Chief Executive of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation, Paiboon Upatising, telephoned Phuketwan today from the ITB Berlin travel trade fair to say that the tendering system has now been abandoned and he will drive the introduction of a workable lifeguard system for Phuket as soon as he returns.


PHUKET'S lifeguard system needs rescuing. Is there a big, bronzed Aussie-style lifesaver out there who can resuscitate the failed concept that passes for Phuket's tendering system for lifeguards?

The popular holiday island, famous around the world for its beaches, now faces a dangerous low season in 2010 with no lifeguards on Patong, Karon, Kamala, Kata and the other splendid stretches of sand that bring tourists on beach holidays.

What will happen in the dangerous monsoon season between May and October when visitors to the island insist on swimming, because they've been sold by disingenuous marketing on a ''Summer'' holiday on Phuket?

The tendering system organised by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation has failed to produce a single tender application for the lifeguard contract since the previous contract ended in mid-November.

The result: no lifeguards on any of Phuket's popular beaches. Needless deaths by drowning. Grieving families. Honeymooners returning home with corpses.

While questions have always been asked about the adequacy of lifeguard training, everyone agrees that having someone with a red-and-yellow cap and a whistle on a beach is better than having no-one.

The question is why the Phuket authorities persist with a system that is doomed to fail and likely to continue to bring Phuket's reputation into disrepute as drownings continue to mount.

There were 57 drownings on Phuket in 2009 - an appalling tally when compared with the 153 deaths on the roads, considering the number who use the roads compared with those who swim.

Volunteers who teach children to swim and Australian experts who have pointed out the flaws in the Phuket system continue to be frustrated by lack of a sensible course of action.

At the heart of the cause of the crisis on the beaches is the tendering system, which offers successful contractors 20 million baht for one year to cover 83 trained staff in two zones on the island.

It's an unattractive proposition because there is no guarantee that the service will continue. The tendering process has to be renewed every year.

The role-model Australian system is based on volunteers or low-paid lifesavers who are properly trained in rescue and cpr through a club system that makes patrolling beaches a healthy sporting activity. The men and women who carry out this role are heroes.

On Phuket, the authorities have yet to realise the social benefits of training and retaining lifesavers, as distinct from lifeguards.

Generally, the attitude to drownings in Thailand and on Phuket is more likely to be sum num na . . . it's your own fault.

Efforts are being made by concerned expats and Thais to bring about a cultural change that would benefit Phuket and enhance its reputation as a year-round beach holiday paradise.

But there is a lack of support and finance, and no indication yet of one essential vital life sign: a willingness to change.