Phuket lifeguard dies off Karon Beach

PHUKET: A Phuket lifeguard died yesterday morning in the waters off Karon Beach Phuket after assisting a kite surfer in distress.

After helping the surfer back to safety in front of the Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket, lifeguard Pongsatorn Sea-Lim, 43, passed away from apparent exhaustion trying to return to shore himself, according to resort General Manager Denis Thouvard.

Mr Pongsatorn, a Phuket native, was contracted through Karon Municipality and was very well trained for his job, Mr Thouvard said.

A full medical examination will be made to better understand the cause of Mr Pongsatorn’s sudden demise, he added.

“We would like to commend Khun Pongsatorn’s diligence and expertise in performing his duty in the most professional way at all times. A great colleague to all of us, it should be mentioned that so many guests he met on the beach became his friends. The entire staff and management of Centara Grand Phuket would like to extend our deepest condolences to Khun Pongsatorn’s family members. He will be dearly missed by all of us,” he said.

Mr Pongsathorn is the second person to die offshore at the north end of Karon Bay in less than a year-and-a-half. In August last year, Bahraini tourist Ali Abdulaziz Salman Alsaeed drowned in heavy surf in the same area. He was just 25 years old.

— Chutharat Plerin