A British diving instructor whose three-year-old son drowned at a water park has claimed that the lifeguards were distracted by a slide competition at the time of his death.
William Watson, 35, took his family to the Blue Tree Water Park in Phuket, Thailand, on February 23.
But just hours later his son, Bobby, waded from knee-deep water and fell into a plunge pool just a few metres away, where he drowned.
Mr Watson, originally from Bridport, Dorset, claims that there were a raft of safety failings and says that lifeguards did not immediately go to his son’s aid because they were distracted by a competition at the time.
Bobby’s family is now considering legal action against the park which re-opened just hours after his death.
William Watson (pictured with wife May) took his family to the Blue Tree Water Park in Phuket, Thailand, on February 23
But just hours later his three-year-old son, Bobby, (pictured) waded from knee-deep water and fell into a plunge pool just a few metres away where he drowned
Mr Watson and his Thai wife May run a diving school in Phuket and had been invited for a free tour of the park in the hope that they would tell their customers about it.
They took Bobby, along with their seven-year-old son, Billy, to the THB1.3 billion (£32 million), 55-acre park which had first opened its doors last summer.
The family had been having a picnic with friends as the two boys played in the shallow water.
Mrs Watson said that Billy came over and spoke to her which caused her to take her eyes off Bobby for ’10 or 20 seconds’.
But when she looked back she could no longer see her youngest son in the pool.
She spotted a red monster truck toy that he had been playing with floating in the plunge pool and shouted at the lifeguards to get her son out of the water.
Bobby was given CPR before an ambulance turned up 15 minutes later to be taken to the nearest hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Mr Watson has disputed the official version of events and says that the attraction has since offered him money.
Mr Watson claims that there were a raft of safety failings and says that lifeguards did not immediately go to his son’s aid because they were distracted by a competition at the time. Pictured: Divide between the shallow water and the plunge pool
Mr Watson said: ‘There is no barrier, no railing, nothing to prevent any child going from waist-deep water into a deep pool’
Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Watson said: ‘I will always blame myself. My son drowned in a swimming pool and I am a diving instructor and I should have been there to scoop him up…
‘They want me to take money and shut my mouth, but if I do that and another child dies then I have got two children to grieve, I have two deaths on my conscience.
‘I need the world to know that Blue Tree is an unsafe water park.’
Mr Watson, who has lived on Phuket for nine years, said that many attractions on the island have an on site doctor due to the long wait time for ambulances – but claims that there was no such professional available at the water park that day.
Mr Watson added: ‘When I look back there are so many things that are wrong with the safety…
‘There is no barrier, no railing, nothing to prevent any child going from waist-deep water into a deep pool.
‘There are a lot of lifeguards at the pool. But at the time that Bobby fell in and drowned there was a sliding competition and they were all watching that. Nobody was watching the pool, their eyes were all fixed on the big slide.’
Mr Watson took his two sons, Billy (right) and Bobby (left) to the £32 million, 55-acre park which had first opened its doors last summer (pictured in 2017)
Blue Tree Water Park released a statement on the day of Bobby’s death stating that it was ‘deeply distressed’ by the ‘tragic accident’.
It added that Bobby had stumbled and fallen into the water before being spotted by a lifeguard who ‘came to his immediate assistance’.
The park has since said that it cannot comment further as a police investigation is still ongoing.
The family went back to the park on Tuesday with a Buddhist Monk to carry out a ritual for Bobby’s funeral and he will be cremated next week.