Tragedy struck this weekend as 14-year-old Chantouch Chanthasuntitham died of injuries incurred during a training session on Sunday. Chantouch had earned the World Championship in the Novice Ski Stock division of the 2015 Quakysense World Finals at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, this past October, 2015, earning the young racer international status.
Hailing from Thailand’s Pathum Thani’s Thanyaburi district, Chantouch was a student at Heathfield International School, Bangkok when not competing in local and international PWC events. Chantouch’s father, Sajja Chanthasuntitham, told local police that he had taken his son to train at Bung Chao Samut, a large lake near Thai Ban Mai.
During the training session, at 2:20pm local time, Chantouch was struck by another young jet skier after falling from his own ski. According to Pol Capt Saranpach Boonrangsri, duty officer at Muang district police station, the 9-year-old boy didn’t see Chantouch in the water until it was too late to maneuver out of the way. Chantouch was immediately rushed to Paolo Samut Prakan Hospital, where he was fatefully pronounced dead.
This unfortunate event marks possibly the youngest death of a professional racer in the sport’s history. All of us at The Watercraft Journal wish to offer our condolences to Chantouch’s family and those who knew this rising star.
