TRANG — 3 June 2026, Hundreds of rescuers have joined the search for a 53-year-old woman from Nonthaburi who went missing while trekking the Khao Chet Yot trail in the Khao Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary since Monday, amid hopes of finding her safe.
On Wednesday, reporters disclosed that at the Nhan Satoh Mini Waterfall in Moo 15, Palian Sub-district, Palian District, Trang Province, Panet Uthairangsi, District Chief of Palian, has established and taken command of a 24-hour emergency operations centre to coordinate search efforts for a female tourist, identified as Wantanee, from Nonthaburi Province. She had been hiking with a group of friends along the Khao Chet Yot trail in the Khao Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary but became separated and disappeared on Monday near the border between Phatthalung and Trang provinces.
According to initial reports, the group of 10 tourists had gathered and travelled from Bangkok by van. They had arranged their entry permits for the Khao Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary through a tour operator in Phatthalung province and secured two local guides. The group entered the forest at Phraiwan Waterfall in Kong Ra district, Phatthalung, on Saturday and camped overnight above the waterfall. They continued to the summit of Khao Chet Yot on Sunday morning, where they spent a second night. At the time, two other trekking groups, comprising around 20 people and four local guides, were also staying in the same area.
Subsequently, on Monday morning, the scheduled date and time to descend from the peak, at about 09:00, the missing female tourist had finished packing her belongings before the rest of the group and decided to set off alone in advance, despite her group members asking to travel with the others together. Because she had experience hiking the Khao Chet Yot trek several times previously. However, when the rest of the group arrived at the designated meeting point at the Nhan Satoh Mini Waterfall, they discovered that she was nowhere to be found. Officials and guides then retraced the route and searched nearby areas while calling out for her, but found no traces or response whatsoever.
Wednesday’s search operations began at 09:00 with over 51 forestry and administrative officers joining local villagers familiar with the terrain, bringing the total number of search personnel to more than 100. Teams have been divided into six groups and deployed across different zones. They have intensified the search for the missing tourist by spreading out to inspect along the 12-kilometre Khao Chet Yot trekking route starting from the Nhan Satoh Mini Waterfall.
Local guide, Charoenchai Chuaychu, revealed he had received all trekking groups and handed them over to local guides in the area. He stated that the team conducts daily safety briefings before entering the trail, but the missing tourist had chosen to leave ahead of the group. By the time the remaining members reached the assembly point, she failed to show up. As heavy rainfall and flash flooding in some mountainous areas had created significant obstacles, wiping out potential tracks, making search efforts significantly more difficult. Currently, 40 experienced forest hunters from both Phatthalung and Trang provinces have been brought in, joining a total force of over 100 personnel to assist in the operation.
Chop Rongdet, chief of the Ton Tae Waterfall Forest Protection Unit and head of Protected Area Management Center 5 in Trang, said some search teams had spent seven to eight hours combing the mountain before returning to base at around 18:00. Initial reports indicate that no traces or clues of the missing woman had yet been found and that teams would continue rotating through the search areas until further notice.
The Khao Chet Yot trail is a well-known nature trek among tourists that typically takes three days and two nights to complete, beginning in Phatthalung province and ending in Trang. Visitors are required to obtain permission from the Khao Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary and travel with at least two guides. The hiring of porters is optional.
