See the recovery efforts in Gaza as ceasefire appears to hold 'Is everything I'm trying to do pointless? ': Syrians helpless in face of 'sham' election Brother of journalist detained in Myanmar says family is hopeful Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs Residents stand near stalls along a road amidst debris while strong winds batter Balasore district in Odisha state on May 26, 2021 as Cyclone Yaas barrels towards India's eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP) (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images) France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame speak as they walk in the grounds of The Presidential Palace in Kigali on May 27, 2021, after their press conference and prior to their official luncheon. - French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Rwanda on May 27, 2021, for a highly symbolic visit aimed at moving on from three decades of diplomatic tensions over France's role in the 1994 genocide in the country. Macron is the first French leader since 2010 to visit the East African nation, which has long accused France of complicity in the killing of some 800,000 mostly Tutsi Rwandans. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images) Relative of detained Iranian-Americans fears they will not survive (CNN) — Workers on an oil rig some 135 miles (220 kilometers) off the coast of Thailand found an unexpected new friend swimming nearby: a dog. The brown canine was found paddling near the rig, cold and shivering, with no indication of how he got there. Rig worker Vitisak Payalaw, an offshore planner with Chevron, told CNN that fellow staff members spotted the dog swimming towards the platform on the afternoon of April 12, and held out a pole for him. But, buffeted by the waves, he was unable to climb up, his grasp repeatedly slipping. “I thought that if we didn’t move quickly, I would not be able to help him,” said Payalaw. “If he lost his grip, it would be very difficult to help him.” Rescue Team members of Chevron Thailand Exploration & Production Workers threw a rope around the dog to rescue it from the sea. Payalaw described how the dog simply held on silently, looking up at the workers. “His eyes were so sad. He just kept looking up just like he wanted to say, ‘please help me,’” he said. “At that moment, whoever saw this, they would just have to help.” Rescue Team members of Chevron Thailand Exploration & Production Boonrod was so exhausted that it couldn't move much. The workers then decided to throw a rope around the dog and pull him up. Once on board they bathed the dog and gave him some fresh water and an electrolyte drink, naming him Boonrod, which means “survivor.” “He looked extremely exhausted and ran out of energy. He didn’t move much,” Payalaw told CNN. “He was shaking and he couldn’t stand, he had to sit all the time.” Rescue Team members of Chevron Thailand Exploration & Production Boonrod has returned to the mainland to be looked after by a charity. Boonrod – an aspin, a breed native to the Philippines – was returned at around 10 a.m. local time Monday to the mainland, where he was taken in by the charity Watchdog Thailand. The dog was then transferred to an animal clinic in Thailand’s Songkla province, the charity said on its unofficial Facebook page. Payalaw said on his Facebook page that Boonrod would be given temporary shelter at a dog home until he can regain his strength. If no one comes to reclaim Boonrod, Payalaw said he would adopt him.<doc-sep>It’s not clear how a dog made its way to the middle of the ocean, but the lone pup was found swimming 136 miles off the coast of Thailand. A group of workers on a Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production oil rig spotted the dog on Friday. They said he swam towards them and they managed to put a rope around him to pull him to safety, one of the workers said on Facebook. He was then bathed, fed and named “Boonrad,” the Thai word for "survivor." He spent two nights on the rig before being transported back to land where he was greeted with a warm welcome. One of his rescuers hopes to adopt him when he recovers, according to reports. RELATED STORIES<doc-sep>One of the workers plans to adopt the canine, who is doing well after their ordeal, when he returns to land later this month Workers with Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production Ltd. had an unexpected visitor at their rig in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand — 136 miles from shore. According to ABC News, a stranded dog paddled up to the rig and desperately took hold of a pole attached to the rig. The workers, who spotted the pup swimming up to the platform and called out to them, immediately set to work rescuing the canine. They lowered a rope down to the dog and pulled them to safety. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Once the dog was safe on the solid ground of the rig and dried off, the workers made sure to give her a warm welcome. The brown dog stayed on the rig for two nights, reports Newsflare, and was fed well by the rig’s staff. On April 14, the dog was moved to a passing vessel and brought to the mainland. It is unclear how the dog ended up so far from shore, but the rig workers believe the pooch may have fallen off a boat. As a parting gift, the workers gave the dog the name Boonrod, which “the dog rescued by merit,” reports ABC News.<doc-sep>
This handout from Vitisak Payalaw taken on April 12, 2019 and released to AFP on April 16, 2019 shows Boonrod the dog after he was rescued by workers on an oil rig off the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Handout/Vitisak Payalaw/AFP BANGKOK — An exhausted dog found paddling 220 kilometers (135 miles) off the Thai coast is set for a new lease on life after an oil rig worker who rescued him promised to adopt the plucky pooch. The tan-colored dog, named Boonrod by his rescuers—Thai for "survivor from karma"—was fished from the ocean on Friday by rig workers who spotted his head bobbing between the waves in the Gulf of Thailand. There was no indication of how he got there, or how long he had been lost at sea. But local media speculated he may have fallen off a fishing vessel and paddled towards the rig. Boonrod is recovering in Songkhla province under the care of a vet, an animal charity group told AFP Tuesday. "Since he came onto the platform, he didn't cry or bark at all," Chevron worker Vitisak Payalaw said in a Facebook post chronicling the dog's rescue. "He likely lost a lot of body water from the sea water." This handout from Watchdog Thailand taken on April 15, 2019 and released to AFP on April 16, 2019 shows Boonrod on the way to a veterinarian in Songkhla. Handout/Watchdog Thailand/AFP Vitisak told AFP in a message Tuesday he plans to adopt the now-famous canine once he returns to shore at the end of the month. Boonrod stayed on the rig for two nights before another vessel picked the pooch up on its way back to shore, arriving at a port in Songkhla province on Monday morning. In a video posted by animal rights group Watchdog Thailand, Boonrod was welcomed on the shore with a lei of yellow flowers and lots of neck scratches from port workers. "Thank you for seeing the value of a little life that floats so far," said Facebooker Wanna Wongvorakul. Boonrod was placed in the care of local charity group Smile Dog House. "So far his health is ok... it's only skin problems that he's suffering from now," a Smile Dog House staff told AFP. — Agence France-Presse