A factory worker disappeared while hunting birds on his day off, after diving into a pond to retrieve a shot bird. Rescue teams were unable to locate his body, and his wife was distraught upon discovering his clothes by the water. The search is set to continue.
At 4.30pm yesterday, June 29, Police Lieutenant Suthep Sukhpanich, deputy inspector at Chimphli Police Station, received a report of a person drowning in a pond located in Mueang 16, Don Chimphli subdistrict, Bang Nam Priao district, Chachoengsao province.
The Chachoengsao rescue unit deployed three divers with equipment to the scene. The pond, a former soil excavation site, covers approximately two rai, with depths of several dozen metres in the centre and around 3 metres along the edges.
It is surrounded by lotus plants and cattails. The missing person’s wife and relatives, 35 year old Surapong (surname withheld), closely followed the search efforts. Upon seeing her husband’s clothes left on the bank, his wife collapsed in tears.
The Chachoengsao rescue divers placed buoys to search the 3-metre-deep perimeter, but the abundance of lotus roots and cattails hindered their efforts. While the divers searched, Surapong’s relatives lit incense to seek forgiveness for easier recovery of the body.
The rescuers were racing against time as evening approached and a storm was forecast. They searched for over four hours, suspending the operation around 9pm due to dropping underwater temperatures, which posed risks to the divers. Plans for resuming the search on June 30 were set by the rescue team.
Nanphet, a 47 year old friend of the missing person, explained that Surapong worked at the same factory and often spent his free time hunting small animals and birds for food. On the day of the incident, Surapong was on one side of the pond, shooting at birds on a lotus plant.
After shooting a bird, he likely swam into the pond to retrieve it. Nanphet speculated that Surapong might have been caught by cramps or entangled in lotus or cattail roots before disappearing underwater.
Upon returning, Nanphet did not see Surapong and called out for him, only to find his clothes, hat, boots, and trousers, confirming his belief that Surapong had entered the pond and drowned, reported KhaoSod.
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