French expat who went missing in forest turns up safe in Chiang Mai

A French man who went missing in a Chiang Mai forest made his way to a hilltop temple, and is now safe. The man, Jacques Moriceau, went missing in a forest in Doi Tao district between late Thursday night and early Friday morning. He had driven to submit documents to the French consulate, and got lost on his way home on Thursday afternoon. Moriceau is 72 years old and has altzheimers, and could not remember his way home from the consulate.

Moriceau ended up driving to a forest area near Doi Tao Lake. He was about 100 kilomtres from his house when his car got stuck. He then walked to look for help, and found the temple about an hour away from the main road to the forest. His family alerted police after they couldn’t contact him, and a team of 200 police officers and local district leaders started searching for him at 12:30am on Friday. The police then found a trace of Moriceau’s phone signal in a Doi Tao forest, and after a cordinated search, they found him at the temple.

The Bangkok Post notes that Moriceau “apparently looked exhausted”. Moriceau was taken to Doi Tao hospital, and his condition was safe. He thanks tourist police and locals for their help.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post