100 lifeguards to be trained

PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) will train 100 volunteers to work as lifeguards at the island’s beaches and swimming pools. The OrBorJor has set aside 454,000 baht to cover the five-day courses during August and September, organized by Phuket Marine Police, Wachira Phuket Hospital and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The OrBorJor has also improved the beach guard points at Kamala, Surin, Nai Thon, Bang Tao, Patong, Karon, Kata, Kata Noi and Nai Harn. Each guard point has a jet-ski, a pickup truck and other rescue equipment provided by the OrBorJor. The beach guard project began in June and will run until the end of the dangerous monsoon season in October. Some of the volunteers who pass the course will be paid a salary of 8,000 baht a month to guard the beaches. The lifeguard course is free and also open to people who wish to guard swimming pools. Volunteers should contact the OrBorJor, tel: 076-211877. Samroeng Chaisorn, Vice-President of the OrBorJor, said the new Phuket Tourist Assistance Center at Chalong Bay – set up with a 14-million-baht budget – gave assistance in June to 19 people who were injured or in danger.