A British teenager who went missing in the Thai jungle has been found alive after surviving for 10 days by eating insects and bark. Lawrence Stallard Honour, 19, was discovered on Sunday when he stumbled across the remote Wat Tham Sawan Bandan Buddhist temple in Kanchanaburi province.
Police had launched a full-scale search after the teenager was reported missing by his Thai-Russian mother, Gulnara, who lives in Chonburi province. She became concerned after noticing suspicious activity on her son's email account linked to the Sangkhla Buri district, over 300 miles from where he was last seen in Pattaya.
Kanchanaburi governor Athisan Intara ordered all security agencies and border units to intensify efforts on 2 October, after CCTV footage showed the 19-year-old walking out of a resort in Sangkhla Buri on 27 September. Immigration Police reported that same day he attempted to cross into Phaya Tong Su, Myanmar, while on the phone, but was escorted back when he tried again.
Mr Stallard Honour was taken to a resort but could not check in as he had no money. He then vanished into the forest as darkness fell. Local media reported that his parents feared he may have fallen victim to scammers luring him to work for a Myanmar-based call centre gang.
The US Treasury has imposed sanctions against a network of scam centres in Southeast Asia that use forced labour and violence, with under secretary John K. Hurley stating that the industry has cost Americans over $10 billion in 2024 and subjects thousands to modern slavery.
