PATTAYA, THAILAND – A 74-year-old holidaymaker was pulled unconscious from the sea off Pattaya Beach and, after prolonged resuscitation, was taken to hospital with a restored pulse, where she remained under close medical observation following a suspected water accident.
Emergency call in the morning
The rescue unit of the Sawang Boriboon Foundation in Pattaya was alerted at around 7:30 a.m. on 25 February. Reports stated that a foreign tourist had been brought ashore from the sea without signs of life on Pattaya Beach in the Na Kluea subdistrict.
Rescue and medical teams headed to the scene and arrived to find a lifeguard already performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the woman. According to witnesses and helpers, she had no detectable pulse at that time.
Lifeguard’s intervention
The on-duty lifeguard Chaiyarat said he had been preparing to start his shift when someone ran up to him and raised the alarm that a person was in distress in the water. He immediately went to the reported location.
There, he found the elderly woman lying unconscious on the sand. He began resuscitation efforts on the beach while requesting further assistance from the Sawang Boriboon Foundation rescue team.
Minutes underwater
Information gathered on the beach indicated that the woman had earlier entered the sea. According to Chaiyarat, she had been under water for more than 10 to 15 minutes before being brought ashore unconscious.
Because he could not detect a pulse, the lifeguard started cardiopulmonary resuscitation without delay. At the same time, he called in the foundation’s rescue team for support.
Transfer to hospital
Arriving rescuers continued CPR and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) to stabilise the woman. She was then transported for further treatment to Pattaya Memorial Hospital.
At the hospital, the patient was further resuscitated and treated with a defibrillator. She was later identified as 74-year-old Tarn Thi Giay, a Vietnamese-Australian national.
Condition of the patient and earlier cases
Hospital staff reported that the woman regained a pulse at around 9:20 a.m. after ongoing resuscitation efforts. She had since been closely monitored under strict medical supervision.
According to local reports, including from เรารักพัทยา, she remained under intensive observation following the incident. No further details on her condition were released.
Similar incident in December
By the end of December last year, Thai lifeguards at Jomtien Beach in Pattaya had rescued a Dutch holidaymaker from drowning. She had got into difficulty near the Dongtan Police Post in Bang Lamung district.
In that case, responders also performed CPR until the woman’s pulse returned. She was then taken to a hospital for further treatment, similar to the latest incident off Pattaya Beach.