The woman* later returned with her family to thank the lifeguards for saving her life.
At 1:30pm today (July 19), Phuket Lifeguard Service posted three pictures on their Facebook page along with the message; “Another rescue today at Patong Beach. Chinese lady is safe and on the way to hospital. Good job Patong Lifeguard.”
Mr Samart Ratthanamart, a lifeguard stationed at Patong Beach near Bangla Rd said, “The incident happened this morning at about 09:30am. We saw the tourist was hit by a wave and started to drown. I took a jet-ski to bring her back to the beach.
“The female tourist was Chinese aged between 35-40 years old. She was choking on water and was weak. She was unconscious. After we assisted her with first aid she was taken to Patong Hospital.”
At 3pm today, Phuket Lifeguard Service made a follow up post with the message; “We rescued her this morning. The family and lady returned to thanks Patong Lifeguards. Good to see her with a big smile on her face.”
Mr Samart added, “We will continue to strictly watch people because now there is strong wind and waves on the western beaches of Phuket. Even when red flags have been put up some people still went into the sea. We are very worried.”
* The woman was initially identifided by lifeguards at the scene as Chinese. However, The Chinese Consulate in Phuket later confirmed that the woman and her family, who were present, were actually ethnic Chinese from Singapore.