PHOTOS: Phuket People’s Voice

26 year old Mateusz Juszkiewicz from Poland and a female Thai friend, 23 year old Werakan Sirirakon from Nakon Sawan, were kayaking between Ya Nui Beach and the small island offshore with friends yesterday afternoon.

The group hired four kayaks to explore the island, just south of popular Nai Harn Beach. Whilst the friends were returning to Ya Nui at sunset last evening, the missing pair contacted their other friends and said they were quite far away and “not able to return to the beach”, according to the police report.

There has been no contact with the pair since.

The other members of the canoeing expedition contacted the Tourist Police who, in turn, put out the call to local volunteer organisations and the Navy. A search of the waters off Ya Nui Beach continued until almost midnight.

Navy helicopters and an armada of smaller vessels, some with the local Navy, have been searching for the pair, and their kayak, this morning.

Police say the search will continue around Phuket’s southern waters and local beaches this afternoon. Whilst there has been a strong offshore breeze, the conditions have been reasonable last night and today.

SOURCE: เสียงประชาชน คนภูเก็ต Phuket People’s Voice

THIS IS A JOB ADVERTISEMENT

Are you Mr. or Ms. Write?

The Thaiger is currently seeking a full-time writer, in English, to work from our Cherngtalay offices in Phuket. You will have an enthusiasm for writing and a working knowledge of life in Thailand. You may have journalism experience but flair, speed and enthusiasm are much more important. You will also need a solid understanding of modern social media and, more broadly, the online media landscape.

SCREENSHOT: เหยี่ยวข่าว ภูเก็ต Newshawk Phuket

A post on the Facebook page ‘Newshawk Phuket’ has a 30 second video captioned ‘in Karon, what happened?This happened on December 2 at 4PM, on the road, in front of Karon Beach, Phuket’.

The video shows a group of people running after a western man and attacking him.

Today , Karon Police Superintendent, Pol Col Prawit Suthiruang-Arun, told media that he has ordered Karon police to investigate the incident as depicted in the video.

Karon police received a report about a physical assault in front of a seafood restaurant located on the beachfront of Karon. At the scene, police found an American man, 44 year old ‘Conelly’, and three restaurant staff including 27 year old Teeraporn Thitayaporn, 20 year old Aomin Wen from Myanmar and 21 year old Nadee from Myanmar.

After speaking to the people involved, and witnesses, police found that there was a ‘misunderstanding’ when Connelly was having a conversation with the staff about food, which resulted in the fight as seen in the video.

Police allowed the two sides to talk so police could get a better understanding about what happened. The two sides confessed to the police that they both attacked each other. However, they only suffered minor injuries.

The staff, as well as the American man, were fined 500 baht each by the Karon police. The matter was settled by the local police without any arrests.

Later, all the ‘players’ told media they had no intention to file criminal or civil charges.

SOURCE: Newshawk Phuket