Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gz1f23bma7ililo/VRP37457.mp4?dl=0
An Australian tourist has been found dead after an apparent sailing accident in southern Thailand.
Robert Wojcik Scott, 28, was cruising off the coast on his yacht before he disappeared around Ban Laem Hin river some two miles away from shore in Krabi province on June 1.
Locals said he left the pier in the afternoon and lost contact with his Thai wife five hours later before rescuers at the Chaofa Krabi Center received a report from local fishermen about his abandoned yacht.
His body was found a day later (June 2) on the shore in Taling Chan district where paramedics took him to a nearby hospital for a post-mortem examination.
Rescue officer Nithiphat Mongkolpradit said: ‘Robert’s body was found during our search and rescue mission the next day. We rushed into the area after receiving the call.
‘The night before he was found, fishermen reported that the yacht was drifting in the sea but there was no one inside it.’
Police Major Taweelarb Suwannarerk, an inspector from Krabi Marine Police Station, said investigations into the incident are still ongoing but it is believed that the Aussie fell onto the water while sailing.
He said: ‘We have taken the boat to the shore for gathering evidence. We are still waiting for the autopsy result but initial investigations showed that he fell while sailing.’
Robert, from New South Wales, arrived in Thailand around a year ago as a tourist before he married his Thai wife Benjathip Manapakorn, 27, in a Buddhist ceremony.
Devastated wife Benjathip said: ‘Robert went out in the afternoon to buy boat equipment in the town but I could not contact him after a few hours. I was worried and then I heard from the police that he was missing. When they told me he was dead I cried, my heart broke, because he’s never coming back.’
The Australian Embassy in the country has been informed of the death and has contacted his relatives abroad. The cause of death is still unknown pending the result of the autopsy.