French tourist dies in fall from rocks

NAI HARN: A French tourist died on Wednesday morning after he apparently slipped while climbing rocks at Nai Harn Beach, plunging onto submerged rocks below.

Chalong Police Inspector Pol Lt Col Chockchai Sutthimek identified the victim as Gregory Eric Muguet, 34.

The accident occurred after the victim went out for a morning walk and swim with his mother, Col Chockchai said. “I was informed at about 9:30 am that a French tourist had slipped from some high rocks at the east end of the beach. When I arrived, we found his body clad only in a bathing suit. The body was badly cut from barnacle-covered rocks just below the surface,” he said.

The victim’s mother told Col Chokchai that during their stay they had walked along the beach and gone for a swim every morning after breakfast.

When they reached the end of the beach on Wednesday morning, the mother stopped to enjoy the view while her son, who enjoyed rock-climbing, tried to continue on.

He disappeared from view and, after about 15 minutes, his mother began to worry and started looking for him. To her horror, she saw a corpse floating offshore.

She called for help and the body was eventually brought back to the beach by some surfers, Col Chockchai said. She identified the victim as her son, he said.

He added that police were treating the case as accidental death and had already informed the French Embassy.

At the mother’s request, the body will be transferred from Vachira Phuket Hospital to the Police Forensic Science Office in Bangkok to determine the exact cause of death, he added.