I don't know what it is about the westerners that live and visit here but they seem to think that the local lifeguards and safety officials don't know what the hell they are talking about or something. Right now we are approaching the beginning of monsoon season and this means tough waves and even tougher currents.
In the past few days there has been multiple incidents of foreigners ignoring the red flags at the beaches and one of the arrogantly argued with the lifeguards about how he is "a strong swimmer."
He later had to be rescued by a jetski after the rip current carried him away from shore and he couldn't get back.
A very good friend of mine lives in Phuket, which is one of the most, if not the most, popular beach area in all of Thailand and this is where a lot of the really bad currents and rough waves happen due to it being on the Indian Ocean and is seriously affected by seasonal currents.
We already have enough animosity towards foreigners here in Thailand and this is not helping when people just ignore the warnings of the officials because they think they are smarter or know better than the people whose job it is to patrol these areas.
I get it, that doesn't look like much and someone that doesn't understand currents and how you normally can't even seen them, might thing that this is no big deal and he should be allowed to go out anyway. According to the lifeguards in question, this guy guy told them he is a strong swimmer and actually pressed past them to get into the water against their advice. It was some time later that he was clearly in trouble and couldn't get back in because of rip currents.
Thankfully they were able to rescue him but another person wasn't so lucky and he was already unconscious after rescuers pulled him to shore.
There's something else that annoys me about this picture. You see all those rescue workers and lifeguards in the picture? Well believe it or not they are actually also trained to do medical rescue as well but in the video and you can kind of see it in the picture as well, there is a thong-clad woman there that is insisting on putting herself into this situation as well. Just get out of the way and let the professionals do their job.
There is no update on whether or not this guy survived but he was yet another person that ignored the flags and the whistles and the verbal advice of the lifeguards.
Thailand has some pretty relaxed beaches by SE Asian standards. I have been to other countries' beaches where they simply will not allow you to even get near the water but Thailand seems to give people the benefit of the doubt and allow them in a bit, but just not too far. I guess they have a bit of a stand-offish attitude to allow the visitors to have as much fun as they can but people these days are taking that freedom too far. If they don't stop doing this we are soon going to find ourselves like a lot of other beach areas in the world where they simply don't allow anyone on the beach.
I get it ok? You are on vacation and perhaps you even have a superiority complex where you presume that you know more than the natives. This is a terrible way to think but in a way I can kind of understand why a person might think this way because so much of this country seems a bit backwards.
But i think that if you are putting your own life at risk it might be a better idea to err on the side of caution. There is no reset button on this life of ours.
I can tell you with experience in the Phuket seas that this red flag business is no joke. The currents there are quite dangerous and much like this one guy who barely made it back I too believe I am a strong swimmer. you are not stronger than a really strong rip-current though, and neither am I.
Maybe just listen to the guys in the yellow uniforms and stop being a arrogant prick for a little while? Oh and if there is a rescue, unless you are a doctor, just get the hell out of the way and let the rescue workers who are trained in these situations do their jobs.
