A strong weather warning has been issued for the Phuket region for Monday, the Asarnha Bucha Day public holiday. People are advised to avoid going to sea.


A PHUKET rocks angler was lost at sea for two hours today in stormy weather before being plucked to safety by a lifeguard on a jet-ski.

The man, named as Seksan Jamjan, aged 20, is now in the intensive care unit at Patong Hospital suffering from exposure, a broken hip and scrapes and bruises.

A spokeswoman for the Phuket Lifeguard Service said this afternoon: ''The man was very lucky. Construction workers nearby saw him swept off the rocks at Ao Chaithao, between Patong and Kamala.

''They alerted the lifeguards on duty at Kamala beach at 2.48pm, and they called in the lifeguards from Patong, where they have a jet-ski.''

The jet-ski searched for the man for an hour then had to return to shore for more fuel.

''It was close to the end of the second hour of searching when the man was found,'' the lifeguard spokeswoman said.

Because of his injuries, Khun Seksan could not swim. But he managed to stay afloat until he was rescued at 5.10pm.

Safety experts recommend that rock anglers don life jackets, but this man was not wearing one.

Lifeguards say equipment still remains a problem. Their dinghies are lightweight and easily swept back in waves, the spokeswoman said, making some rescues more difficult.

Storms also dismasted at least one catamaran and interfered with racing on the last day of the Six Senses Phuket Raceweek Regatta, being held off Phuket's east coast.