, is now seeking to raise 1.6 million baht to fly his body home. He was not fully insured.
Mr Campbell, who owned a barber shop, was on a three-week holiday to Thailand with another British man. His companion's Thai girlfriend, Kanyarat Eadthaisong, told police that the three of them went to Tawan beach on Wednesday but only Stephen rented a jet-ski.
Photographs published in the Thai press showed emergency paramedics treating Mr Campbell for a wound to his throat. The jet-ski stopped when he came off.
Last month British man David Rimmer, 50, told British newspapers that he coughed up 200,000 baht in a Phuket jet-ski pay-off and said he felt ''lucky to be alive'' after crashing into a speedboat off Patong.
Mr Campbell's death highlights once again the dangers associated with riding the high-powered machines.
Chinese visitors Zhao Qiang and his wife Chu Fang were both killed when their hired jet-ski crashed into a catamaran off Patong on December 1, 2011.
In May that year, Singapore man Loh Ying Jie died after a long period in a coma following a collision with another jet-ski ridden by a friend.
Now Mr Campbell's family is trying to raise the money with a Facebook charity drive to bring his body back to Britain.
Tracey Strangwick, 48, who owns a business near Mr Campbell's barber shop, told the Daily Mail newspaper: ''He adored Thailand and used to go all the time. I think he used to travel around the country.
''He really wasn't a thrill-seeker or anything like that. Stephen was a wonderful, warm-hearted man and it's a real shock to everyone that he's died so suddenly in such tragic circumstances.''
Jet-skis are banned in the provinces that are Phuket's direct neighbors, Phang Nga and Krabi. A plan to gradually outlaw them on Phuket over seven years dissipated when the jet-ski operators resisted the move.
Jet-skis are now permitted to operate on even more Phuket beaches. Although some operators are aware of safety considerations, often the riding instructions to holidaymakers are brief and inadequate, especially if the tourists do not speak Thai or English.
The family of Stephen Campbell, 38, from Blackpool, is now seeking to raise 1.6 million baht to fly his body home. He was not fully insured.
Mr Campbell, who owned a barber shop, was on a three-week holiday to Thailand with another British man. His companion's Thai girlfriend, Kanyarat Eadthaisong, told police that the three of them went to Tawan beach on Wednesday but only Stephen rented a jet-ski.
Photographs published in the Thai press showed emergency paramedics treating Mr Campbell for a wound to his throat. The jet-ski stopped when he came off.
Last month British man David Rimmer, 50, told British newspapers that he coughed up 200,000 baht in a Phuket jet-ski pay-off and said he felt ''lucky to be alive'' after crashing into a speedboat off Patong.
Mr Campbell's death highlights once again the dangers associated with riding the high-powered machines.
Chinese visitors Zhao Qiang and his wife Chu Fang were both killed when their hired jet-ski crashed into a catamaran off Patong on December 1, 2011.
In May that year, Singapore man Loh Ying Jie died after a long period in a coma following a collision with another jet-ski ridden by a friend.
Now Mr Campbell's family is trying to raise the money with a Facebook charity drive to bring his body back to Britain.
Tracey Strangwick, 48, who owns a business near Mr Campbell's barber shop, told the Daily Mail newspaper: ''He adored Thailand and used to go all the time. I think he used to travel around the country.
''He really wasn't a thrill-seeker or anything like that. Stephen was a wonderful, warm-hearted man and it's a real shock to everyone that he's died so suddenly in such tragic circumstances.''
Jet-skis are banned in the provinces that are Phuket's direct neighbors, Phang Nga and Krabi. A plan to gradually outlaw them on Phuket over seven years dissipated when the jet-ski operators resisted the move.
Jet-skis are now permitted to operate on even more Phuket beaches. Although some operators are aware of safety considerations, often the riding instructions to holidaymakers are brief and inadequate, especially if the tourists do not speak Thai or English.
Flying back a body is not that expansive. More like 250.000 Baht. They should get a better service. It is not a medivac. RIP.
Posted by Lena on March 22, 2014 12:13