The statement marked that Mr Prathaiyuth was an important local figure and that Australia had long worked closely with the Phuket Lifeguard Service, including during the Indo-Pacific Endeavour in May that saw Australian Navy vessels land on Patong Beach as part of joining an event to support Phuket lifeguards.
“On behalf of the Australian Government, I offer my deepest condolences on the passing of Mr Prathaiyuth Chuayuan. Mr Chuayuan was instrumental in improving water safety for tourists and locals in Phuket and was a well-known and loved member of the Phuket community.
“He was friend of many Australians, and I had the pleasure of meeting with him personally in Phuket earlier this year. I greatly appreciate his work in the life-saving community and for bringing Australia and Phuket closer together.
“I convey our deepest sympathies to his family. We honour his legacy and mourn his loss alongside our friends, the people of Thailand,” Ambassador McKinnon wrote.
Mr Prathaiyuth died after suffering a heart attack on Aug 16. He was 57. (See story here.)
He was instrumental in Phuket developing trained lifeguards some 20 years ago – all through Australian support, working with visiting Aussie lifeguards and Phuket-resident Australians David Field and Jayne MacDougall.
Through his continuing close relationship with Australian embassy officials and Aussie lifeguards, Mr Prathaiyuth in 2017 welcomed Australian Foreign Minister at the time Julie Bishop to Patong Beach, where Ms Bishop handed over the first lifeguard training manual translated in Thai, provided through an Australian Government initiative. (See story here.)
Today, Mr Prathaiyuth’s legacy may well live on in, not just in the work of lifeguards patrolling Phukte’s beaches, but also in swimming and surf survival skills becoming a standard element of young children’s formal education.
The Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), under the Ministry of Education, is currently reviewing a training manual from the Phuket Lifeguard Service (PLS), founded by Mr Prathaiyuth and his wife Ms Witanya, to be used to teach water safety and survival skills to all students from primary school to high school as standard, required education at schools throughout Thailand. (See story here.)