.::z. 8/8.

Most tourist drownings in Thailand involve people caught in RIP CURRENTS on popular beaches. Phuket and big Ko Chang have the worst records, but rip currents can occur anywhere there is a surf running. All that water heading beachwards has to get back out to sea somehow, and that is the rip current.
Inexperienced people finding themselves shooting out to sea in a rip current try to swim against it, get exhausted, take in water, and drown.
(i swam against it. i'm inexperienced. i've never experienced dying like this before)

You should exercise a lot of caution while swimming off the west coast of Phuket during the rainy season (May - October) due to rough seas. Waves can be quite high, 4 feet or more, with strong rip currents. Several tourists drown during the rainy season each year and many more have to be rescued. Bear in mind there are no lifeguards on Phuket's beaches except Kata and Karon. Do not swim in the sea if there are red warning flags on the beach.
(we did not notice any red flags. or at least, i think i was too busy checking some other stuff out. a 34yr old singaporean just drowned 2 weeks ago at the same beach before we came, due to rip currents also. i left my brains in singapore. i was on a birthday holiday dammit)

A rip current is a narrow, powerful current of water running perpendicular to the beach, out into the ocean. These currents may extend 200 to 2,500 feet (61 to 762 m) lengthwise, but they are typically less than 30 feet (9 m) wide. Rip currents can move at a pretty good speed, often 5 miles per hour (8 kph) or faster. They are caused by the shape of the shoreline itself, and they may be sudden and unexpected.

Rip currents move along the surface of the water, pulling you straight out into the ocean, but not underneath the water's surface. A rip current may knock you off your feet in shallow water, however, and if you thrash around and get disoriented, you may end up being pulled along the ocean bottom. But if you relax your body, the current should keep you near the surface.

Rip currents are terrifying because they catch you off guard: One minute you're bobbing along peacefully in the surf, the next you're being dragged out to sea at top speed. They occur in all sorts of weather and on a wide range of beaches. Unlike violent, crashing waves, you probably won't notice a rip current until you're right in the middle of it.
(how true. the water was just knee deep one second, and i was completely submerged the next second. i cannot stress this enough)

If you do get caught in a rip current, the first thing to remember is not to panic. Panicking wastes energy and causes irrational behavior. It is also important to remember that as long as you can float you should be fine and that everyone can float.
(i tried to. i told myself not to panic lots of times. but its much harder when u're actually in that situation. at that moment i've already swallowed a lot of water, i saw the shore getting further and further and i heard my friends screaming. panic comes naturally)

Unless you are able stand on the sea floor and walk towards the shore, do not head straight for the beach as swimming against the current will only make you tired and increase the risk of drowning. Swimming parallel to the shoreline will help you escape from the current. Once you feel you are out of the current, swim towards the shore at a 45 degree angle away from the rush of water.
(i wasnt able to stand. i swam for a few mins, tried to stand, and was happy the water was at my chest level. i tried to walk, and then the currents came and pulled me back in, at the same time a big wave went over my head and submerged me once again)

If you can't break out of the current, float calmly and let the rip current carry you 50 to 100 yards from the shore until it dissipates, then swim back to shore at an angle away from the rip current.

First DON’T PANIC.
Surfers use rips all the time to take them “out the back” to the take-off zone. They don’t even have to swim. I suggest poor swimmers do exactly the same. ALL rips dissipate in the deeper water just behind the wave breaking zone. They have done their job, and do not go further. Once you are out in the calmer water past the break zone, tread water, put up your hand and wait for someone with a longtail to pick you up.

DON’T TRY TO SWIM AGAINST THE RIP. A world champion will go backwards against a strong rip. All but very fit swimmers will become exhausted swimming against even gentle rips.
(take note!)

DON’T WORRY ABOUT UNDERTOWS - there is no such things as a rip which will drag you under, let alone keep you under.
(*rolls eyes*)

DON’T WORRY ABOUT WAVES BREAKING ON YOUR HEAD - rip currents move out thru the deeper channels between sandbars - waves break in shallow water (largely on the sandbars) so these deeper channels often have no waves or few waves. If one does come when you are in the rip, take a breath, dive down or duck your head. You are gonna pop up on the other side - that breath guarantees it.
(ok i did this a couple of times. managed to get some good breathing pattern to keep me alive. but sometimes when my head gets out of the water, a wave would come and i'd go under again, missing a breath, opening up my eyes to see the dark water, and then i thought, my time is up, it was nice, kop khun kha)

THE OLD SWIM SIDEWAYS TRICK.
Surf-lifesavers in Australia say if you are caught in a rip, SWIM SIDEWAYS TO THE RIP (parallel to the beach). Even big rips are never more than about 30m across, so you will soon move out of the current and hopefully into the shallow water of the sandbar where you can stand.
I think this is good advice for people who are not exhausted and who start swimming sideways immediately. Wait too long and you are likely to end up on the sandbar but in deeper water, unable to stand up, more exhausted by the swim and with big waves breaking on your head, which can be pretty frightening for the inexperienced. I reckon it is much cooler to allow the rip to take you seaward, then float around out the back waiting for someone to pick you up. It’s nice out there.
(no its not nice! ok at least some did come and pick me up. in a jetski. pulled my hair cos he couldnt grip my hand, thank god i'm not botak. and while being dragged, my trunks started to slip off due to the strong jetski current. i thought, what the hell, i dont care if i get to shore naked, just get me there! i did, however, managed to pull my trunks up with all the energy left in me. dont laugh. not funny)

HOW TO SPOT A RIP CURRENT.
*Look for the sections where no waves or fewer waves are breaking (note what a trap this is for the inexperienced: “this looks safe, NO WAVES, I’ll swim here”
*Big rips often scour sand as they go and look sandy.
*When the wind is blowing in the opposite direction, the surface of the rip is often disturbed and choppy looking.
Note however, many rips are very difficult to spot from beach or water level.

SOME OTHER FACTS ABOUT RIP CURRENTS
*The bigger the surf, the stronger the rip - there is more water to move back out to sea.
*Rips are strongest at low tide when all that water has to move through a shallower channel; and there is a greater quantity of water to move out because the waves breaking on the shallower sandbars tend to be bigger and more frequent.
*At the ends of beaches there is usually a rip running along at least one of the headlands, maybe both if the swell is coming in exactly front-on to the beach (most swell has a slightly oblique angle of approach).
*A longish beach like Patong or Karon typically has more than a half dozen sandbars separated by channels containing rip currents if surf is running.
*Rips are fed by FEEDER CURRENTS, which run parallel to the beach just off the sand, in the (usually small) channel between the sandbar and the beach. These feeders get stronger as they approach the big channel between the sandbars, where they turn right angles and head out to sea as a full blown rip. Sometimes FEEDER CURRENTS are strong enough towards their ends to drag non/poor swimmers sideways into the rip proper.