Vietnamese daredevil rescued by Thai Navy as he rows boat to India to meet wife
Similan Islands National Park officials together with the Third Naval Area Command rescued a Vietnamese national on Wednesday from his “unsafe” inflatable boat in the Andaman Sea off Similan amid strong winds and waves.
The audacious man aimed to row all the way to India to reunite with his wife.
The rescue took place about 14km off the Similan Islands’ west coast and 80km off the Phang-nga coast.
After he was brought ashore on Similan at around 1pm, the man reportedly told officials that his name is Ho Hoang Hung, 37, a Vietnamese national.
Hung, who barely speaks English, reportedly said he hailed from Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City and entered Thailand via Suvarnabhumi Airport on March 2, intending to catch a transfer flight to India to meet his wife of two years who lives in Mumbai and could not travel to Thailand due to Covid-19 restrictions.
After learning that he needed a visa to enter India, Hung decided to catch a public bus from Bangkok to Phuket, bought the inflatable boat, and left the Phuket shore on March 5, heading toward India, roughly 2,000km away.
Hung said officials rescued him on the 18th day of his daredevil trip.
His inflatable boat was about 2.5 metres long and filled with about a dozen packets of instant noodles, bottled water and his suitcase.
Officials have contacted relevant agencies to come pick him up and process his immigration papers under Covid-19 preventive measures.
