Pattaya —
The search operation for four missing individuals in the waters off Jomtien Beach, Chonburi, has been temporarily suspended. The decision comes after a lack of concrete information regarding the alleged missing persons, with officials now believing it may have been a false alarm.
On December 12th, Na Jomtien police received a report of four people being spotted floating in the middle of the sea off Jomtien Beach. In response, a joint rescue team comprising 20 personnel from the Sawang Rojanatham Foundation and the Sawang Boriboon Foundation immediately deployed to the area.
The initial report of the four people originated from an unnamed hotel employee. The employee reported that he was informed by a guest who told him there were four people floating around 400-500 meters from the shore around 6:00 PM on Tuesday, before they suddenly reportedly went missing.
Emergency responders, comprising more than ten divers and jet ski riders, conducted an extensive search in the waters and interviewed potential witnesses on Tuesday night. Despite their efforts, the four reported missing people have yet to be located at the time of reporting.
A fishing boat anchored near the incident site added to the confusion. The crew reported observing only a single foreigner swimming in the vicinity, but they shortly later left the area safely and the fishermen were unaware of any potential emergencies.
It is also reported that aside from the information provided by the hotel employee, no one else interviewed by the rescue teams had seen the four individuals.
Due to the conflicting information and the absence of any clear evidence, the search operation has been temporarily paused. However, authorities assured the public that a new search operation will be launched immediately if any new information or reports about the missing individuals emerge.
It is still not clear as of press time on December 13th in the evening if anyone had actually gone missing and no reports were filed to the police about missing persons from friends or relatives, leading police to believe the situation may have been a false alarm and just a case of eyewitnesses concerned about swimmers who were swimming at a far distance from shore but eventually safely returned to shore.
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