Police were informed of the body of Jean-Francois Louet, 46, in a banana grove behind Thidamaepra School in Tambon Talard of Muang Surat Thani district at about noon today (Mar 29).
Mr Louet was found lying face up and dressed in shorts and a T-shirt and had with him a blue rucksack. Police assume he had been dead for 10-15 days.
Surat Thani police commander Apichart Boonsriroj said Mr Louet had travelled to Indonesia with his girlfriend. They returned to Surat Thani on March 14 and bought ferry tickets to Koh Tao. The departure was set at 11pm on the same day.
Both already boarded their ferry, but just before departing, Louet got off the boat, presumably to buy something. Local media confirmed he had asked for directions to a 7-Eleven.
He never returned and his girlfriend did not report his disappearance to police until March 18.
Pol Maj Gen Apichart said police were checking surveillance-camera footage at locations between the pier and the plantation, a distance of about two kilometres.
An initial examination found no evidence of assault, but police were waiting for autopsy results to confirm Mr Louet’s cause of death, he said.
The Frenchman was employed as an instructor for Golden Divers on Koh Tao. Registered with both the SSI and CMAS dive agencies, he had been working in the industry for seven years, according to Golden Divers’ website.
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