7-Year-Old Boy Found Safe After Following Dog Into Forest
A seven-year-old boy from Kalasin province was found safe after spending a night lost in the forest following a dog that had taken his shoe. Over 29 hours of search by police, military, and villagers led to his discovery more than 30 kilometers away in Mukdahan province. Officials visited the boy and his family, providing aid and reassurance after his rescue.
Boss said he went up the mountain and wandered far from where he disappeared because he followed a dog that was carrying his shoe up the slope, intending to retrieve it, but then lost his way and could not return. He followed a stream and slept under trees all night and into the next day without eating. Around 6:00 p.m. on October 19, local resident Wattana Khongkla found Boss in a mountain garden in Kaeng Nang village, Kok Tum subdistrict, Dong Luang district, Mukdahan province, and brought him down to the village, then notified relatives. Upon questioning, they confirmed he was the missing seven-year-old boy from Kud Ban village in Khewang district, Kalasin province. Boss's grandmother, Nang Nophaporn, said she felt great relief to find her grandson safe, as the family had been worried and imagined various worst-case scenarios during his absence. Earlier, MP Chanawut Uttto, District Chief Thawatchai Hemwang, Police Colonel Somchai Phukongchana, rescue officials, local administrators, village heads, and volunteers had repeatedly searched the area around where the boy disappeared without success, leaving the family feeling hopeless. The grandmother added that during the search the family performed rituals and made offerings as advised by well-wishers, including a ceremony to apologize to the earth goddess at about 5:40 p.m., praying for the boy's safe return regardless of his condition. About half an hour after the ritual, they received the good news that Boss had been found in the mountain garden of Kaeng Nang, Kok Tum subdistrict, Dong Luang district. The site is about eight kilometers from where he went missing if cutting across the mountain, or about thirty kilometers by road. Upon hearing the news, the grandmother burst into tears of joy, saying she never expected her seven-year-old grandson to travel such a distance. She added that although the family had previously been anxious and imagined many negative outcomes, now that the boy is safe it brings them the greatest happiness, and his condition is good with no injuries; awaiting a doctor's check‑up, he should be able to go home soon.
