A French tourist has been found dead after going missing while looking for his drone in a Thai jungle.

Cyril Gollino, 30, told hotel staff we has going trekking through the wilderness in the Khao Sok National Park in Surat Thani province on November 12.

However, he was last seen later that evening asking a caretaker at a remote Buddhist temple for help finding his expensive flying machine.

Locals refused to venture into the woodland 'because it was too dark' and they were afraid of wild animals or getting lost among the trees.

A large search operation was launched when Cyril failed to check out of his hotel on November 14.

His body was discovered lifeless at the base of a 500ft cliff on Thursday, November 17, following a five-day search.

Surat Thani Governor Wichawut said 'It was likely the tourist had accidentally fallen from the cliff while looking for his drone. There were traces indicating he accidentally went over the cliff.'

Resident Somsak, who was the last to see Cyril, said the Frenchman had asked for help finding a lost drone on November 12.

The local said : 'The tourist came to me and offered to pay me 2,000 Baht to help him find his drone. It was dark and I didn't want to go into the forest because it's so dangerous, so I did not accept his offer.

'He used Google translate on his phone to communicate with me but I didn't understand everything. When he left he walked away into the forest. I thought it was crazy to do that, because it was dark already and there are lots of snakes in there.'

Hotels employees at the Khao Sok Holiday Resort said that when they checked Cyril's room, they found that his belongings were still inside. They believe he had only took took his phone and a pair of sunglasses along with the drone when he wandered into the woods.

A joint search party of police and park rangers were sent to find Cyril, but no evidence pointing to his whereabouts turned up.

Police managed to pinpoint his location in the forested area by using his phone signal as a beacon. A search team of 120 forestry officials, volunteers, and villagers as the signal led them to the foot of Mount Phanthurat in the province's Phanom District.

Around 100 volunteers and villagers joined the search, scouring the area as they feared the French man had fallen off rocky cliffs along the mountain.


Their fears were confirmed when they found Cyril's broken body lying among a clump of bamboo trees after following a trail of snapped branches at the bottom of the cliff on Thursday.

Authorities have informed the French embassy of his death.

Governor Wichawut said: 'We express our condolences to the bereaved family and promise to improve safety measures for tourists in the province.'