Missing boatman’s body found

CHERNG TALAY: The body of a missing boatman was found on Saturday, on the sand at Bangtao Beach. Pol Capt Watcharin Jirattikarnwiwat of Cherng Talay Police Station said police had been told last week that the boatman, Boonthep Padsamai, 25, had been washed out to the sea on Wednesday, May 10. Friends said that Boonthep was helping them to haul their boats ashore to protect them from the heavy waves caused by the stormy weather. One of the boats started to drift away and Boonthep swam after it. He was not seen again. The storms at the time prevented a search being launched, and searches later in the week failed to locate the missing man. His body was finally cast ashore and found by a passerby about a kilometer from where he was last seen alive. “I think he must have got too tired to swim back,” Capt Watcharin told the Gazette. An autopsy confirmed that Boonthep had drowned.