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A second young boy has drowned after being pulled from the water at a beach in front of a five-star resort in Phang Nga, north of Phuket.
Original Report
PHUKET: One youngster has drowned and doctors are fighting to save the life of a second child after tragedy struck twice along the Andaman Sea coast north of Phuket this afternoon.
At 4.30pm, a Thai boy aged seven was pulled from the sea on the beachfront at the JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa but was declared dead from drowning at Takuapa Hospital.
At 6.30pm, further north along the coast at the Le Meridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort a six-year-old boy who was a guest at the resort was pulled from the sea, unconscious.
Doctors at Takuapa Hospital were trying to save his life this evening.
It's believed the first boy was the nephew of a Marriott staff member and had been celebrating the Songkran new year with a swim.
I was at the time of first accident 1km South from the Mariott on the beach, it was low tide, no high waves BUT that kind of strong undercurrent and quite unpleasant frequency of waves - so characteristic for low season. I had a lasy swim around 17:00, and said to myself that such seas are tricky - no apparent waves, and even at low tide , it is difficult to keep a balance, so easy to underestimate a danger.
Thai folks who do not live in coastal areas are especially vulnerable to contact with a sea, as unlike their Western counterparts, probably are lacking swimming skills and never been to swimming pool(plunge pools are not counted)
Posted by Sue on April 14, 2014 00:04