Man dies trying to eat a coconut in central Thailand

A Thai man died trying to retrieve a coconut from a palm tree at his home in Samut Sakhon province in central Thailand on Tuesday.

Officers from Krathum Baen Police Station and rescue workers from the Ruan Katanyu Foundation travelled to a home in Moo 11 in Om Noi subdistrict to investigate the death of 45 year old Sunthorn from Roi Et province.

When police arrived, they found a metal ladder leaning against a palm tree. On the floor lay a pair of red sandals. A pack of cigarettes and a lighter were placed on the wall.

Behind the wall, police found Sunthorn’s body floating face down in a canal. A single coconut was floating in the water.

Police estimated he died around four hours before their arrival.

Sunthorn’s wife told police that her husband was very weak and chronically ill. She said her husband got so sick that she asked him to stop working and stay at home and look after the house instead. Usually, Sunthorn does housework and picks up their children from school, she said.

However, when Sunthorn’s wife returned from work on Tuesday, she couldn’t find her husband. She searched around the home and found his shoes placed next to the ladder. She climbed the ladder and found her husband floating in the canal.

Sunthorn’s wife told police that yesterday, her husband said the coconuts on the palm tree looked ready to eat. She said she told Sunthorn that if he wants to eat coconuts, he’s better off going to buy one because he is not strong enough to scale the palm tree. However, he did not listen.

A neighbour’s CCTV camera captured Sunthorn lying in a hammock in the afternoon near the palm tree. In the video, Sunthorn can be seen picking up the ladder and placing it on the tree. Then, he climbs up the tree and out of the shot. He disappeared and never came back down.

Sunthorn’s body will be taken for an autopsy at the Institute of Forensic Medicine to confirm the cause of his death.

In May, an elderly Thai woman was cutting down toddy palm fruit to sell at the market when one hit her in the head and killed her.