SAVING tourists from drowning on Phuket is a relatively simple matter. Visitors need to be told that swimming on Phuket can be dangerous during the low/monsoon/green/wet/summer season.

They should be told this as soon as they check in at their resorts, guesthouses or other accommodation. The same managements who encourage visitors to come to Phuket during the low season have an obligation to inform them about obvious dangers.

Use of the word ''Summer'' to entice tourists is strictly correct, but it doesn't tell visitors the whole story. Some resorts do. Sadly, most don't.

It's time Phuket's tourism industry became totally honest.

The resorts derive most benefit from attracting tourists to Phuket at this time of the year. And it is the resorts that must accept responsibility to let guests know of the dangers.

One friend of a Romanian tourist who became the latest victim of lack of information and drowned a horrible, lingering death on Phuket last month told Phuketwan that the group of friends were never warned that swimming at Karon beach was dangerous.

This Romanian has travelled the world, and he was rightly appalled at the lack of care on Phuket. On an earlier visit to one of Phuket's global tourism rivals, Jamaica, he said he had been told, on checking in at the hotel, which parts of the local beaches were safe and which were not.

Quite rightly, Phuket's beach lifeguards have made the point that they cannot save people from drowning without more help in warning the innocent victims. This help must come from the resorts.

Warnings must be issued.

If needless drownings continue, if warnings are not given at the appropriate time, the alternative is for beaches to be closed to swimmers. This would mean the good resorts that do the right thing suffering along with the bad resorts that deny any responsibility.

To a certain extent, if the drownings continue, as seems likely, it will be up to the island's honorary consuls and Bangkok embassies to implement changes through travel warnings.

Nobody would like to see travel alerts standardised more than Phuketwan.

But the point should be made that tourists run a far greater risk of drowning on Phuket than they do falling victim to violence and unrest in Bangkok. The national alerts continue loudly about Bangkok. Yet they do not mention drowning on Phuket.

While the Australian Government's travel advisory site warns against jet-ski rip-offs, no mention is made of the high incidence of fatalities in the surf off Karon.

In truth, jet-ski extortions have not been an obvious problem since last year, when the Governor of Phuket introduced compulsory insurance of the vehicles. However, the life and death issue of drownings continues. The far greater threat to citizens - one that could cost them their lives - is ignored. Why is that?

If the issues were properly understood, and especially given Australia's leadership in setting the standards for saving lives on beaches, the Australian Government might eventually even see the wisdom in recommending against swimming at some Phuket beaches during the monsoon season.

One hopes that day never comes. But the question is whether Phuket resorts are prepared to take responsibility and warn guests themselves, or whether they would prefer to have far more draconian measures taken to save people from losing their lives needlessly.