The body of a diver believed to have been a Westerner has been found with his throat slit and tied to a concrete post in waters off the resort city of Pattaya in Thailand.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The man was wearing a Mares brand wetsuit and flippers and had about 1500 baht (about $58) on him, the Bangkok Post reported.
He was also wearing a backpack that had been tied to the pole, about 200 metres off Samae Beach on the tourist island of Koh Larn.
AsiaOne reported the body was found on Friday by a jet-ski driver who was circling around the area to warn tourists against riding in the rocky parts of the water.
Police know very little about the man, but, based on his body structure, believe that he was a Westerner.
He was about 170 to 175 centimetres tall and thought to have been aged between 45 and 50.
Police officers from the mainland resort city of Pattaya, off which Koh Larn is located, are investigating.
Pattaya Police Superintendent Apichai Krobphetch told the Bangkok Post the cause of death could not be determined but it looked unnatural.
The body has been sent for an autopsy to the Institute of Forensic Science at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok.
On Saturday, police divers found a number of items in the area where the body was found including a snorkel, a cutter, a swimming cap and swimming goggles.
Colonel Krobphetch told the Bangkok Post these items could be linked to the victim and would be checked for fingerprints.
He said that the priority was finding out the man's identity. The Pattaya police station had not received any reports of missing persons and police are communicating with tourist and immigration officers in the wider Chon Buri region, in which Pattaya is situated.
On Sunday, police questioned a fisherman and his wife as well as a resort owner on Samae Beach, but they all said that they did not recognise the man, the Bangkok Post reported.
The owner of a diving gear shop in Pattaya told police that the man looked similar to one of his clients.
Police are also checking CCTV security footage from Samae Beach.
At an urgent meeting to discuss the case on Sunday, Colonel Krobphetch urged anyone with information to come forward.
He asked that hotels, hostels and lodging houses in the area check if any guests are missing and called on foreign embassies to report on any missing persons' cases they know about.
"We have not yet declared this as a murder, but we expect to be doing so," Colonel Krobphetch reportedly said at the meeting.
