As a child, I was lucky enough to enjoy annual holidays at the beach. So, while I’m not a great swimmer, I’m very aware of the pleasures — and dangers — of swimming in the sea.
Sadly, many people who visit beaches have never been taught about the challenges of the surf. And that can be fatal.
It’s low season where I am staying right now, at Mae Ramphung beach in Ban Phe, Thailand, so things are quiet. But it comes alive on the weekend when busloads of Thai and Chinese tourists arrive and fill up the resorts. Some of them are visiting a beach for the first time in their lives.
Sadly, the weather conditions have been pretty bad for the past few weeks, with high winds whipping up the sea.
I can tell from my, albeit limited, experience that there is an undertow, and I wouldn’t do much more than wet my feet right now. The red flags that have been out along the beach for weeks confirm that.
It must be disappointing for those who only have two days to enjoy themselves, but it’s simply not a good time to get into the surf.
I’ve heard of two drownings in recent months — a two or three-year-old local boy who wandered away from his family for just a few minutes, and a 13-year-old tourist.
And yet almost every weekend, I see whole families defying the conditions to go swimming in the ocean. I hope those people are aware of the risk they are taking, and are mindful of the possible consequences.
The message is simple: Knowing how to swim, or at least how to survive in the water, is an essential skill, and one that everybody should have, even if you don’t live near the water.
Everyone who comes to the beach should know how to “read” the sea, identifying a rip or other conditions that make swimming dangerous.
And, of course, patrolled beaches are always the best place to swim.
