Phuket –
A female Chinese tourist has broken her leg after a parasailing accident at Karon Beach.
The news went viral on Thai social media this week after the Facebook Page ‘Luijeen’ posted her story which is originally from the Chinese media., as seen below.
https://www.douyin.com/video/7340246270566567203
The tourist said that on February 24th she was parasailing at Karon Beach but was unable to control the parasail causing it to hit the ground. Her leg broke in the incident. The parasail operator then called emergency services. The tourist said that she waited for two hours for an ambulance to arrive at the beach because of a traffic jam.
After she arrived at a hospital, she waited for another six hours until she was transferred to a private hospital because the first hospital did not have enough equipment. She had her leg stitched for an injury approximately 15 centimeters long.
The Chinese woman said she was also disappointed with the parasail operator and asked for 200,000 Baht compensation. However, it was unclear if she was paid any compensation or how much. It has been reported that the Chinese woman is following up on the case and going to sue the paraglider operator.
The story has since gone viral on Chinese social media with hundreds of thousands of shares and millions of views and Phuket officials are now working with the tourist and her interpreter to secure an agreement for compensation for the injuries, along with having visited the tourist and personally apologizing for the incident.
A number of Phuket officials visited the parasail operator in question, whose name was withheld due to the pending investigation, and confirmed that the operator was legal, with a proper license and other legal requirements.
The operator, who says they have ten witnesses, has reportedly blamed the wind for changing suddenly and causing the accident and that the accident was not due to any sort of fault on their part, but is also “participating” in the mediation process and aware of the tourism ramifications of the accident.
It is unclear if the hospital or ambulance service, whose names were also held by police, would face any ramifications for the alleged slow response time and wait.
