Fishermen and beach-goers should temporarily suspend their activities to avoid accidents as the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology warned of strong winds and high waves coming from May 19 to May 25.

According to meteorology ministry’s weather forecast issued on May 18, Cambodia will be affected by the strong southwest monsoon which will cause moderate to high levels of scattered rains across the country.

Strong winds and thunderstorms are both expected to occur, requiring extreme caution – especially for those living in the lowlands of the central region and areas adjacent to the Dangrek mountain range and the northeast plateau.

The ministry also called on fishermen, beach-goers and anyone else near the ocean to be careful of high speed winds and high waves.

Ul Sovannda, managing director of On The Rocks Tours in Preah Sihanouk province, told The Post that at this time there were not many tourists visiting the islands in the province, so boat departures were very few anyways.

She also noted that in recent weeks the weather has been less favourable, with heavy rain and strong winds.

She added that this week if there is heavy rain and winds as the ministry was forecasting she would not let her crews depart in her boats, even if guests had already booked the trip.

“We always think about the safety of our guests first,” she said.

Non Doeun, a fisherman in O’Chrov commune’s Koh Khyang village in Prey Nop district, told The Post that people in his village had already ceased fishing for now because they were worried about the fast changing weather.

“Last Friday, one of our villagers went fishing out on the open sea and was hit by strong winds and his boat capsized and he was drowning, but fortunately the coast guard came to his rescue in time,” he said.

According to Doeun, the people in his village were currently fishing in shallow waters only, not far from Koh Khyang Island.