A 62-year-old man drowned on Tuesday after leaping off a jetski to rescue a girl who fell off an inflatable banana boat in Bang Saen of Chon Buri's Muang district.
Varit Bootthijak, a police investigator at Saen Suk station, attended the scene.
Police identified the victim as Pong Wetkama, the owner of the banana ride operation.
Investigations found the nine-year-old girl from Phayao province was thrown off the banana boat towed by the jetski because of rough seas.
When the girl fell into the sea, her life jacket came off. Pong saw she was in trouble and jumped off the jetski to rescue her. The girl, who was in a safe condition, was picked up by another jetski driver and taken to nearby Burapha University Hospital for treatment, police said.
The man who delivered the girl to the beach noticed that Pong did not get back so he went to check him again and tried to rescue him but it was too late.