Tourist missing in Thailand after jet ski ride

The hunt is on for a tourist who went missing while on a jet ski ride in Thailand after she reportedly jumped in the water without a life jacket.

A tourist has gone missing while on a jet ski ride in Thailand, officials said — with a witness seeing her jump in the water after taking off her life jacket.

Nina Ng, 37, a nurse from New York, disappeared on Thursday afternoon shortly after renting a jet ski on the popular resort island Phuket.

Rescue teams are continuing to search for her, New York Post reports.

Jet ski rental operator Saranuwat Nasok said he “found the jet ski” and “her belongings and life jacket were on it”.

Nina Ng disappeared on Thursday afternoon shortly after renting a jet ski on the resort island Phuket, Thailand. Picture: Viral Press

“I called my friends for help, and we searched for around an hour but we still couldn’t find her,” Mr Nasok said.

“I asked a boat driver working in the area, and he said he saw the tourist take off her life jacket to jump into the water.”

Jet ski rental operator Saranuwat Nasok said he ‘found the jet ski’ and that ‘her belongings and life jacket were on it’. Picture: Viral Press

Rescue teams seen searching for the tourist. Picture: Viral Press

Ms Ng’s disappearance has now been reported to the police, with divers and rescue volunteers searching off Patong Beach where she was last seen.

The US Embassy in Thailand did not respond immediately to New York Post’s requests for comment.

A boat driver reportedly ‘saw the tourist take off her life jacket to jump into the water’. Picture: Viral Press

Ms Ng, is also the president of the charity Help Me Live USA, a non-profit organisation providing medical and humanitarian services to people in the Middle East.

Thailand reported more than 36,000 drowning deaths between 2014 and 2023, with many of them in tourist hotspots such as Phuket, Pattaya, and Krabi, according to figures from the World Health Organisation.

The greatest danger for swimmers and boat users is between July and October, during the country’s monsoon season, when red flags are placed in beaches to warn of the dangerous conditions at sea.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission