British diving instructor found dead on Thailand’s Koh Tao under ‘mysterious’ circumstances

[spidermike007]

23 minutes ago, tjo o tjim said:

That family left the island several years ago; the one brother or cousin with a resort named after him is still around, but he was never the problem.  They sold their resorts and left at lest 4 years ago.  While the particular individual is probably gone too (can't remember his name), he might be living in the hills still in an isolated life of repentence.  Pretty sure he is out of the picture though... either way, his protection is gone.

 

Koh Tao has its issues, but the wild west cowboy days are gone.  Much of what happens is specifically because of its isolation... but there is a lot of drug and alcohol abuse, especially among long-time residents. Having someone die in their sleep happens... and things that if you could just call an ambulance you would be fine can easily lead to death there.  Still one of my favorite places on earth.

I used to visit often, learned to dive there and enjoyed it. But, it has changed alot, and at this point I will never return to Dark Tao. 

 

Gald to hear they banished Nomsod. Hope he suffers a very painful and prolonged illness, that leads to his death. So do countless others. He inflicted alot of misery on alot of people. 

[Venom]

What I like about death island is it's not necessary to hold a work permit if you are working with one of the larger dive operations owed by locals. It a pity that it can't be that way in the rest of Thailand. 

[Elkski]

14 hours ago, PJ71 said:

He was a diving instructor, you'd need to have a above average level of fitness to do that.

 

Did you miss that bit in the article or do you think that's 'speculation' too?

Lots of fat unhealthy people can complete a basic dive course. 

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm…. Here we go again? Was he shot by “the man on the grassy knoll”?  Let the poor man die in peace without all this sensational diarrhoea.

[Mac Mickmanus]

13 minutes ago, bbbbooboo said:

Hmmm…. Here we go again? Was he shot by “the man on the grassy knoll”?  Let the poor man die in peace without all this sensational diarrhoea.

I would have thought that he would have preferred it if any murderers were arrested and charged , rather than them getting away with it  

[steven100]

9 hours ago, ubonr1971 said:

How do you know he was healthy? He could have had heart disease or anything else. Heart attacks are common near 50

A 48yr old who has passed his PADI or BSAC courses to become a certified Dive Instructor is highly likely to be healthy and fit and not a possible heart attack candidate.

[robblok]

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

A 48yr old who has passed his PADI or BSAC courses to become a certified Dive Instructor is highly likely to be healthy and fit and not a possible heart attack candidate.

Steven, do you actually dive. I have been a dive master for 13 years. I dive every year a few times as do friends of mine. Many dive instructors / dive masters are not healthy and drink and party a lot as that is the life. People are not in it for the money but the life style.

 

To become a dive instructor you must indeed go through some exams that are pretty tough. Especially the resque diver part where you need to make a certain time while saving someone and doing a certain number of laps in a certain time (with fins and mask). But he probably done that just like me long ago. There are no yearly qualifying things (except medical training to save people)

 

I wonder why so many people think dive instructors are fit, probably this comes from non divers or people with totally no fitness. To dive in Thailand is easy you go slow exert almost no power. The only times you need a lil fitness if you dive at a place with a current. Most dives are not dives with a current.

Edited January 25, 2023 by robblok

[roo860]

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

A 48yr old who has passed his PADI or BSAC courses to become a certified Dive Instructor is highly likely to be healthy and fit and not a possible heart attack candidate.

You've soon got on the pop, didn't think they allowed it at the Hillside Gym!????????

[fotunate]

Where is the evidence he was “healthy”? Maybe he wasn’t so healthy?

[Photoguy21]

18 hours ago, BigStar said:

You're so right. Foreigners should be guaranteed immortality for the duration of their stay in Thailand. Should pack 'em in. 

Nice answer albeit rather nieve. I am sure once you think about things you will have an inspirational flash in your mind.

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, fotunate said:

Where is the evidence he was “healthy”? Maybe he wasn’t so healthy?

Are you going to ask for a ‘link’ ??? 

[transam]

 At this location, should fly in a Brit pathologist.....

[richard_smith237]

7 hours ago, steven100 said:

A 48yr old who has passed his PADI or BSAC courses to become a certified Dive Instructor is highly likely to be healthy and fit and not a possible heart attack candidate.

Perfectly fit and healthy people such as sports stars die from heart issues, thrombotic events (embolisms, strokes etc).... and normal folk who appear fit and healthy, do reasonable amounts of exercise etc also die suddenly without warning etc..  

... Suddenly passing without warning from an underlying unknown issue or other factors is not unknown.

 

A dive instructor is unlikely to have known major issues, but does not need to be a the peak of physical fitness... the fitness aspect is somewhat irrelevant within normal bounds....

 

This is just a normal guy who died in his sleep without warning...  the location is perhaps a moot point, the death needs to be medically investigated regardless of where he was. 

 

The history of the island is a lightening rod to the conspiracists - thats not to say the untouchable on the island are clean, there’s enough rumour and informant to suggest otherwise...   

