Twenty-two foreign tourists and a Thai tour guide were safely rescued from a flooded cave at Ratchaprapha Reservoir (Chiaw Lan Lake) in Surat Thani province Tuesday night. The body of a second guide was found early this morning.
The 37-year-old was identified as “Pongyot”, a native of Ubon Ratchathani province.
Khao Sok National Park officials and emergency volunteers from Ban Cheow Lan rushed to their rescue, after learning that they were trapped in Nam Thalu cave, a popular destination for tourists.
Heavy rain has been reported along the Khao Sok mountain range in the past two days and runoffs from the mountains cascaded downstream late yesterday afternoon, as the tourists were visiting the cave, trapping them inside.
The search continued into the night.
Nam Thalu or Nam Lot cave is located on the northern side of Ratchaprapha reservoir in Khao Pung sub-district, Ban Ta Khun district. The cave is accessible by boat from the pier, a voyage which normally takes two hours, after which tourists have to trek through the jungle for about three kilometres before reaching the cave.
In October 2007, eight foreign tourists drowned in the cave when runoffs from the mountains suddenly flooded it.
