Laos Holds American Swimming at Border
Associated Press
BANGKOK, Thailand —
Laotian soldiers arrested a 29-year-old American tourist who unwittingly swam across the river forming the Thai-Laos border to sunbathe, Thai authorities reported Thursday.
They said Jon Robert Philips, of Rumson, N.J., crossed the Mekong River from Thailand’s Loei province and was playing with some children when he was arrested Wednesday. Local Thai authorities went to the Laotian side to try to get Philips released but were told that the matter would have to be decided in Vientiane.
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