Retired Thai teacher found safe after 3 days lost in forest searching for mushrooms

Relatives rejoiced as authorities found Jamlong Kheyakan, a 63 year old retired Thai teacher who had been lost in the forest for three days after searching for wild mushrooms. Authorities from various agencies, including Mae Wa National Park officers, soldiers from the 32nd Army Unit Lamphun, and local residents joined forces in search efforts, attempting to locate the last known coordinates found from the missing man’s mobile phone signal. The park is located in Lampang province in northern Thailand.

Today, Sommasek Wacharathadaphong, the district chief of Thaen, led the search operation. The efforts began after Jamlong went missing on Thursday evening while foraging for mushrooms. The last phone signal was tracked to yesterday morning, when Jamlong informed his sister that he was safe. However, his phone signal was lost thereafter, and authorities could not make any further contact.

Finally, around 12pm, the search parties received good news, as local villagers discovered Jamlong on a hill near the Ban Sapahn Hin area in Mae Moak, Thaen district. Although the retired teacher was unharmed, he exhibited signs of exhaustion. At present, he is en route to the office of the Tho Sang Pratheep Temple, in the neighbouring Mae Pa-Nong Chiang Ran area, where the search operations were coordinated.

Both relatives and villagers expressed immense relief upon hearing the successful outcome of the search mission. For two nights and three days, Jamlong had been missing in the dense forest, with no way of contacting the outside world.

There have been a few incidents this year involving people getting lost in forests in Thailand.

In March, a New Zealand tourist got lost in a forest on Thailand’s Koh Pha Ngan island in the southern Surat Thani province. Officers eventually spotted the man near a hill. He seemed paranoid, and tried to climb up the hill to escape the officers. Fortunately, the officers managed to talk him into walking back down the hill.

In February, two French tourists got lost in a forest in Phuket. The boyfriend and girlfriend followed a trail up the Nai Thon mountain but found themselves lost and unable to find their way back. Luckily, the couple had a phone signal and called the Tourist Police using WhatsApp. The two were able to provide their location and photos of their surroundings. After a two-hour walk, nearly 3 kilometres away, rescuers were able to find the couple waiting in the dark on the mountain.