Search Intensifies For Missing Tourist

KOH PHANGAN: Local and regional authorities have stepped up their search for a Japanese tourist who has been missing for more than a week from this resort island near Koh Samui. Phangan Deputy Police Chief Pol Lt-Col Prayoon Krutmusik told the Gazette this morning that helicopters and specially-trained scent dogs from Provincial Police Region 8 Headquarters in Surat Thani were being dispatched to the island today as authorities intensify their efforts to locate 25-year-old Yuki Asamisu. The deputy chief said Tourist Police and Marine Police were also joining the effort to find the Tokyo engineer who was reported missing by his friend, Sampei Yachi, early last week. Yachi told police he and his companion checked into the Beetle Beach Bungalow on September 5. He awoke at around 10 a.m. on the morning of September 9 and discovered that Asamisu was missing, his possessions and passport still in the room. Pol Lt-Col Prayoon said heavy rains were hampering today’s search.