British tourist’s body found in Cheow Lan Dam after intense search

A British tourist’s body surfaced at Cheow Lan Dam three days after the individual went missing, prompting expressions of gratitude from the British Embassy for the search efforts. The 24 year old, along with friends, had embarked on a kayaking trip from their accommodation at the Kraisorn Resort in Khao Sok National Park‘s protection Unit 7 (Kraisorn) area near the Cheow Lan Dam in Surat Thani Province. The accident occurred approximately 500 metres away from their lodging.

Today, February 14, rescue teams and park officials, who had been staying overnight at the Kraisorn Resort, noticed an object floating on the water’s surface near the resort and not far from where the tourist had fallen into the water. Upon closer inspection, they recovered the body of the unnamed foreign male, who was wearing only black shorts. The body was transported back to shore for forensic examination at Surat Thani Hospital and to inform the British Embassy in Thailand, reported KhaoSod.

Nitisak Boonmanon, Head of Operations at the Surat Thani Ruamkatanyu Foundation, stated that the location where the body was found was not far from the search area previously marked by rescue teams. He noted that if a body is not found within three days, it is likely to surface due to becoming buoyant after being saturated with water. During the initial two to three days of the search, it was uncertain where the body might be trapped underwater given the dense underwater foliage.

The British Embassy has extended its thanks for the search efforts in this case. Following the recovery of the body, Veerayuth Khanunnil, the district chief of Ban Ta Khun, and Kulabon Pollawan, head of Khao Sok National Park, expressed their gratitude to the volunteer teams.

Special thanks were given to Ivan Karadzic, a diving instructor from Denmark based in Koh Tao, two other foreign diving instructors, and the divers from the Surat Thani Ruamkatanyu Foundation, the Siam Rescue Association, Siam Ruamjai Pu In Foundation from Thung Yai Nakhon Si Thammarat/Surat Thani, Mangkorn Chon Buri Rescue, and the underwater drone search team from Titikarn for their assistance.