British tourist drowns at Phuket beach
A British tourist drowned at the Surin beach in Phuket Wednesday afternoon but his son was saved thanks to the quick actions of a lifeguard, police said.
The Choeng Thalay police station was alerted at 3pm that a foreign tourist had drowned and another was injured.
When police arrived at the scene, Wan Chun Tat, 24, has been rushed to the Thalang Hospital but the body of his father, Wan Chau Ming, 53, was still at the beach. The body was later sent to the Thalang Hospital for autopsy.
Amnat Chuasman, 26, who rescued the son, said he saw the two tourists arrive on a motorcycle and go into the water despite high waves whipped up by a strong wind.
Amnat said the two were swept out to sea by a big wave and he swam out to rescue them but managed to save only the younger tourist.
He called for an ambulance to take the rescued tourist to the hospital and he resumed the search for the father. However, the man had already drowned and he therefore brought the body back to the beach to await the authorities.
The Phuket tourist police have informed the British embassy of the incident.