PHUKET: Making sure that the people who oversee Thailand's tourists on the water obey safety laws should be the message delivered by the Minister for Tourism and Sport to Cabinet and the National Council for Peace and Order on Tuesday.

With the drowning of three tourists in Thai waters today, Minister Kobkan Wattanawarangkul will quickly understand that compelling tourists to wear life vests is vastly more important than making them wear ID wristbands.

By the time Khun Kobkan visits Phuket on Wednesday, the thought will have dawned in many minds that with the Asian Beach Games approaching next month, safety on the water is the most important issue.

How nerve-wracking that the nation that is holding the games, with many events at sea, has yet to impose satisfactory standards of safety, as today's three deaths tragically illustrate.

Although there are some notable exceptions, most of the tourist resorts on Phuket, and in Krabi and Phang Nga, show scant regard for the care of guests beyond their borders.

It's ironic that this week in Bangkok, a Phuketwan journalist will be attending an important day-long seminar on drowning, at the invitation of the World Health Organisation.

For years, the holiday island's lifeguards and Phuketwan have been making the point that the resorts of Thailand's Andaman region must commit more sincerely to the safety of their guests in the water.

Too many resort managements show no interest in saving lives, only in saving money.

With the WHO seminar on drowning and a visit by the minister to Phuket this week to promote the Asian Beach Games, the time has come to make it plain that this government's paramount concern is tourism safety.

The resort managements that profit all year round from tourism must become active in safeguarding visitors.

These days, many brands devise Corporate Social Responsibility programs and promote them. Yet the reality is that the money and the marketing would be better spent on saving the lives of guests.

And if I could be so bold as to speak directly to you, Khun Kobkan, the reality is that the resorts must do their share to protect Thailand's tourists.

They are the ones gaining the greatest benefit. They are the ones who should prove they care.

It is the resorts that promote Phuket and the region as a year-round swimming and marine fun destination, and the resorts that find it easy to forget how dangerous the Andaman Sea can be.

Push the reluctant resorts to listen to the lifeguards, and to show genuine concern about whether their guests make trips with or without life vests, and the Asian Beach Games will be a joyous event.

There will never be a better time to persuade everyone that safety on the water and at the beach is a top priority for Thailand.