 

First, the cause of death needs to be known before any speculation regarding suspicious circumstances is considered. 

[steven100]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

First, the cause of death needs to be known

agree .... and with transparency .....  but TIT so that can be ruled out.

[BigStar]

8 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

This is just a normal guy who died in his sleep without warning...

You dunno how "normal" he was. As other posters have noted, he looks rather old for his age. No, it's not from "being out in the sun." I'd not be surprised if he drank too much or even smoked. No, he didn't have to have. Yes, the George Burns Hail Mary is first among the Principles of ANF Poster Longevity Science. But useless speculation is what we do.

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, BigStar said:

15 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

This is just a normal guy who died in his sleep without warning...

You dunno how "normal" he was. As other posters have noted, he looks rather old for his age. No, it's not from "being out in the sun." I'd not be surprised if he drank too much or even smoked. No, he didn't have to have. Yes, the George Burns Hail Mary is first among the Principles of ANF Poster Longevity Science. But useless speculation is what we do.

Of course I don’t know how normal he was, neither do you.....  What we do know is that its not normal for a 48 year old to suddenly die, yet it happens enough not to automatically assume foul play when / if it this occurs...

- it therefor needs investigation... 

 

Other than he was on Koh Tao which has a history of ‘questionable endings’ and investigation so poor it lends to the suspicion of coverup and corruption there may not actually be anything more to see here than... poor guy, died in his sleep of.... (whatever it is they find in autopsy - if there is one). 

 

I’m not even sure there is enough to go on here to permit the speculators to embellish in the islands history to point blame towards something more nefarious... not from what has been reported anyway. 

 

If this had happened in Kanchanaburi it may not have even made the news. 

[transam]

His family need an answer, which is provided by an autopsy...

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 10:27 AM, PJ71 said:

On 1/24/2023 at 10:13 AM, robblok said:

People die in their sleep its not strange thing

Fit healthy 48 year olds, really?

Yes, they're just assumed to be healthy until they die, and many do, then the cause is found and the "fit and healthy" guess (because they hadn't died until then) is found to be untrue.   It has to be borne in mind that, although not the norm, death at a young age from natural causes happens.  And this man was not young, he was almost 50. 

[whereyougo]

On 1/24/2023 at 10:27 AM, PJ71 said:

Fit healthy 48 year olds, really?

Young elite athletes have been known to drop dead on the field due to undiagnosed heart issues so can happen to anybody and 48 ain't no spring chicken

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 9:41 AM, webfact said:

Described as ‘fit and healthy’,

...by people who did not know, clearly he wasn't!

[metisdead]

Some troll posts with antagonizing comments toward other members have been removed:

 

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[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 11:40 AM, Hummin said:

The world average age of death is a few years lower at 69.8 years for men

The word "average" is important; to get an average age of 69, there must be many a lot younger (30s, 40s and 50s) and many a lot older.

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 11:51 AM, smedly said:

everyone on that island says and does exactly what they are told - no exceptions

"- no exceptions"

This unfortunate dive instructor was told to strip to his underwear, lie on the sofa and die? 

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 11:55 AM, BritManToo said:

He was a dive instructor.

When I was a dive instructor I had to pass a HSE 'fitness to dive' health exam every year.

Perhaps he passed it also but was not quite as "fit and healthy" as everyone is speculating the day before he died.  

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 12:50 PM, Falcon said:

Thai law states that, if a person is found dead in the home, an autopsy must be carried out to find out why, and foe, the person died. This must be done in Thai law, especially if death occurred suddenly at home.

Bet you can't quote that law!   Thai law does not make postmortems mandatory, it is up to those investigating the death.  Or by request.

[BritManToo]

7 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Perhaps he passed it also but was not quite as "fit and healthy" as everyone is speculating the day before he died.  

Hard to see how a dive instructor can't be fit and healthy.

You're lugging air tanks and weight belts around all the time.

Then there's lots of swimming, assisting the tourists on and off the boats, dragging the tourists that ran out of steam along in the water etc.

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 1:26 PM, findlay13 said:

On 1/24/2023 at 10:36 AM, BritManToo said:

It's common for an autopsy to be done on all victims of unexpected deaths.

Not on Koh Tao it's not.

Really?   Which unexpected, unexplained Koh Tao deaths did not have postmortems performed?   Specifically.

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 1:34 PM, Celsius said:

 

I have quite a story about this and will do a write up once I am out of here. Which might be soon or never.

I'd guess never.

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 1:45 PM, Photoguy21 said:

In most countries if not all, an autopsy is required if you pass away outside of a hospital. When the authorities says no need for one it must be considered highly questionable at best.

Has some authority here stated that "no postmortem is necessary"?

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/24/2023 at 2:01 PM, animatic said:

Dive instructors are most often in very good shape with solid physical fitness. So this doesn’t ring true as ‘just died in his sleep, no autopsy needed’.

"So this doesn’t ring true as ‘just died in his sleep, no autopsy needed’".

No one (apart from some posters misquoting the OP) has said that!