Rescue officers from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office at Rawai Municipality (DDPM-Rawai) were notified of the incident at 3:30pm.
DDPM-Rawai Chief Teerapong Taodang said that the alarm was raised by other tourists in the area who were unable to bring the tourist, Richard John Schroeder, 60, from Santa Barbara, California, to safety.
Mr Schroeder had fallen into a gap about two to three metres deep, Mr Teerapong explained.
“He could not climb out of the gap in the rocks by himself and he was nearly covered by the rising tide,” he said.
The incident happened on rocks on the east side of Promthep Cape, near the small Buddhist temple. (See map below.)
“As where Mr Richard was on the rocks, we could not carry him up (to safety), so we sent officers in a rubber boat to recover him,” Mr Teerapong explained.
Mr Schroeder was taken to Yanui Beach and provided first aid before being taken to the Accident and Emergency Department of the yet-to-be-open Chalong Hospital for further treatment.
Mr Teerapong warned people against fishing on the rocks where Mr Schroeder was recovered.
“The rocks are dangerous and we have many incidents of people falling down and hurting themselves there each year,” he said.
“We have a sign there warning people that the rocks are slippery and dangerous, but still people climb onto those rocks,” he added.