Lt Col Sarit Butnongsaeng of the Patong Police reported that police were notified of the incident at 9am.
The woman* had travelled to Phuket with two male friends on a holiday package provided by Pegas tour company. The trio had arrived in Phuket on Jan 24 and were staying at a resort in Patong, he said.
The woman’s boyfriend explained to police that the couple were on the beach about 100 metres south of the police box at the end of Bangla Rd, Lt Col Sarit said.
They took turns swimming in the water so that one of them could watch over their belongings on the beach while the other went for swim, he explained.
The woman had been swimming for about 20-30 minutes, and was last seen about 30m from the beach.
The boyfriend saw a commotion on the beach near the police box and went to investigate. He was told that a woman in green swimming costume had drowned, and fearing the worst he made his way to see a lifeguard performing CPR on his girlfriend, Lt Col Sarit added.
The boyfriend accompanied the woman in the ambulance as she was rushed to Patong Hospital, but she was later pronounced dead, he said.
Police have informed officials at the Russian embassy of the incident, Lt Col Sarit noted in his report.
The death of the Russian woman today follows a South African man being found unconscious in the water off Patong Beach on Monday (Jan 27).
Patong lifeguards said they were alerted to the incident by foreigners on rented jet-skis at about 5:45pm
The South African man, whose name has not been released, was found floating near the jet-ski that he had rented.
He was brought back to shore and administered CPR, but later pronounced dead, Patong lifeguards explained. (See here.)
* The Phuket News is withholding the woman’s name until it has been confirmed that his next of kin have been notified.