wasn’t he originally trying to charge 300,000?
Where were you seeing this criticism?
It actually hadn’t occurred to me that he might be making money off of finding some of these hikers, but I do agree that some sort of reward seems justifiable. It is a huge risk for him.
It also reminds me of the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. There is a company that searches for free until they find the wreckage, which is when they claim payment.
Petr uses his skills which are incredible and he risks injury and death himself because those places he goes are not safe and often the people who died died because those places are not safe
If he asks for a fee it’s not large in connection with what he had to do
No one should criticize him for that
The MAS situ the govt of Malaysia had already spent quite some money and so did the Aussie govt I’ read either in paying off some experts but also in the deployment of vessels etc
The govts are not wanting to spend more and that’s why this latest outfit came in with the no find no charge scheme
I do hope they find the plane but it seems a very daunting task
Seems the plane was pointed at the most remote part of planet earth with very deep water and humongous waves with the intention of never being discovered or recovered
Airlines should all be placed with locaters that send a signal every minute
A plane often flies near 600 miles an hour so a minute means 10 miles so even a locator sending a signal every minute means a 10 by 10 by X mile depth block to search but this is much better than the vast area the MAS plane could be literally like trying to find a grain of rice in ten tons of rice
A MT Rescue trainer, Coach Lin, criticized Petr in a Facebook post, calling him a bounty hunter. The original post mentions that all hikers should buy a compulsory hiking insurance, and fees for a trained rescue crew should come from that, instead depending on certain individuals requesting a large sum of money.
Sounds like he’s butthurt a foreigner had to be paid to get the job done
So he wants Peter or others to do it for free after they already have search and rescue teams look and fail. Some of those teams are also paid e.g. firemen. Regular hkers paying insurance is just more creeping regulation and cost.
In a way yes all hikers in certain zones should be forced to buy insurance to cover rescue and professional rescuers should be paid from that insurance
In Taiwan 119 service is free but most countries like the USA this service is not free
Even an ambulance ride could cost 2500 just even across the street in California . Ask me how I know
Ok I will tell
Tammy has low blood sugar and a few times she fainted and had to be sent to the hospital . Depending on the coverage we had at the time we had the majority of the 2500 fee paid but this last time she fainted at work and the 911 was called and the school called me as well
I was there in ten mins. But the ambulance had already arrived
we declined the ambilance ride but they still charged 2500 months later for showing up !!
she was checked out and brought out on a stretcher and put out into the ambulance
But I said she’s fine and got her out of the ambulance and home where she was fine
We or me had to pay 650 for the copay for the ambulance and if we went to Emergency yes that will be another big copay
The thing is Petr actually went looking for Mr. Huang, the missing hiker, after his car was discovered, and before Mr. Huang’s friend, Miss Tsai contacted him and asked him to continue to search. Even then, Petr was only going to charge for a fee if he locates Mr. Huang. That’s a solid 3 to 4 week working to locating Mr. Huang, with at least 6 days actually searching up and down dangerous terrain. The dude has 2 daughters to raise, and he’s dropped all to look for Mr. Huang, before he knew there would be compensation.
Anyway, not sure how valid the Rescue Trainer’s idea about a hiking insurance is. Does that exist in other countries? That Mr. Lin guy seems to suggest when that system is up and running, only trained and licensed rescue teams can go and perform search and rescue.
Sadly, I’ve been on one in California, so I know too well as well.
Maybe he wants to get paid like petr .
I don’t care I don’t want to pay insurance for hiking outdoors. We already pay jian bao. High mountain hikes already have insurance .
This guy got a lot of kickback from commenters, he thinks he is an ‘official’, he wants everything to work through him and his association I guess typical rent seeking in Taiwan .
It’s very common to have rescue insurance in Europe. I would say approx 80% of people who go outdoors have it. E.g. by being part of an alpine club. Many premium credit cards have it. Or motorists clubs or becoming a supporter of alpine rescue club.
The alpine rescue is voluntary and doesn’t pay wages, but expenses like helicopter flights, clothes , equipment and so on are paid. Search and rescue is done to a degree if people are missing and there a clues where someone may be. Within those normal limits insurance will pay. (Usually max 50.000 Euro or so).
I actually have 3 insurances. Credit card, alpine club, alpine rescue supporter (cause the other two exclude paragliding).
Guided trips in Taiwan often purchase insurance already.
Yep I know for horrendous prices…
I don’t remember any horrendous price.
I remember 500 ntd or so for a 4 day river tracing trip (albeit at Taiwans hardest spot). That’s ridiculous compared to 35 euro yearly that I pay for a worldwide insurance with better terms by donating 35 euros or more to the Austrian alpine rescue. (It has a 3 month trip limit but apart from that valid for a full year of any kind of outdoors activities).
Story about Petr
Most people die because they don’t have a map downloaded and make the fatal decision to head downhill. The mountains in Taiwan are vertical. Going down into a valley is a death trap. Those who die almost always do so from a fall.
That’s sobering.
That’s a great article. All new arrivals who head out off trail in Taiwan should read it to start to understand what they are getting into.
Guy