Phuket City Police received a call from Phra Kru Pitak Samanakij stating that the body of a man had been found hanging in a jungle behind the Pitak Samanakij Buddhist retreat on Srisutat Rd.
Pol Maj Nucharee Longkaew arrived at the scene with forensic expert Pol Lt Col Kittisak Noopheng, medical staff from Vachira Hospital and Kusoldharm rescue workers and were lead to where the body had been found.
Maj Nucharee said that the body was hanging from the branch of a tree, the man's hands had been bound with rope. There were traces of blood on the right side of his ankle.
At first no one seemed to know who the man was, and it was believed that he had been dead for about three days before being discovered.
“We have been able to identify the man as 27-year-old Wit from Cambodia. He often stayed at the retreat but went missing three days ago. Monks had talked to him but didn’t know him well.
“We found a pieces of rope match the one tying the victim’s hands on the ground, we also found a bottle of bathroom cleaner. However, there were no signs of assault on the body,” Maj Nucharee said.
A Cambodian worker named Pey, 36, told police that he went to the jungle to set a trap for squirrels when he discovered the body hanging from the tree.
“I alerted the monks at the retreat immediately and they contacted police,” Mr Pey told police.
Maj Nucharee added, “It is possible that this is a homicide made to look like a suicide because the hands were bound from the front.
“It is also possible that the victim was killed somewhere else and hanged here by the perpetrator. Another theory is that the victim committed suicide and tied his hands to prevent himself pulling down the rope. Whatever the case we will investigate to find the truth.”
Mr Wit's body was taken to Vachira Hospital for doctors to determine the cause of death.