Grace Taylor: British tourist who sent message saying 'people are trying to hurt me' detained for own safety

She was reportedly detained after refusing to speak to officers and trying to walk away while blowing a whistle as they approached her

Grace Taylor (Sam Taylor/ Facebook )

The 21-year-old British backpacker who went missing in Thailand last week after telling her parents "people were trying to hurt her" has been found alive.

Grace Taylor was found by police at a Krabi International Airport and detained for her own safety, local media reports.

She was reportedly detained after refusing to speak to officers and trying to walk away while blowing a whistle as they approached her.

Her parents had been unable to contact her since 16 February. The family filed a missing person report to Dorset Police on 21 February.

On 22 February, Grace Taylor contacted her family, who booked her a flight home - but her mother said she did not board the flight.

Sam Taylor said in a Facebook post when her daughter called she was "very stressed and frightened saying that people were trying to hurt her and were following her and she wanted to come home."

She added that "all previous backpacker sightings have reported that she is disorientated and not in a good mental state."