A French father and his two young sons, who were reported missing while on a jet ski trip, were rescued off the coast of Koh Samui today, August 14, having spent a night adrift at sea.
The Koh Samui District Office was alerted at around 6pm yesterday, August 13, by a jet ski operator on Chawang Beach that a foreign tourist who had rented a jet ski at about 5.20pm had not come back to shore.
The missing group were confirmed to be a single family including a 50 year old Frenchman and his sons, aged 12 and nine. Officials set up a command centre to coordinate the search, while the boys’ mother waited on the beach.
Rescue teams began combing the coastline on the evening of the disappearance, and the jet ski operator sent out three boats along the shore.
At about 8.50pm, a wider operation took over, with district officials, the Volunteer Defence Corps, Bophut Police Station, tourist police, disaster prevention staff, the Marine Department and the Wat Plai Laem rescue foundation deploying speedboats and further jet skis.
The search ended at around 1am without any traces to the three tourists. The searching team shared with a local news agency, Nai Sanam (นายสนาม), that the strong waves reaching three to four metres prevented them from continuing the search.
Nevertheless, the team and relevant officials ensured the public and the missing tourists’ family that the search would resume early today.
Koh Samui district chief Amon Chumchuay led a fresh operation at first light, dividing the teams into two speedboats and 10 jet skis to search the surrounding waters.
At around 10.30am, the family was found treading water. They were tired but alive after spending a night in the sea.
A video shared by a member of the search team showed the youngest boy standing above a half-sinking jet ski. The father and older son were floating in the water, waving for help. The family were brought ashore, where officials carried out initial medical checks.
The circumstances that led them to be floating in the water overnight have not yet been revealed to the public.
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