In a shocking incident, a man attempted to paddle on an inflatable boat from Phuket to India to reunite with his wife, after being apart for two years due to the pandemic. He earlier took a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok to get a connecting flight to Mumbai, but his plan was disrupted as he needed a visa.
The person has been identified as Hoang Hung. He lives in Vietnam. He started his journey from Phuket Island to Thai Holiday Island. For love, he decided to cover a distance of 2000 km in the sea. He had made up his mind to meet his wife who lives in Mumbai. He was ready to face any challenge.
He was determined to fight the waves of the endless sea. He got into the water in a rubber boat along with some food. But he did not have a navigation system to travel by sea. Hoang had reached the island of Similan, 80 km from Thailand. There, some fishermen spotted him and informed the navy, which was deployed for security at sea.
Hoang was then captured by Navy personnel in Thailand. According to Capt. Pichet Songtan of the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Center, Hung said he was trying to approach his wife. His wife works in Mumbai. He has been living away from his wife for the last 2 years due to Covid-19.
The Vietnamese man was at sea for 18 days, and it's believed that it would have taken him around 625 days to reach the Indian coast.