PHUKET: Lifeguards on Phuket are appealing to resorts around the holiday island to warn guests not to swim at beaches as the onset of the monsoon season creates unseen dangers.
More red flags than ever before have been placed along Phuket's prized west coast beaches, a spokesperson for the Phuket Lifeguard Service, which provides year-round safety patrols, said today.
''We hope the island's resorts will join us in warning people not to swim,'' the spokesperson said.
''This is the most dangerous time of the year. If people reach the beach determined to swim, it's sometimes difficult for lifeguards to prevent them going in.''
Some parts of Patong and Kata beaches remain clear for swimmers as long as they go into the water between the red-and-yellow flags that define patrolled areas.
Beach erosion is also evident at places along the popular coast, with ''cliffs'' now evident at Mai Khao and Bang Tao. The strongest waves are possibly at Nai Thon, where only the bravest of surfers would venture in at this time of the year.
The next few weeks are also expected to see damage wrought to walls along the Phuket coast. Lifeguards are urging resorts to warn guests to swim at this time of the year only in resort pools.
More red flags than ever before have been placed along Phuket's prized west coast beaches, a spokesperson for the Phuket Lifeguard Service, which provides year-round safety patrols, said today.
''We hope the island's resorts will join us in warning people not to swim,'' the spokesperson said.
''This is the most dangerous time of the year. If people reach the beach determined to swim, it's sometimes difficult for lifeguards to prevent them going in.''
Some parts of Patong and Kata beaches remain clear for swimmers as long as they go into the water between the red-and-yellow flags that define patrolled areas.
Beach erosion is also evident at places along the popular coast, with ''cliffs'' now evident at Mai Khao and Bang Tao. The strongest waves are possibly at Nai Thon, where only the bravest of surfers would venture in at this time of the year.
The next few weeks are also expected to see damage wrought to walls along the Phuket coast. Lifeguards are urging resorts to warn guests to swim at this time of the year only in resort pools.
If you were going to write a book about how to ruin a beautiful tropical island, Phuket would serve as the perfect example.
Unchecked development, public lands stolen by developers and resort owners in corrupt deals with officials, no public transport, no waste management planning, no water planing, local transport dominated by gangs of thugs who set their own prices, beaches given over to private business by corrupt rent-seeking officials, jet ski extortionists freely operating on public beaches, greasy handed touts harassing tourists on every street, etc etc etc etc etc...
Then we have the laws for some and the laws for others, like when is the Tiger disco fire trial going to start?
Posted by Arun Muruga on June 17, 2015 13:06