Two South Korean tourists drown in Thailand after golf-buggy collision

Thursday, December 27, 2018

The bodies of two South Korean men who drowned while golfing in northern Thailand have been found. The group were preparing to cross the river on a ferry through the course in Phitsanulok province when another ferry carrying their wives collided with their boat inadvertently.

The impact of the collide sent all of them hurling into the muddy waters as per the district police Lieutenant Colonel Suwat Suawatmontri.

More than 50 rescue workers from the military and police were involved in the search for the missing men — Sung Jun-yong aged 68, and Ha Jae-oong 76 years old.

The two couples arrived in Thailand on Christmas Eve for a holiday. Thailand typically draws more than 35 million visitors each year.

Their wives were able to swim. The women were rescued by nearby fishermen. However, the men drowned probably because of the strong undercurrent.

Suwat said that one body was found last night about 2 kilometres from the accident site.  The other body was discovered by villagers on Thursday morning ‘floating near a temple’.

In 2018, a ferry carrying Chinese tourists in southern Thailand sank in July killing 47 people. The incident brought to the front the lax safety rules in the tourism sector. It had impacted tourism in the negative way and the Thai authorities promptly address any incident related to tourism.

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