Russian boy, 9, reunited with mother on Koh Phangan

Tourist police on Koh Phangan reunited a nine-year-old Russian boy with his mother early on 19 September, after he was found alone and distressed on a road around five kilometres from where he had been staying.

A Dutch passerby called the Tourist Police hotline, 1155, at 04:15 after seeing the boy running along the road and crying for help. The child, later identified as Jaromir, was unable to communicate in English and police arranged a Russian interpreter.

Pol. Lt. Col. Winit Boonchit, deputy inspector at Tourist Police Station 5, Division 2, Tourist Police Bureau 3, instructed officers on Koh Phangan to investigate the report.

Boy walked from accommodation after waking alone

Police found Jaromir in an extremely frightened state. Through the interpreter, he said he had been staying in a house with his mother and woke to find she was not there.

He left the house and walked towards a main road, about five kilometres away, but could not remember how to return to the accommodation. With few people or tourists on the road at that hour, he began asking passers-by for help before running along the road until the Dutch man spotted him.

Officers took the boy to the Koh Phangan Tourist Police service centre and began looking for his family. CCTV footage from the area where he was found helped police identify his mother as Alisa, a Russian national.

Police then checked information held by the Tourist Police Station on Koh Samui, obtaining her accommodation details and telephone number.

Mother said she had visited a friend

Alisa was contacted and told that her son was safe with police. She was asked to collect him.

She told officers that she had put Jaromir to bed as usual before visiting a close friend who was due to return to Russia the following day. She said she had left her sleeping son alone at the residence.

Alisa said she was extremely shocked when informed of what had happened and apologised. She thanked the tourist police and the Dutch passerby for helping her son, saying she would take greater care and would not allow a similar incident to happen again.

Authorities highlighted the incident as part of their efforts to build confidence in tourist safety and promote Koh Phangan as a safe destination.

Picture courtesy of Khaosod

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19 September 2026