A RUSSIAN tourist was found dead in a swimming pool at a Phuket resort today - the second tourist death in a Phuket pool so far this year.
The 51-year-old Russian had only been on Phuket for a few hours, arriving just yesterday.
A female staff member at the Chalong Chalet Resort and Longstay in Karon told Phuketwan: ''I was walking past the pool to start work at 8am when I saw the body in the water. He was dressed in swimming trunks.''
The man was wearing a face mask.
Police from Chalong, the station which oversees Karon, were endeavoring to contact Russian embassy officials so that the man's relatives could be notified.
The man checked in alone and had intended to stay on Phuket for two nights and three days. Phuketwan has the man's name but will refrain from publishing it until relatives have been notified.
The man's death by drowning follows a similar incident on January 23 when a Hungarian doctor, Tibor Katai, 42, drowned in a pool the night he arrived to stay at the Kamala Beach Resort.
An autopsy revealed an unusually large amount of alcohol in his blood.
Phuketwan's report of the drowning sparked an investigation into corruption in Hungary amid speculation that the dead man and a group of about 30 other doctors had been enjoying the trip as a favor from a drug company.
The latest official police list of deaths among expats records the drowning of a Philippina, Florencia Oliveros, in a pool at a house in Kathu on November 29.
While three deaths in swimming pools within four months is unusual, drownings have become less frequent on Phuket, with 37 deaths in the water in 2010 compared to 57 in 2009.
Beach patrols by lifeguards from late April on Phuket's most popular stretches of sand helped increase awareness of the dangers.
Strangely, several drownings of tourists at Karon, Phuket's most deadly beach, were not included among the official police statistics that purport to list all expat deaths on Phuket. The list will be presented to Phuket's honorary consuls on Monday at the quarterly meeting with Governor Tri Augkaradacha.
As with drownings, the road toll on Phuket for 2010 was also an improvement, with 137 deaths on Phuket's roads in 2010 compared to 153 in 2009.
This is an average of 11.4 deaths a month in 2010 - a fraction of the ''20 to 30 deaths a month'' inaccurately reported recently in a local newspaper.
Phuket Expat Deaths Missing from Envoys' ListThe 51-year-old Russian had only been on Phuket for a few hours, arriving just yesterday.
A female staff member at the Chalong Chalet Resort and Longstay in Karon told Phuketwan: ''I was walking past the pool to start work at 8am when I saw the body in the water. He was dressed in swimming trunks.''
The man was wearing a face mask.
Police from Chalong, the station which oversees Karon, were endeavoring to contact Russian embassy officials so that the man's relatives could be notified.
The man checked in alone and had intended to stay on Phuket for two nights and three days. Phuketwan has the man's name but will refrain from publishing it until relatives have been notified.
The man's death by drowning follows a similar incident on January 23 when a Hungarian doctor, Tibor Katai, 42, drowned in a pool the night he arrived to stay at the Kamala Beach Resort.
An autopsy revealed an unusually large amount of alcohol in his blood.
Phuketwan's report of the drowning sparked an investigation into corruption in Hungary amid speculation that the dead man and a group of about 30 other doctors had been enjoying the trip as a favor from a drug company.
The latest official police list of deaths among expats records the drowning of a Philippina, Florencia Oliveros, in a pool at a house in Kathu on November 29.
While three deaths in swimming pools within four months is unusual, drownings have become less frequent on Phuket, with 37 deaths in the water in 2010 compared to 57 in 2009.
Beach patrols by lifeguards from late April on Phuket's most popular stretches of sand helped increase awareness of the dangers.
Strangely, several drownings of tourists at Karon, Phuket's most deadly beach, were not included among the official police statistics that purport to list all expat deaths on Phuket. The list will be presented to Phuket's honorary consuls on Monday at the quarterly meeting with Governor Tri Augkaradacha.
As with drownings, the road toll on Phuket for 2010 was also an improvement, with 137 deaths on Phuket's roads in 2010 compared to 153 in 2009.
This is an average of 11.4 deaths a month in 2010 - a fraction of the ''20 to 30 deaths a month'' inaccurately reported recently in a local newspaper.
Latest Phuketwan continues to find omissions from a list of the deaths of expats on Phuket. The list, provided to envoys, should be complete. Drownings at Karon beach never seem to be listed.
Phuket Expat Deaths Missing from Envoys' List
Phuket Death Lifts Lid on 'Pharma Fraud'
Latest The death of a doctor in a swimming pool at a Phuket resort has led to an investigation into why a group of Hungarian doctors were on Phuket and whether laws were being broken.
Phuket Death Lifts Lid on 'Pharma Fraud'
Doctor's Death in Resort Pool: High Alcohol Reading
UPDATE Drowning is the likely cause of the death of a doctor in a Phuket resort pool. He took a ''midnight swim'' with several others on flying in, but failed to emerge from the water.
Doctor's Death in Resort Pool: High Alcohol Reading
Phuket Helmet Heaven: 10,000 Join Safety Ride
Latest Phuket's campaign to achieve ''100 percent helmets'' on motorcycles should attract 10,000 riders and a Deputy PM this Sunday to a bike ride that links forever Phuket and road safety.
Phuket Helmet Heaven: 10,000 Join Safety Ride
Phuket's 'Beach of Death' Kills Two Tourists: Third Tourist Now Out of Hospital
UPDATE The ''safe'' high season vanishes as two tourists drown in a day of holiday horror at the Phuket beach once labelled among the world's safest for families. A third man is recovering.
Phuket's 'Beach of Death' Kills Two Tourists: Third Tourist Now Out of Hospital
Phuket Expat Deaths Missing from Envoys' List.
'Expat' and 'Tourist' is not the same, that might be explanation.
Posted by Palle on February 19, 2011 18:47
Editor Comment:
We use expat because there is no official distinction made by police and envoys between expat residents and tourists. People are either Thais or they require a passport. In the case of drownings, most are tourist deaths. But if we used the word 'tourists,' it could equally apply to Thai tourists.