A promising 15-year-old golfer was killed by a lightning strike during a tournament in Thailand, leaving her devastated family demanding answers over why young competitors were allegedly allowed to keep playing despite repeated signs of a dangerous storm.
Aeyavarin “Aeya” Pradubyart was competing near the 11th hole at a golf course in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province on Sunday, November 1, when lightning struck around 4 p.m. Her mother claims lightning had already hit near the course about an hour earlier, but tournament officials failed to suspend play.
The teenager was found unconscious and without a heartbeat as rescuers desperately performed CPR. Her heart was eventually restarted, but she remained critically injured and died at a hospital the following morning.
A 31-year-old female caddie, identified as Saitharn Boonkerd, was also injured and hospitalized.
Aeya’s mother, Natcha, said she first noticed lightning striking near a row of pine trees around 3 p.m. As additional strikes occurred and rain began falling, she claims the young golfers continued competing because officials had not instructed them to stop.
According to her account, play was finally suspended after another powerful lightning strike and heavier rain prompted officials to send vehicles onto the course to collect the players.
But when the other young golfers began returning, Aeya was nowhere to be found.
Her mother initially believed her daughter was resting at a shelter before learning that a child had been struck by lightning. She rushed to the scene and discovered that the injured golfer was her own daughter.
The family has also questioned the emergency response, alleging that the absence of an ambulance at the course delayed Aeya’s transportation to the hospital.
In a heartbreaking account of her daughter’s final hours, Natcha said Aeya’s heart had stopped for nearly an hour before doctors managed to restore a heartbeat. The teenager survived through the night, allowing her father, who had been working in Myanmar, to return and say goodbye before she died on November 2.
Aeya had been considered a rising talent in Thai junior golf. She won the girls’ Class B competition at the opening event of the 2026 Junior Asian Tour in March and had earned a reserve spot on Chon Buri’s provincial golf team.
Her death has now sparked serious questions about lightning safety at youth sporting events.
Tournament organizers have expressed condolences and said they are working with golf course management to investigate what happened. The competition’s next round, originally scheduled for November 7, has been postponed.
The family’s allegations about the timing of the suspension and the availability of emergency transportation have not been independently confirmed.
Golf courses are particularly vulnerable during thunderstorms because of their open terrain. The U.S. National Weather Service recommends immediately suspending outdoor sports when thunder is heard and waiting at least 30 minutes after the last thunderclap before resuming play.
For Aeya’s grieving mother, the tragedy has become a plea for stronger safety precautions to protect other young athletes.
“May Aeya’s case be the first and the last of its kind involving a youth golfer,” she wrote, urging organizers to improve their emergency procedures so another family never experiences the same devastating loss.
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