Police appeal for information on dead man

PATONG: Police have appealed for information to help them identify a Caucasian man found dead yesterday evening in an abandoned building on Thaweewong Rd. Pol Maj Sanguan Muangtam of the Kathu Police station said that police believe the man was between 40 and 45 years of age. He was about 175 cm tall, with blond hair and a mustache, and was wearing a white T-shirt and a nylon jacket. When found in the building behind the Phuket Tourist Police office, the man was naked from the waist down, and a pair of a green shorts was found next to his body. Also next to the body was a plastic bowl. Police believe the man may have decided to use the abandoned building as a toilet, and may then have died of heat exhaustion. He is estimated to have been dead at least three days. Maj Sanguan added there were no wounds on the body, or any other evidence at the scene to indicate a suspicious death. The body was taken to the Patong hospital for autopsy. Anyone with information that may help identify the dead man is urged to contact Kathu Police Station at 076-342719-21 or the Tourist Police at 076-340244. Meanwhile, two other foreigners died in separate road accidents on Friday and Saturday. French-Canadian resident Jean-Francois Robert, 50, died after his car plunged into a five-meter ditch on Saturday morning, just minutes away from his home on Nanai Rd. Pol Capt Chawalit Petchsripear, of Kathu Police Station, said that officers arrived at the scene near the entrance to the Mambo Hotel to find Mr Robert dead in the driver’s seat of his black Honda CR-V, which was nose-first in the roadside ditch. Capt Chawalit said that he believed Mr Robert was under the influence of alcohol when he had the accident, and added that he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt when his body was found. The previous day Japanese tourist Etsuko Kajimoto, 30, died when her motorcycle was in a head-on smash with a truck in front of the farmers’ market on Patak Rd, Kata. Pol Maj Jessada Saengsuree, of Chalong Police station, said that it is believed Ms Kajimoto was riding her motorcycle toward Karon when she and the truck collided. He added that Ms Kajimoto is believed to have died instantly. “By the time officers arrived at the scene, the driver of the truck had already fled, leaving the truck behind,” Maj Jessada said. “We are still trying to find him, but we believe he will turn himself in over the next few days.”