French tourist, 33, dies after ignoring warning signs while taking a selfie and slipping down 260ft high Thai waterfall
- Bastien Palmier died after falling 260ft from the edge of Na Mueang 2 waterfall
- French tourist was visiting Thailand when he tried taking a selfie and slipped
- Friends said he ignored warning signs and climbed a rope to get a better shot
- Body was pulled from the water below and he was pronounced dead at the scene
A French tourist fell to his death after ignoring warning signs to try and take a selfie at a Thai waterfall.
Bastien Palmier, 33, was with his friend visiting the idyllic beauty spot on the island of Koh Samui in Surat Thani province yesterday morning.
But friends said he defied warning signs and clambered over a rope to venture onto the edge of the Na Mueang 2 waterfall – the same place where Spanish tourist David Rocamundi Conesa, 26, died while trying to take a picture in July.
Palmier was standing near the 260ft high waterfall’s cliff edge while either taking a selfie, or trying to get into position for a selfie, when he slipped and fell to his death on the sharp, wet rocks and into the pool below.
Police and rescue workers retrieved the tourist’s body, which was floating face-down in the water.
The Frenchman’s forehead had been split open and his body was covered in cuts and bruises from the fall. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Na Mueang Rescue Unit on the island of Koh Samui, Thainland, taking the body of a French tourist up the 260ft high Na Mueang 2 waterfall yesterday
Bastien Palmier fell to his death after ignoring warning signs and climbing over a rope to take a selfie, his friends told Thai police
Palmier’s friend, Thomas Mechin, told police he had invited his ‘childhood friend’ on a dream holiday to see him at his new home in Thailand.
He said that they had reached the top of the waterfall when ‘Bastien wanted to go further into the prohibited zone that was near the cliff edge’.
Thomas told police he ‘warned him to stay away but he didn’t listen’ and he ‘crossed the rope that was closing off the area’.
Palmier was ‘trying to take a selfie on the edge of the waterfall’ when he slipped and fell, Thomas told officers.
Police said that retrieving the body was made more difficult by the slippery rocks but after three hours the rescuers were finally able to carry him out of the waterfall by tying him to a stretcher, which was dragged up with ropes.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Phuwadol Wiriyawarangkul the spot where Palmier fell is roped off and there is a sign warning tourists of the danger.
He said ‘It took several hours to retrieve his body because the waterfall is slippery and steep.
‘His friend said he was trying to take a selfie and then he slipped and fell.’
The French tourist was declared dead at the scene when rescue workers found his body with a head injury and saw he was covered in cuts and bruises from the fall
Lieutenant Wiriyawarangkul also warned tourists not to risk their lives by entering closed off areas.
He added: ‘Tourists should not enter the prohibited area, as the park officers have closed it off for the safety of visitors.
‘We believe that this death was an accident caused by the tourist violating the restricted area.
‘His friend told us that the victim wanted to take a selfie at the waterfall so he crossed over the barrier.
‘The embassy has been informed and his body will be sent for a postmortem examination.’
Thailand is largely considered a safe destination for tourists and typically draws more than 35 million visitors each year.
But the industry took a hit in 2018 after a ferry carrying Chinese visitors in the country’s south sank last year, killing 47 people.
The accident highlighted lax safety rules in the tourism sector and authorities have been scrambling to restore the country’s image since.