Laos Releases Errant U.S. Tourist Swimmer
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BANGKOK, Thailand — The government of Laos on Thursday released an American tourist who was arrested after he unsuspectingly swam across the Mekong River from Thailand to Laos, a Thai immigration official said.
Jon Robert Phillips, 29, of Rumson, N.J., crossed the Mekong River back into Thailand on a passenger ferry, the official said. He quoted Phillips as saying he swam in the Mekong River last Friday and reached an island in the middle, not knowing the island belonged to Laos. He was later arrested. A U.S. official in Vientiane accompanied Phillips to the ferry Thursday, the Thai said.
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