PHUKET: Two tourists from Vietnam - a woman and her daughter - drowned while swimming in the sea off Naithon beach in Thalang district on Sunday morning.
Red flags were erected along the beach to warn tourists not to enter the sea at the time due to strong winds and high waves.
Pol Capt Suporn Muangkhai, an investigator at Sakhu police station, said the incident was reported to him by rescuers of tambon Sakhu at about 7.15am.
Police went to the scene to investigate and learned that three Vietnamese tourists, who were staying at the Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach, went swimming off Naithon beach, ignoring the red flags.
The mother and her daughter were swept by high waves about 20 metres away from the shore. Rescuers from the Sakhu tambon administration organisation entered the water and brought them ashore. They performed CPR on the two who were unconscious and rushed them to Thalang Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
The other Vietnamese tourist was safe.
The woman was later identified as Hoang Hai Van, 52, and her daughter as Nguyen Chuc An, 16.
Police sent their bodies to Vachira Phuket Hospital for an autopsy and notified the Vietnamese embassy of the incident.