Doctors have warned parents to send their kids to a swimming class during the school break or summer to prevent them from drowning, the number one cause of death among Thai children. The warning has been issued in response to the statistics of the Ministry of Public Health, which showed that as many as 1,200 Thai youngsters aged below 15 drowned each year, meaning that three children died on a daily basis due to their inability to swim.
Children aged between five and nine make up the highest percentage of deaths. Drowning is most frequently reported during summer and semester breaks. The Disease Control Department meanwhile released another worrisome data showing that each drowning incident often took more than one life as children, who saw their playmate going under water often jumped into the water to help their friend who did not know how to swim.
According to the Department, about 23 percent of Thai children aged below 15 know how to swim. Only four percent, however, know how to survive water accidents. To prevent such tragedy, doctors suggested that children be taught how to swim and save their own lives in a water accident since children, who had learnt to swim with instructors, had a tendency to survive drowning better than those who could not swim by 20 times.
