Capt Wuthiwat Liangboonjinda of Chalong Police was called to investigate the reported drowning of a Russian tourist at Naiharn beach in Rawai at 6:30pm last night.
“We arrived at the beach with rescue workers from Rawai Municipality to find the Russian victim (name withheld until his family has been informed) lying face up on the beach. There were no signs of assault or injury on the body.
“We were told that at 6pm the victim and one of his friends went out into the water where red flags were flying, they were about 100 metres from each other,” he said.
“The victim called for help and his friend alerted other people on the beach that there was a problem whilst he tried to rescue him.
“More people joined the rescue effort and five minutes later they were able to bring the victim to shore and administer CPR, but they were unable to save him.
“The deceased’s body was taken to Vachira Hospital for doctors to confirm the time and cause of death,” he added.