Police help 9 foreign tourists stranded at the border of Thailand

The Royal Thai Police helped nine foreign tourists who were stranded near the Cambodian border in Sa Keao province, eastern Thailand, to find a place to rest their heads last night.

The tourists, including six Spanish nationals, one Ukrainian national, and two Indian nationals, were “very impressed” with the work of Sa Keao Tourist Police, soldiers of the 13th Ranger Forces Regiment, and officers at Khlong Luek Police Station and would be advising their friends to travel to Thailand, reports Naewna.

At 11pm, Sa Keao Tourist Police received a call from a soldier patrolling the border that a group of foreigners standing outside the Khlong Luek Border Checkpoint. Tourist Police asked Khlong Luek police officers to investigate.

The tourists informed the police that they were trying to cross into Poipet, Cambodia, after travelling in Thailand. Police said that all nine tourists had valid passports.

Police explained that the border is only open and passable from 6am to 10pm so they would have to wait until the next morning to leave Thailand.

The tourists asked the police to help them find a place to pitch their tent. They said they didn’t want to stay in a hotel to save money.

Police woke up the abbot of Pratuchai Temple in Tha Kham subdistrict, Aranyaprathet district, and requested if the foreigners could pitch their tent on the temple’s grounds. The monk said yes.

The police took the tourists to the temple last night and even picked them up this morning, helped them take down their tents, and dropped them off at the Khlong Luek Border Checkpoint ready to enter Cambodia.

Police said their assistance aligns with Thailand’s Tourist Police’s policy, “We are your first friend.”

Just hours before the tourists were discovered standing at the border, a Polish man was arrested at the same checkpoint under suspicion of murdering his Ukrainian girlfriend in a Bangkok condo room.