The elder Toh later told his family that he had been rescued by a Thai man named Viriya, who let him stay with his family that night.
“As a family, they welcomed my dad, making sure he had food and a change of clothes,” Mr Vincent said.
“I think he’s a hero,” he added.
Holding onto floating debris, Mr Viriya and the elder Toh had swum towards Mr Viriya’s house about 500m from the souvenir store. Mr Viriya supported Mr Ronnie through the currents.
“It was getting dark, he was cold, and without this local Thai guy’s help, I think my father would have been in a very terrible condition,” said Mr Vincent.
Returning to Singapore would have to wait, however.
Mr Ronnie had booked flight tickets to get back home on Tuesday, after they found their car in Hat Yai submerged in water. They ended up missing their flight anyway, since there was no way for them to get to the airport.
In any case, he was still staying with Mr Viriya on Tuesday evening and figuring out how to rejoin his group.
Like other tourists – there are reportedly 1,000 of them stranded in Hat Yai hotels and at the airport – their ordeal is far from over.
STRANDED WITH NO ELECTRICITY
Mr Ronnie’s niece, Ms Sharon Toh, 45, called the situation frustrating as the group who travelled with him are seniors and on medication.
Her parents are part of the group who travelled with Mr Ronnie.
“They are supposed to be back today, so their medication will not last too many days already,” said the business manager, adding that her 69-year-old father has diabetes.
She added: “It’s not a very big hotel, so I think they have run out of resources. I think they are stuck.
“I don’t think there is much food already, except for just some dry supplies.”
With the power cut off, her family could charge their phones only using a backup generator. However, to get a connection, they must climb from their third-floor room to the seventh floor, and even then, the signal is intermittent.
A short walk from where Mr Ronnie is staying, 69-year-old delivery driver Tan Chin Chye has been stuck at a hotel with six friends for three days now.
“The flood is very high, only six feet. We cannot go out,” Mr Tan said.
With no power, visibility inside the hotel is extremely poor at night. He and his friends would switch their phones off to conserve battery.
He could only speak to CNA for five minutes for this interview.
“Now, we have no current. No food,” Mr Tan said. While food had been provided previously, none was available on Monday and Tuesday.