Land, sea and air searches continue today for a Chinese male who went missing while swimming in the sea off Karon Beach in Phuket on Thursday night.
According to Jadet Wachirasorn, the mayor of Karon sub-district, the missing man and his wife were surfing near the beach until 6.30pm on Thursday evening, after which they returned to their hotel.
The husband then went back to the beach alone at about 7.30pm to swim. His wife started looking for him when he didn’t return to the room and sought help from hotel staff.
Police were alerted but, since it was already dark, any search was postponed until Friday morning.
Naval vessels, a helicopter, life guards and volunteers were mobilised for the search at sea and along the Karon Beach, but they failed to find the missing man.
The search resumed this morning, with a team walking along Karon and nearby beaches, while two jet skis scoured the sea.
Jadet said that noticeboards in Thai, Chinese, Russian and English and red flags have been displayed and flown on Karon Beach to warn tourists not to swim in the sea at this time of the year, due to rough seas and strong currents. Occasionally, some tourists ignore the warnings.
Photo credit: ศูนย์ข้อมูลภูเก็ต Phuket Info Center
