Tourists hurt by long-tail propeller

PATONG: A Swedish father and his son were badly lacerated on Thursday when a long-tail boat ran over them as they swam at Freedom Beach, just south of Patong. Pol Capt Boonlert Onklang of Kathu Police Station said that the father and son, whom he named as Olle Sundin, 43, and Maenus Sundin, 15, were apparently under the water when both were hit in the head by the propeller of the long-tail boat, which was coming from Patong to pick up passengers at Freedom Beach. “There were buoys indicating a swimming area there. So we think that they must have been swimming, or more likely diving, just outside the swimming area,” Pol Capt Boonlert told the Gazette. After they were hit, Mr Sundin tried to get the boatman to take himself and his son to hospital. The boatman, however, turned his boat around and motored away. The Sundins were later taken to Patong Hospital. Mr Sundin received ten stitches for his head wounds, while his son received five. Both were discharged from the hospital the same evening. Police are trying to find the boatman, known only as Dam. The boat was rented, and after the accident was left on the beach in front of the Patong Seaview Hotel.