Order to punish tour company that violated the law by allowing tourists to enter the “Tham Nam Thalu” area, resulting in the death of 1 tour guide.

The Director-General of the National Park Department has ordered legal action against a tour company after it violated the law by allowing tourists to enter the 'Nam Thalu Cave' area in Khao Sok National Park, Surat Thani Province, even though it is a closed area. This resulted in the death of one tour guide from a flash flood entering the cave, while 23 others are safe. Meanwhile, the family of the young tour guide lost the family's breadwinner, who was very sad because she had only been married for less than a month. The incident of 2 tour guides taking 22 foreign tourists into Nam Thalu Cave or Rod Cave, a tourist attraction of Ratchaprapha Dam in Khao Sok National Park, Surat Thani Province, even though the area has announced the annual closure of tourist attractions from June 1 to November 30, 2024. Yesterday (6 August), Khao Sok National Park officials at the Ratchaprapha Dam received a phone call from a tour guide stating that he had taken 22 foreign tourists and 2 guides to visit Nam Thalu Cave, wh ich is located at the end of the dam. However, while they were returning, heavy rain continued and flash floods overflowed into the cave. Therefore, officials were asked to quickly help evacuate the tourists and take them to the rescue point at Pha Kraisorn. Along the way, the water was flowing fast and strong. Mr. Pongyot or Kook, 37 years old, from Ubon Ratchathani, another guide, jumped into the water and his body sank. At 3 am, the search team found the body of the deceased at the end of Nam Thalu Cave before taking the body of the deceased to Ban Takhun Hospital for an autopsy according to procedure. The atmosphere at the home of the deceased young tour guide in Warin Chamrap District, Ubon Ratchathani Province, the mother of the deceased, who had a brain disease, and the younger brother of the deceased, Mr. Adisak, aged 36, said that he found out about it early in the morning from a neighbor who was watching social media. There were 3 people in the family: the mother, the deceased older brother, and h imself. The older brother traveled to work in the South and would return home occasionally, but he would send money to him to take care of his mother every month. He was the breadwinner of the family because he did not have a regular job and had to take care of his mother, who had a brain disease. Right now, the mother still did not know that the older brother had passed away. Personally, I think the older brother does not have to work hard anymore because he has been very tired. The rest he has to fight for his mother. I feel sorry for the family of the older brother who just got married on July 14th. The sister-in-law was also 3 months pregnant and did not get to see the father's face and had to leave. As for the funeral arrangements, the wife and father initially talked about taking the body to Wat Phailom in Nakhon Ratchasima Province because the family lives there. However, they have to wait for the wife and father who went to receive the body first. Mr. Atthaphon Charoenchansa, Director-General of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, revealed that he had received a report from Mr. Kulbon Pholwan, Chief of Khao Sok National Park, that after leading park officials to help guides and tourists, he had ordered the Chief of Khao Sok National Park to take strict legal action against tour companies that violated the law by taking tourists to visit Nam Thalu Cave, which the Department of National Parks has announced the annual closure of tourist attractions because it is the rainy season and there are flash floods in the Nam Thalu Cave area every year. In the past, in 2007, there was a flash flood into the cave. In that incident, 7 tourists and guides died, so strict measures must be taken. For Tham Nam Lod or Tham Nam Thalu, located above the Ratchaprapha Dam, Village No. 3, Khao Phang Subdistrict, Ban Ta Khun District, Surat Thani Province, the journey to visit requires a 2-hour boat ride from the tourist pier. If you walk in, the distance will be 3 kilometers. This cave has a uniq ue identity. There is a stream inside the cave with clear water flowing through its entire length of over 500 meters. Inside the cave are beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, and strangely shaped rocks that have been eroded by water for a long time. It is an amazing natural scenery. Tourists call it heaven on earth. Every year, there are a continuous stream of tourists visiting. However, the terrain is a hollow cave and it is near a water source, which is very risky when there is heavy rain. Rapid flooding can raise the water level in the cave to a high level within a few hours. Source: Thai News Agency