At 4am today, Kathu police were called to an area of beach in front of the Graceland Hotel in Patong where the body of a man had been washed up to shore.
Maj Patapee Srichay and his team arrived at the scene with Kusoldharm rescue workers to find local residents gathered around the body of a man aged between 20-30 years old and 165-170 cm tall lying face down on the sand.
The man, named as Suriya Rattanachan, 20, was wearing a short sleeved black shirt and red sports short and had a tattoo on his right arm.
Police said there was no sign of foul play or assault on the man and that they believed he had been dead for at least three days.
Maj Patapee said, “At around 4:30pm on Monday we received a report that a Thai man who was fishing at Tritrang Beach had fallen from the rocks and had been swept away by the sea.
“The description of the man given to police on Monday fits the description of the body found in front of Graceland today.”
The body of Mr Suriya was taken to Patong Hospital where relatives were able to identify him. His body has been released so the family can carry out burial rites.