Crab Hunter’s Shocking Find: Missing Man Discovered Alive After 7 Days in Mangrove Mud

Picture courtesy of Khaosod.

A man presumed dead after disappearing for a week was discovered alive but unconscious in a mangrove forest, covered in mud and barely breathing, to the astonishment of both rescue workers and his family.

On the afternoon of 11 June, police in Ban Wisai Nuea received a report of a body found near a shrimp farm in the mangrove forest of Moo 1, Thung Kha sub-district, Mueang District, Chumphon province.

Pol. Lt. Col. Kranphon Phetwong, deputy investigator at Ban Wisai Nuea Police Station, responded to the call with a team that included Pol. Lt. Col. Wittaya Channui, deputy superintendent, hospital staff from Chumphon Khet Udomsak Hospital and a rescue unit from the Chumphon Charity Foundation.

The body had been spotted by Mr. Sila 53, a local man who had been setting crab traps in the mangroves. Seeing what he thought was a corpse lying face-up in the mud, he ran to alert his family and contacted the authorities. Rescuers waded through difficult terrain, carrying a stretcher through thick mud, only to be stunned when they reached the scene: the “body” was still breathing.

The man, later identified as 32-year-old Warawut, known locally as “Paek”, was alive, though in a critical state. He was unresponsive, caked in mud and extremely weak. Rescuers administered oxygen on-site before rushing him to Chumphon Hospital for emergency treatment.

His uncle, Mr. Saluay, 68, explained that Warawut, a construction worker with a heavy drinking problem, had gone missing on the evening of 4 June after receiving his wages. Despite filing a missing person report the next day and multiple searches in the area, there had been no sign of him, until now.

“We thought we were coming to retrieve his body,” said Saluay. “It’s a relief he’s still alive. But how he ended up deep in the mangrove forest is beyond me.”

Police believe alcohol was again a factor. According to Pol. Lt. Col. Wittaya, Warawut reportedly drank up to four bottles of liquor a day and had wandered off while intoxicated. “We searched after receiving the missing person report on 5 June, but the area is vast, with dense mangroves and waterlogged ground. It was difficult to find anything,” he said. “It’s nothing short of miraculous that he survived.”

Warawut remains under medical supervision as doctors conduct a thorough examination.

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khaosod 2025-06-13