Father drowns at Kata Beach

PHUKET: A Thai man drowned on Tuesday (July 18) while swimming with his nine-year-old daughter in front of Club Med at Kata Beach. Pol Lt Teerawat Leamsuwan of Chalong Police Station said that Mana Sakulpakdee, a 54-year-old educational supervisor at the Office of Educational, Religious and Cultural Development, drowned while playing in the sea with his daughter Naruecha. Mana and his daughter were swimming at about 5:50 pm when someone heard the father shouting for help. “His daughter told us that some big waves hit them and pulled her down under the water. Her father tried to hold her up, but the two were separated by the force of the waves,” said Lt Teerawat. “Some bystanders jumped in and brought the girl to shore, but no one could see her father. His body was found two hours later and was sent to Wachira Hospital for autopsy.” Despite red “no swimming” flags on the beach and warnings from weathermen about the dangers of swimming in the sea around Phuket this week, a number of other people got into trouble in the water over the Khao Pan Sa holiday. A Thai family of six from Chiang Rai nearly drowned at Patong Beach but were saved by beach boys. And a South African tourist swimming at Kata Beach owes his life to an alert Thai shopkeeper who hauled the drowning man from the sea.