PHUKET – Mr. Fedor Kondrakov, 42, of Russian nationality, filed a complaint with the Consumer Protection Commission after being seriously injured while playing on a water slide at a popular waterpark in Phuket Province.
Through a translator, he stated that on November 10, he went down a major slide at the waterpark. There is no sign declaring the order or any particular warnings near the entrance point to the water slide, so he approached the lifeguard, who advised him to “just fold your arms across your chest.” There were no additional instructions.
But then he rolled down the water slide, crashed into the water’s surface, and was injured. The water park staff called an ambulance to transport him to Bangkok Hospital in Phuket for treatment.
According to the medical team, two of his vertebrae were damaged and required emergency surgery, and he had to recover at the hospital for 7 days after surgery, followed by another 7 days at a hotel in Phuket. The surgery and medical bills totaled more than 800,000 baht, and he paid for them with health insurance and personal accidents. He will have to have surgery again in 9 months, and he has no idea how much the surgery will cost.
After the incident, this well-known Phuket waterpark had not gotten in touch with him. Even during his recovery, he never had any staff visitors. As a result, he intended to file a complaint with the House Consumer Protection Committee in order to seek compensation. He hopes that this case will teach tourists to be more cautious when playing on dangerous equipment. He doesn’t want anything like this to happen to anyone else.
Mr. Naphol Boriboon, representative of the advisory group to the Chairman of the House Consumer Protection Committee, stated that he would bring up the complaint as an important agenda topic for the Consumer Protection Committee’s meeting to consider helping this tourist further.
