In Asean, Thailand is still 'number one' when it comes to the number of drownings of children. The number of drownings is twice the global average, according to figures from the World Health Organization WHO.

An average of two children drown every day. It is the number one cause of death for children under the age of 1. Most drownings occur in October. Many children go swimming during the school holidays and the rainy season. They then run the risk of being swept away by water currents.

Thaksapon Thamarangsi, director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Environmental Health, part of WHO's Southeast Asia Regional Office, says Thailand has managed to reduce the number, but the average is still too high.

Thaksapon advises local organisations, governments and schools to train children how to play safely in and near the water.

Source: Bangkok Post

3 thoughts on “Thailand has the highest number of child drownings in Asean”

  1. Hansest says up

    mr. Thaksapon should not advise but force schools to include swimming lessons in the curriculum. And offer something attractive for the schools in return (otherwise nothing will happen).

  2. Christian says up

    Dear Hanset,

    The advice is not that crazy. There are virtually no swimming pools. The pools, if there are, are on hotel grounds

    • Ger Korat says up

      My 5-year-old daughter has been attending a private school in Korat for 3 years with its own swimming pool. Since the first day of school, she has had swimming lessons once a week and can already swim. Know several swimming pools with a swimming pool and some even offer swimming lessons. And my friend has a 1-meter swimming pool at one of her houses in Khon Kaen. In Bangkok there are also many apartment buildings where you can swim, including a 1 meter pool on the Chayo Praya River in Bangkok. And every big city has a swimming paradise and many small towns too. I therefore think that there are enough swimming pools, but teaching there is lacking.


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