Thread: Where can a 30 year old Thai woman take swimming lesson in BKK?

I have a friend who took the boat to work everyday for years. The other day, for the first, time she almost fell in the river because a wave made the boat move out before the boat collector fully secured the boat with the rope. My friend was the only passenger who needed to get off the boat at this station. I think it was Nana Chard (the one near Robinson). I wasn't there to help, but she told me everyone on the boat was screaming, so it must have been a close call. My friend said she was shaking the whole day.

I told her she should learn how to swim. She said, "No. I'm 30 years old. I'm too old to learn how to swim. It's impossible to swim in the that river anyway." I told her that I've seen kids swim in it all the time (disgusting btw) and swimming is like riding a bike. She then said be willing to learn how to swim. I don't have time to teach her how to swim, but I'd pay for lessons if they're available in BKK. Does anyone where where she could take lessons?

Oh, and I'm talking about group lessons, not private lessons from forum members, lol.

thanks,
EP

Originally Posted by Thaitanium

Google

Google's coming on leaps and bounds, isn't it? Just like Tesco, it doesn't limit itself to 1 particular product and has even branched out into swimming lessons.

These two are suitable for adults - most of the rest are for children.

Swimming Lessons | Swimming Instructions Bangkok | Total Immersion Swimming Thailand | Swim TI Thailand

Gone Swimming Bangkok : Personal Aquatic Training by Paul Newling : Adults

I'd go with the Total Immersion course, as a preference, most likely - in fact, I'll have a chance to try it out soon enough, as I've promised my girlfriend to get her a better swimming course (she dog paddles currently). Good initial question by the OP.

The Google search seemed to mostly list classes for children, but it did list swimtithailand which cthulhu mentioned. I contacted the two sites that offer swimming classes for adults. I'm guessing they are high because the prices are not listed on the site. The children's classes on other sites were about 7000 baht for a few days, I'm sure the adult classes are even higher. I'll wait and see.

I think we should forget English teaching and start teaching swimming.

I'll tell my friend to do a Thai google search. Maybe there will be some cheaper classes available.

I didn't know air hostesses take these courses too. I have a Thai friend who's an air hostess. Maybe she can give me some leads too.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll keep you updated.

Group classes for adult beginners are more or less useless.

Get private lessons till she has moved beyond beginner.

I'm a qualified water safety and swimming instructor/coach, not offering my services but accurate advice.

Sweet FA thais can swim even remotely well and many are kee scared of water more than 1 meter deep.

They look at me like I'm crazy as I swim 100s of meters out to an island and back,
but I grew up on the beach and
with a father who's whole life revolved around swimming

good luck

The problem in Thailand is that most parents can't swim, and thus keep their children out of the water to "protect" them from drowning, not realizing that the best way to keep someone from drowning is to teach them to swim - the other problem is that oftentimes, learning to swim is a luxury afforded by leisure. It takes both time and money to invest in your children to learn how to swim - something most Thais do not have.

I have found over the years that overall, teaching someone to swim is for the most part a matter of taking away their fear of the water, then taking away the fear of being submerged, and finally teaching method and techniques. The fear of water and of being submerged are the biggest obstacles in my opinion - both easy to overcome, if the potential swimmer is willing.

The transformation someone undergoes once they vanquish their fears, and learn to stay afloat is amazing and very rewarding, though. I've had former girlfriends who went from being fearful and trembling of being near the edge of a pool, to being the first to jump off a boat on snorkeling and diving cruises, and swim with the fishes... Truly an amazing transformation.

The problem in Thailand is that most parents can't swim, and thus keep their children out of the water to "protect" them from drowning,

Not that i have seen, seen them in dams, rivers, beaches, rice fields, side of the road causeways, there's water all over thailand and theres kids playing, fishing etc. in them.
The death rate for children from drowning is quite high in Thailand, not because the parents kept them out of the water but because
they were left unsupervised and know squat about water safety.

The fear of water

Children are not scared of water.

and of being submerged are the biggest obstacles in my opinion - both easy to overcome, if the potential swimmer is willing.

yes children are scared of putting their face under, there are many ways to solve that.

I've had former girlfriends who went from being fearful and trembling of being near the edge of a pool, to being the first to jump off a boat on snorkeling and diving cruises, and swim with the fishes.

Adult with years of fear are a whole different ball game, and very few can reach what is considered a decent swimmer.
A decent swimmer is someone who does not panic in a dangerous situation.

Try taking one of your GFs to a surf beach see if she can handle 1 to 1/2 metre waves.
The fear is mostly too ingrained and in difficulty they will panic.

Luckily Thailand has very few surf beaches!

Valid points about children, swimmingly, though I don't hang out with children, so I can't include that in my variables. I'm basing it on more adult individuals, recounting their childhood, or how adult mothers are currently treating their children - most of the ones I know grew up in areas that are not coastal.

Obviously, I agree with your assessment when it comes to coastal regions, or proximity to lakes or other bodies of water.

Originally Posted by swimmingly

Adult with years of fear are a whole different ball game, and very few can reach what is considered a decent swimmer.
A decent swimmer is someone who does not panic in a dangerous situation.

Repeat exposure to water, swimming, and aquatic situations would seem, in my opinion, to be the only way to acclimate the individual and eradicate that fear.

Originally Posted by swimmingly

Try taking one of your GFs to a surf beach see if she can handle 1 to 1/2 metre waves.
The fear is mostly too ingrained and in difficulty they will panic.

Oh, I am 100% sure that you are right. Lack of fear comes from knowing that you can handle a situation. Throw something unfamiliar at a TG, and you will have virtual pandemonium on your hands.

Originally Posted by swimmingly

Luckily Thailand has very few surf beaches!

Yeah - where exactly would you find good surf in Thailand?

Good information.

I've been surfing at Kata beach quite a few times - its not good surf ( I grew up surfing, next to the beach, in West Australia so I have a pretty good idea of what good surf is) but it can be fun, and for thais it would be considered HUGE. Since coming back to Oz my daughter has become a right water baby and loves to go body surfing and I'll get her on a board soon.

^ Super!

Originally Posted by swimmingly

Luckily Thailand has very few surf beaches!

Lucky for them, unlucky for me. haha. I surfed enough times in my life to know that I like it. I wonder how many more tourists would come to Thailand if it had great surfing.

This "friend" should just take some free time and go to a pool somewhere (like at a mall) and jump in. If one wants to do something one can do it. If she doesn't then she really doesn't want to.

I didn't get from the OP that she didn't know how to swim. All that was said was that she nearly fell into the water getting off at a pier.

Maybe the trembling wasn't because she was afraid of water but because she was afraid of getting crushed against a pier by a boat.

---Update---

Oh yes, and everyone knows you're supposed to wait until the guy secures the boat and THEN you get off. That was totally her fault.