Three foreign tourists rescued from Thai jungle

National park officials rescued three foreign tourists who got lost in the jungle in Koh Pha Ngan, Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, yesterday. All three are reportedly safe.

At 5.30pm, the Chief of Than Sadet National Park, Tikamporn Phenchom, received a call that three foreign tourists were lost in the jungle on the Khao Ra mountain and needed help.

Chief Tikamporn examined the coordinates from one of the tourists’ mobile phones and found that they were on a trail that was once used to walk up to the top of the mountain but is now unused and overgrown.

The chief assembled a search party of National park officials who went out looking for the tourists as the sun went down.

At 8.45pm, the search party found 30 year old Prasannatma Das Bhatt of British nationality, 44 year old Sandra Helena of Dutch nationality, and 35 year old Anne Pedder of British nationality. All three tourists are safe, said Tikamporn.

Khao Ra is home to the highest peak on Koh Pha Ngan, making the hike one of the longest and toughest on the island on the correct trail, let alone a disused trail.

The jungle is vast and home to dangerous wildlife like mosquitos and snakes. It is not where you want to get lost in the pitch-black night.

In August last year, a 26 year old French tourist got lost in the jungle on Koh Pha Ngan. Tourist police, Koh Pha Ngan police, local district administrators and an official from Than Sadet National Park rescued him from the dark, dense forest.

In May last year, police rescued a 21 year old tourist who got stuck between rocks in the forest facing Nai Thon Beach in Phuket.

The same month, park rangers rescued two foreign tourists who got lost in the jungle in Khao Sok National Park in Surat Thani province.