Mr Cummins’ long-term partner, Duangduan Ngamprim, 45, returned from work at about 11pm on Wednesday (Oct 21) to find him motionless in the living room of their rented home in Rawai. (See story here.)
http://www.thephuketnews.com/long-term-british-expat-found-dead-at-rawai-home-54641.php
Emergency services rushed to the scene, but to no avail. Mr Cummins was pronounced dead on arrival at Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town.
Police found no signs of assault and believe the death was from natural causes, but still requested for doctors to conduct a preliminary post-mortem examination to establish the cause of death, which at this early stage close friends believe to have been heart failure.
Mr Cummins’s sister and his children, who learned of his death overnight (Phuket time), are en route to Phuket and are expected to arrive tomorrow. It is not yet known whether they will request an autopsy.
“It has come as such a shock to all of us,” said Mike Downard of yachting school Sail in Asia at Ao Yon, where Mr Cummins was undertaking a course that would entitle him to be issued his skipper’s license or to work as a yachting instructor.
“He was so full of life. It’s all very shocking. He was slim, very active, very full of life – that’s what makes it so much of a shock,” Mr Downard said.
“David was well liked, and very energetic. He was very kind to a lot of people. He was extremely helpful, extremely caring to everybody.”
Mr Cummins, from London, had been living in Phuket for five years and had become very enthusiastic about sailing, explained Mr Downard.
“We had just returned from a sailing trip in Krabi,” he said. “But even after a night’s sleep [in Krabi] and a sleep in the car on the way back, he was still tired when he got home.
“He was doing really well in his course. He was Mr Reliable, Mr Fun, and so enthusiastic. We were going to offer him a job when he finished as an intern,” Mr Downard lamented.
An informal wake celebrating Mr Cummins’ joyful and caring persona was held last night. Details of any formal wake or funeral services have yet to be confirmed.