A good Samaritan who came to the aid of an elderly Norwegian couple stuck in thick mud in Krabi has won widespread praise after a video of his heroics went online.
Chat Ubonchinda, 44, a worker in tambon Pak Nam in Muang district of this southern province, lay face-down in the mud to rescue the elderly tourists after his earlier attempts to free them failed. The video had attracted 1.5 million views and 96,000 Likes as of Saturday afternoon.
The pair, who were taking photos along the Krabi River, became stuck in thick mud up to their thighs when Mr Chat spotted them from his fishing boat on Friday morning.
The clip, posted by Facebook user Theerasak Saksritawee, shows the man taking the couple's camera gear and tripod to higher ground before trying unsuccessfully to lift each of them from the muck.
He then decided to lie down in the mud to use his body as a support for the tourists to pull themselves free. He then returned to his boat and left.
After the incident, the Norwegian couple, who declined to be named, said they were looking for their rescuer. Many media outlets also tried to find him after the clip was posted online.
Chat told TV Channel 3 on Saturday that he was fishing in the Krabi River on Friday morning when he saw the struggling couple. He moored his boat and walked toward them. After taking their belongings to higher ground, he looked for a wooden plank but could not find one. He then returned to the scene and lay down to let the pair put their weight on him so they could pull their legs free.
Chat, who earns his living doing piling work and likes to fish in his spare time, insisted he did not want anything in return for coming to the aid of people who were in a difficult situation.
Ralative Thawat Itthawong, 35, said that Chat was known as someone who liked to help others.
Credit: YouTube/Panorama Thailand