Missing Woman Found Alive After Five Days in Forest

A 58-year-old woman who vanished for five days in a forest bordering Sa Kaeo and Prachin Buri provinces has been found alive. She was discovered in a disheveled state near the Khao Khaed mountain range, nearly 10 kilometers from her shelter. The woman claims a mysterious man led her to care for elephants and that she could not be seen or heard by search parties. Locals attribute the ordeal to supernatural forces linked to nearby sacred shrines.

On November 3, reporters covered the case of Nang Pranee (surname withheld), 58, a resident of Village 10, Ban Kaeng subdistrict, Mueang district, Sa Kaeo province. She mysteriously left her temporary shelter on October 29. The incident area borders the Khao Khaed foothills, Village 7, Kaeng Dinso subdistrict, Na Di district, Prachin Buri province.

For five days, relatives and local leaders joined with more than 50 rescuers in search efforts but found no trace. Only after mobilizing a large support network — including the Saccathamm Foundation (Kabin Buri), Bank Indy Buriram, Aranyaprathet Rescue, Ja Jib Buriram Rescue, Sawang Lam Thale Manchai Khorat Rescue, Pang Sida National Park Unit 2, the 3rd Aviation Division Sa Kaeo, and village elders — did continuous blanket searches begin.

In the early hours of November 2, officials deployed two thermal-imaging drones to survey the Khao Khaed foothills. They located Nang Pranee sitting disheveled in a clearing at the forest edge, almost 10 kilometers from her shelter. Rescuers rushed her to Sa Kaeo Hospital amid the joy of relatives and search teams. Doctors admitted her for observation until her condition stabilized and she was discharged at 10:00 a.m. today (November 3), followed by a traditional wrist-tying ceremony for good fortune.

Nang Pranee told reporters with a terrified expression that during her disappearance she stayed under a large tree. A mysterious man approached and told her to stay there to "help feed elephants," warning that danger would follow if she left. She remained and assisted him in feeding elephants; a young boy also played nearby. Throughout the ordeal she received food — rice and water — ate her fill, and had a place to sleep under the big tree. Despite heavy dew, she never felt cold.

"While I was there, I saw people walking back and forth and flashlight beams shining onto where I lay," she said. "I tried to shout, 'Don't come here,' but the man told me not to enter the elephant-feeding area. Yet no one heard my voice and no one saw me at all."

Her husband, Boonyang, said he was working away from home when he learned his wife was missing. He was shocked and searched the village without success until officials found her deep in the forest in the middle of the night.

Their daughter said she last saw her mother on the morning of October 29; by late morning she had disappeared. She coordinated with village elders and rescuers to search for five days and nights, and thanked every official and rescue unit that helped locate her mother.

Villagers have speculated widely, many believing the incident stems from supernatural forces or "phi bang ta" (ghost blinding) that led Nang Pranee to walk nearly 10 kilometers into the forest. The Khao Khaed foothills house the shrines of Chao Pho Khao Khiao and Chao Pho Khao Khaed, sacred sites long revered and feared by locals.