KANCHANABURI: A navy special operations team arrived at the Sri Nakarin dam in Si Sawat district on Sunday to retrieve the body of an 18-year-old boy who fell from a jet ski and went missing in the dam reservoir on Oct 24.
A search for the boy, Mawin Netdecha, began that day but was called off on Nov 9 without success.
The search resumed on Saturday, this time involving about 200 rescuers from various rescue teams and better equipment.
At about 2pm, the scanner on a boat detected a suspicious object. An underwater drone was dispatched, and a body was found at a depth of about 74 metres in the reservoir.
After seeing an image of the body, Kessara Fuangfu, Mawin's mother, confirmed it was her son, judging from the clothes he was wearing.
Although the body had been located, the search team was unable to retrieve it due to a lack of equipment and skilled divers.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawiti Wongsuwon, on learning of the matter, ordered the navy to help.
A special operations team with retrieval equipment, accompanied by several doctors, arrived at the dam on Sunday at 10am.
Tossapol Chaikomin, the Kanchanaburi governor, and Thanayot Hiranyanet, the Si Sawat district chief, soon arrived at the dam to observe the operation.
They went out with the navy team to survey the spot where the body was found.
On returning to the shore, Mr Tossapol said the operation would be carried out in two stages. In the first stage, on Sunday, equipment would be used to bring the body up.
If this was not successful, a team of skilled divers would be sent underwater on Monday, he said.
