Natasha Clarke
Travel Trouble

Oh buoy! British tourist learns a tough lesson in taking a drunken dip

When this British tourist decided it would be a good idea to take a morning dip, he could not possibly have anticipated the way his day was going to go. 

In a clip that has taken the internet by storm, the holidaymaker was found clinging to a buoy at about 7 am in the morning, roughly 3.2 kilometres off the coast of Thailand near Pattaya. 

As to why he’d been out there so early in the first place? It had seemed like a “good idea”. 

The young man was reportedly intoxicated at the time of his discovery, when a boat passed by and he waved them down in his swimming shorts, seemingly hoping to catch a ride back to shore. 

After getting himself onboard, he took a moment to try and catch his breath, before informing the captain that his situation had arisen from him waking up and thinking a swim would be a good idea first thing. And before launching into some small talk with his saviour, he elaborated on his peculiar situation by adding, “I swim swim swim and then…”

The boat’s captain, Charawat Rasrikrit, later reported that the young man appeared to be unhurt, and that he had been returned to his hotel. 

“I went to the temple early in the morning because it was a Buddhist holy day. I drove my boat and did not expect to see [a] tourist,” he admitted. “He was waving at me and said he could not swim back.

“Maybe the Buddha took me to that area of the sea to help him. It was a holiday, not many boats would pass by him if I didn't come.

“I see a lot of tourists get into trouble here. I thought that maybe he had been out partying the night before and was still in a good mood in the morning. He was probably still a little bit drunk. 

“A lot of tourists behave strangely when they come here.”

Images: News Flare / Facebook

Tags:
travel trouble, buoy, tourist, British, Thailand, rescue