The Russian tourist who drowned has been named as Irina Bobrova, 64, who arrived on Phuket with her husband Nikoley, 64, on December 1. They were due to fly home on Tuesday.


A RUSSIAN tourist drowned after she was pulled from the surf at Phuket's notorious Karon beach today.

The woman died before an ambulance reached hospital in the neighboring Phuket resort town of Patong, a lifeguard spokesperson said.

Officials from the Russian consulate, which is based at a resort in Kata, close to Karon, are being notified.

Phuketwan has been told that the woman chose to swim despite red flags flying on Karon beach, outside the Thavorn Grand Phuket.

Lifeguards reported that red flags were being placed along the beach from 9am and at 9.15am, the Russian woman and her husband went swimming.

She was pulled from the water by her husband in a distressed state about 9.20am. Lifeguards tried to resuscitate the woman.

Lifeguards said they were told the couple had been holidaying at the Thavorn Palm Beach Resort.

Russian travellers to Phuket increased by 157 percent between Jaunary and September this year - and a greater proportion of them have also been drowning on Phuket beaches.

Phuket lifeguards say that Russians are more likely than people from other destinations to swim despite warnings.

This year the dangerous monsoon season, which creates potentially deadly and unseen rips beneath the water at some of Phuket's most famous west coast beaches, has extended into December, normally considered a safe time to swim.

Karon beach has a particularly bad reputation. While Karon can be tranquil during the high season, which is due to begin any day now and run through to April, it is treacherous for the rest of the year.

The toll of drownings at Karon beach especially continues to mount. It is easily Phuket's most dangerous beach between April and December.

Today's drowning is likely to intensify calls by the lifeguards for Karon beach to be closed on days when the red no-swim flags are flying.

Mysteriously, several drownings of tourists at Karon beach have yet to appear in official police records supplied to honorary consuls and embassies. The list of names purports to include all expat deaths.

Phuketwan and water safety experts advocate a three-stage warning system for Phuket tourists: a video warning screened with other essential information as every flight descends to Phuket; a personal warning delivered by every resort or guesthouse receptionist when visitors check in between April and December; and a warning from lifeguards at the beaches for anyone who tries to swim on dangerous red-flag days.

Latest figures from the Phuket Lifeguard Club, which patrols 13 popular Phuket beaches, show there were 406 rescues between October 26 and November 25, with one death and two cases requiring hospital treatment.

A total of 28 deaths had been recorded from drownings on Phuket to November 1, compared to 50 during the same period last year.

However, Phuketwan is unable to say whether the drownings that are absent from official police figures are absent or present in the official Public Health totals.

The Public Health department supplies monthly figures, but with no details, so the accuracy of the figures supplied cannot be confirmed.

There is also concern that figures from Phuket's private hospitals may not be included in the official statistics, which largely relate to Phuket's three public hospitals.

A lifeguard spokesperson told Phuketwan today that the body of the woman who drowned at Karon this morning was taken first to Patong Hospital, a public hospital, then on to Phuket International Hospital in Phuket City, a private hospital.

According to Public Health figures, drownings on Phuket amounted to 57 for the whole of 2009.