Deputy inspector found dead off Nai Thon Beach; Phuket search center closed

Police on Sunday found the body of a deputy inspector believed to have drowned at Nai Thon Beach in Phuket, ending a two-day search that began after he disappeared in rough surf on May 15. Sakoo police said villagers reported a male body on the beachfront at about 6.50am on May 17, and officers later closed the missing persons search center.

The body was identified preliminarily as acting Pol Lt Thanphatphop Awatjananukul, a deputy inspector-investigator from Thai Mueang Police Station in Phang Nga. Police said CCTV showed him arriving in a private car and parking by the beach road at about 6pm on May 15 before going into the sea.

CCTV, autopsy and family identification

Officers said the initial drowning report came in on the evening of May 15, when the missing man had not yet been identified and a Toyota Camry had been left at the scene. A CCTV review linked the vehicle to a police officer from Phang Nga, though cameras did not capture the moment he entered the water.

Investigators found the body of a middle-aged Thai man wearing only black underwear, with bloating and abrasions. Forensic examiners estimated he had been dead for about two days and said the skin injuries were consistent with the body being rolled in sand by the sea.

The body was sent to Vachira Phuket Hospital for examination. Police said the missing officer’s father viewed the CCTV and photographs and believed the deceased was his son.

Source: https://www.thaipost.net/criminality-news/997967/