Eleven American exchange students who got lost in a Chiang Mai jungle and found themselves at the edge of a cliff were rescued by forest rangers in the early hours of Thursday morning.
A group of young science students, aged 18-22, entered the trekking route near Huai Tueng Thao reservoir at 2pm on Wednesday for a scientific field trip, but after just 2 hours, they were hopelessly lost, according to local outlet Sanook.
Officials said the group, comprised of 10 women and one man, were taking part in a six-week exchange program at Chiang Mai University’s Science Faculty.
After getting turned around, the 11 Americans decided to keep walking in hopes of finding a local village or other avenue of exit, but when it started to get dark and they ended up near a cliff above Tak Mok waterfall, they were worried enough to finally call authorities at 7pm.
Luckily, their mobile phones were still working, and they were able to send their GPS location to the Tourist Police.
Officials from Huey Tueng Tao Reservoir Tourism Site found the students 4 kilometers from the entrance of the trekking route. They were trapped deep enough off the beaten path that rangers had to walk 800 meters on foot after traveling in a pick-up truck.
The students were brought out of the forest past midnight. Some cried with joy when they were discovered.
Col. Supakorn Ruensati, te manager of the tourism site, noted that tourists must have official permission to trek in that area and must be accompanied by rangers for safety. The students said they were unaware of the rules, although there are signs prohibiting unsupervised entrance, Chiang Mai News reported.
Happy they were out safe and sound, some of the students traveled back to the Huey Tueng Tao Reservoir Tourism Site the next day to thank Col. Supakorn for his help.
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