Two girls drown in pool

THALANG: Two girls, one 10 years old, the other 12, died while swimming in a pool near their home in the Thalang area yesterday. Police named the two girls as Kittima Butlada, 10, and Praemai Poltawee, 12. Cousins, they both lived in a house in Moo 8, Baan Prusompan in Tambon Thepkrasattri, where they went to school. Pol Maj Adul Nirapai, inspector of Thalang police station, said that the girls went with six friends to the pool at about 1 pm with the intention of swimming. After swimming for a while, Kittima developed a leg cramp. Praemai swam out to help her, but also got into trouble. Their friends rushed back to the village to get help, but by the time relatives arrived, the two girls were already dead. Meanwhile, further south, an unidentified man hanged himself from a pier on Klong Chang Yai in Saphan Hin, near Phuket Town. Pol Capt Salid Budnongsaeng, Inspector of Phuket Town police station, said police were called to the scene at about 2 pm after a local resident found the body behind a gymnasium. Capt Salid said the man was about 20 years old and was wearing a gray polo shirt, blue slacks and yellow sneakers. He had used a piece of nylon rope to hang himself and had been dead for at least two hours. The body was sent to Wachira Phuket Hospital to await identification.