KOH SAMUI — A group of Thai students helped rescuers reach a French tourist who slipped and broke his ankle at the top tier of Hin Lad Waterfall on Koh Samui late Sunday, prompting a difficult four-hour evacuation, officials said.
The accident occurred in the uppermost section of the waterfall in Ang Thong subdistrict on the afternoon of December 7. The Narenthorn 1669 emergency center at Koh Samui Hospital received a report that a foreign visitor had fallen on the rocks and was unable to walk.
Poonchai Khamloon, acting chief of the local Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, coordinated a multi-agency response involving district officials, marine police, Royal Thai Air Force personnel from the Samui Naval Air Station, and local rescue foundations. Teams trekked up steep terrain as daylight faded.
Rescue teams save a French hiker who fell at the top of Hin Lad Waterfall on Koh Samui on Dec.7, 2025.
Rescuers reached the scene more than an hour later and found seven male students assisting the injured man, identified as Christophe, 48, of France.
The students told authorities they had been hiking ahead of the tourist when they saw him step onto a large boulder, slip and fall. With no phone signal in the area, they stayed with him while another hiker went down the trail to call for help.
Rescue crews used ropes and technical equipment to lower the man through rugged terrain in darkness, finally getting him to a waiting ambulance and transporting him to Koh Samui Hospital.
Hospital officials said the tourist was in stable condition. He thanked the students and rescue teams for their efforts.
Source: Khaosod English