PHETCHABURI: A British man was found dead in a beachfront forest in Cha-am district yesterday after he went missing from a local hotel late last month. He was identified as Martin Wood, 48, a British national.
Cha-am police were alerted by a resident to the discovery of the body about 9.30am. Upon arrival, the body of a male foreigner was discovered in the forest, 200m away from Cha-am beach.
He was in a T-shirt and shorts and wore a pair of sneakers. He is thought to have been dead for more than two weeks. No trace of physical abuse was found on his body.
His identity was later confirmed by Daorung Inpotha, 40, a housekeeper at a local hotel where the man stayed with his family.
The hotel is two kilometres away from the scene. The cause of death has not yet been identified. The body was sent to King Mongkut Memorial Hospital in the province for a post-mortem examination.
According to an initial probe, Wood and his family visited Cha-am beach on holiday and checked in at a hotel where he had regularly stayed for four years. He allegedly had chronic health problems and had to regularly take medicine.
He disappeared from the hotel on Dec 30. A search was launched but failed to locate him.
The family then lodged a missing persons complaint with local police. Investigators said footage from CCTV cameras nearby would be examined to see who the man was with on the day he went missing.
His family said they had no idea why he went into the forest.
