Burmese man drowns in Phuket drain

Jon WhitmanPublished: 12:38, 22 October 2022| Updated: 13:06, 22 October 2022

236 1 minute read

Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers have retrieved the body of an unnamed Burmese man who fell into a canal and drowned in Chalong.

The 47 year old man from Myanmar fell into the canal while watching the flooding, Phuket Info Center reported. The body was found near the floodgate, far from where he fell.

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According to local media, several people saw the Burmese man in the water waving his hands to attract attention. Nobody was prepared to help the victim, as the canal was too wide and the current too strong.

Burmese man drowns in Phuket drain | News by Thaiger — The man fell into the water some 3 kilometres from the floodgate where his body was retrieved.

The floodgate was designed and built to prevent flooding in Chalong and Wichit areas during the rainy season. It was completed in 2019 for 139 million baht (US$3.7 million) and included a pumphouse and shoring up two kilometres of the canal banks.

The gate is closed at high tide to prevent seawater from stopping the outflow of the canal. Water is pumped from the canal to the seaward side of the floodgate when levels in the canal are high.

Kusoldharm Phuket Foundation is a nonprofit foundation which provides free help and emergency assistance to the public in Phuket and the surrounding area. Rescue workers took the body to Vachira Phuket Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Jon Whitman

Jon Whitman is a seasoned journalist and author who has been living and working in Asia for more than two decades. Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, Jon has been at the forefront of some of the most important stories coming out of China in the past decade. After a long and successful career in East sia, Jon is now semi-retired and living in the Outer Hebrides. He continues to write and is an avid traveller and photographer, documenting his experiences across the world.