Lost French tourists rescued safely from Phuket’s Nai Thon hills

[webfact]

PHOTO: Lost French tourists in Phuket - Police

 

By Peter Roche

On Sunday night, two French tourists were lost on the hills above Nai Thon beach in Tambon Sakhu of Thalang district, on the north-west coast of the island, near the airport. They called for help around 10pm and reported that they were lost in a forested area. A search team was formed consisting of local officials, police, rangers and villagers, who began their search right away.

 

After a two-hour walk and nearly three kilometres, the searchers found the French tourists, a man named Victor and his girlfriend, waiting in the dark on the mountain. They were in good health, except for a few scratches, and were safely guided back to their hotel.

 

The couple had arrived on Phuket on Sunday and checked into a hotel near the airport. They went for a walk on a local beach and followed a trail up the nearby hills, but they were unable to find their way back. Luckily, they still had a phone signal and were able to call the tourist police using WhatsApp. They sent their location and photos of their surroundings to the police.

 

According to Pol Col Salan Santisananakul, the chief of Sakhu police station… “the couple had a phone signal and were able to call the tourist police number 1155 using WhatsApp. They then sent their location and photos of their surroundings to the police.”

 

Source: https://phuket-go.com/phuket-news/phuket-news/lost-french-tourists-rescued-safely-from-phukets-nai-thon-hills/

 

-- © Copyright Phuket GO 2023-02-14

 

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[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

After a two-hour walk and nearly three kilometres,

Must've been slow going.

[Tropposurfer]

Dumb n dumber seems to be the order of the day.  

[ignore it]

More tourists lost in the weed

[robblok]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Must've been slow going.

Not sure if you ever done trekking, but it goes quite slow. Also i wonder how they measured the 3km as it wont be in a straight line. I did some trekking in Khao Yai national park and it was quite intense. No real paths (we had a ranger to guide us). Even the ranger with his GPS lost track a bit at times. 

 

Going into places like this can be really confusing and travel is slow. But 3km at 2.5 hours is indeed slow. But just wonder if it was 3km in a straight line.. (not sure how other to measure distance in winding paths)

[Roel]

It's quite possible that they walked around in circles and ended up 3 km from where they started.

[Gandtee]

59 minutes ago, Roel said:

It's quite possible that they walked around in circles and ended up 3 km from where they started.

Jungle is not just flat. I used to hash (run) in Brunei and once off a trail it's very easy to get lost. Sometimes if someone got lost and couldn't be located they got the local Ghuka Regiment with their tracker dogs to help.