Three French tourists rescued after night adrift off Koh Samui

Surat Thani — On the night of August 14, 2026, three French tourists found themselves adrift in the sea off the coast of Koh Samui after their rented jet ski failed to return to shore. The victims, a 50-year-old father and his two sons aged 12 and 9, were discovered at approximately 11:00 AM, treading water about seven nautical miles east of Koh Mat Lang.

Though still severely exhausted, the trio was in no immediate danger. The family, part of a larger party of five, had been enjoying Chaweng Beach on Wednesday afternoon when the father and his boys decided to rent the jet ski for half an hour. Upon the jet ski's failure to return, the rental operator initiated a search with binoculars, subsequently dispatching two additional jet skis to look for the missing party.

No trace of the travelers was found until the authorities were alerted at 8:25 PM via the 1784 safety hotline. Koh Samui district officials, together with territorial defense volunteers, police, rescue workers, disaster-prevention officials and local jet-ski operators formed a coordinated search effort. Boats scoured the waters from Thongson Bay and Thong Krut Bay to Koh Mat Lang, while later vessels expanded their search from Chaweng Bay towards the channel off Koh Phangan.

The search was hampered overnight by strong waves and winds outside the bay, and was halted at 1:00 AM before resuming on Thursday morning. Koh Samui district chief Amorn Chumchuay revealed that the rescue operation involved multiple agencies and local jet-ski operators, who continued their search overnight and into the morning until the trio was finally located.