Phuket Lifeguards finish this Saturday
There will no longer be a lifeguard on the Phuket beach as their last job will be finish by the end of this month, after seven years of duty.
The meeting of the Phuket Lifeguards announced on Tuesday that the Company won’t be joining the auction organized by the Phuket OrBorJor this year. Their final duties finish at 6.30pm on Saturday. “We will finish the contract with the OrBorJor at the end of this month. As we heard, the budget for contracting lifeguard services for next year is Bt19.8 million. The auction process has started and they are accepting bidders. However, we will not join the auction as the budget is not enough to manage the whole year,” said President of Phuket Lifeguard, Prathaiyut Chuayuan.
“We have offered Bt22 million budget to the OrBorJor which is the same amount as the year before but the budget was cut down to Bt19.8 million which is not enough. I don’t understand why because the safety of beachgoers is important.” He said that the company has coordinated with the local authorities to put up the signs ‘Warning No Lifeguard On Duty. Swim At Your Own Risk’ right after the lifeguards finish working this Saturday.
“During 2017, lifeguards on Phuket beaches have saved 337 people from the sea. 35 of them are Thais, 302 of them are foreigners which is less than last year when the number of people saved from the sea was 761 and 7 of them died. The lifeguards had tried to warn the beachgoers to prevent swimming accidents. However, some people do not listen and lifeguards are needed on the beaches around Phuket,” said Prathaiyut. Source: Nation