Police have not ruled out murder in the death of British tourist Joshua Kershaw, 21, who was found dead at a hotel in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit 7/1 alley on January 13, just hours after arriving in Thailand. Investigators say the case remains open pending final official autopsy results and further evidence, despite growing pressure from his family.

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Lieutenant Colonel Pairat Khamlee, Deputy Superintendent of Lumpini Police Station, said: “Police have not yet received the official autopsy results from the hospital and are still following up. From the beginning, we have not ruled out any possibilities, whether it is murder, a drug overdose, or anything else.”

Picture courtesy of Yorkshire Post

Kershaw had travelled to Bangkok and went directly to his hotel before heading out to nearby bars, where he was seen drinking with a black woman described by witnesses as an African sex worker. Police said the woman was observed on CCTV sitting and drinking with him and has since been identified and questioned.

At around 2:20am, Kershaw collapsed on the floor of a venue while the woman stood nearby. Witnesses stated she did not attempt to interfere and police say statements so far do not suggest she administered substances or was involved in any altercation.

He was taken to hospital but discharged himself roughly an hour later. He later returned to the same street for more drinks before going back to his hotel at approximately 5:30am, where he was found dead in his room the following afternoon by a maid. Police confirmed they have interviewed multiple witnesses, including hotel staff and bar employees, and reviewed CCTV footage.

Kershaw’s family have said the case is now being treated as “murder/manslaughter”, citing preliminary toxicology findings of “a combination of seven different substances in his system at extremely high levels”. In a statement, his mother Jenny said: “Our family is devastated and searching for answers. We believe Joshua deserves a full and proper investigation. No family should have to fight this hard just to understand how their loved one died.”

The 21-year-old landscaper, originally from Grimsby, had travelled to Thailand for a week-long holiday and had been in the country only hours before his death. His body was repatriated last month and a service was held at Wakefield Crematorium.

Further concerns have also been raised over the initial police response, with claims that the first officer at the scene did not inform the British Embassy and initially treated the case as a routine drug-related death. Authorities have not confirmed those claims but say the investigation is ongoing and under review.

Officials say conclusions will depend on final autopsy and toxicology reports, while the family continue to seek answers and await confirmation ruling from a UK coroner.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now West-Yorkshire-news 27 Mar 2026

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Sad. May he rest in peace.

Discharge yourself from hospital and return to the bar. That is being young and very stupid

4 minutes ago, arick said:

Discharge yourself from hospital and return to the bar. That is being young and very stupid

True.I don't believe he was murdered.I think he took the drugs by himself.

Lots of people in this World drink themselves to death. You could say it's almost not normal for a Brit to come on his own at the age of 21 and hit the hookers and the bars and drink until all early of the morning.

If they find that they were not substances involved it sounds like it was alcohol poisoning, people don't realize just how common it is that people drink themselves to death.

20s is way too young to die.

7 minutes ago, arick said:

Lots of people in this World drink themselves to death. You could say it's almost not normal for a Brit to come on his own at the age of 21 and hit the hookers and the bars and drink until all early of the morning.

So...it wouldn't be his first time?

Interesting

Kershaw’s family have said the case is now being treated as “murder/manslaughter”, citing preliminary toxicology findings of “a combination of seven different substances in his system at extremely high levels”.

His mother is finding it difficult to believe that her son would have taken illicit substances voluntarily. Although I suspect she is just prolonging the inevitable, and will ultimately have to accept this uncomfortable truth

His parents need to realise the authorities are not the slightest bit interested in investigating his death. Just another unimportant farang to them. Sad but true as they say "This is Thailand"

11 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Kershaw’s family have said the case is now being treated as “murder/manslaughter”, citing preliminary toxicology findings of “a combination of seven different substances in his system at extremely high levels”.

7 substances at extremely high level sounds like he was drugged or took the wrong drugs.

All need to do it take 1 pill of some whatever crazy pill you got, and if that pill is from a bad batch with too much fentanyl, you will die, not even knowing anything.

all it takes is 1 wrong pill with too much of any drug like fentanyl.

There are many documented cases of this.

6 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

If they find that they were not substances involved it sounds like it was alcohol poisoning, people don't realize just how common it is that people drink themselves to death.

20s is way too young to die.

Kershaw’s family have said the case is now being treated as “murder/manslaughter”, citing preliminary toxicology findings of “a combination of seven different substances in his system at extremely high levels

Considering it from another perspective, it seems unusual for someone to travel to Thailand specifically to be with a Black woman. What’s the reasoning behind that connection? I’ve never heard anyone express excitement about a Thai vacation with the intention of seeking out an African Sex worker. It just doesn’t add up.🤔

50 minutes ago, cowellandrew said:

Kershaw’s family have said the case is now being treated as “murder/manslaughter”, citing preliminary toxicology findings of “a combination of seven different substances in his system at extremely high levels

Switching off if somebody were to try to kill somebody why would they use seven substances to do it? That alone raises an awful lot of suspicion.

I'm not saying he wasn't murdered but the presence of seven drugs in his system seems odd.

Soi 7/1 is a cessepool of ladyboys and African hookers. The most likely scenario is that one or more hookers spiked his drink(s) but didn't manage to get him alone to rob him before he collapsed in the bar. When he returned from hospital either he already had a lethal dose in him, or his drinks were further spiked. Thailand is relatively safe and I wouldn't make these assumptions if this was "normal" drinking establishments or even somewhere "dirty" but popular like soi 4. But soi 7/1 area I would not be surprised. While it's technically possible (but difficult) to drink yourself to death - if he collapsed from alcohol he wouldn't have been able to walk out of the hospital. This was definitely substance related.

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

I'm not saying he wasn't murdered but the presence of seven drugs in his system seems odd.

It makes no sense unless it was multiple people who drugged him.

1 hour ago, Beat666 said:

Considering it from another perspective, it seems unusual for someone to travel to Thailand specifically to be with a Black woman. What’s the reasoning behind that connection?

Simply the location - lower Sukhumvit has tons of African hookers prowling for victims .

3 hours ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

It makes no sense unless it was multiple people who drugged him.

Simply the location - lower Sukhumvit has tons of African hookers prowling for victims .

I suppose it is a stupid question to ask but why when Thailand is so concerned with impacting legitimate tourists ability to travel, why do African hookers find it so easy to stay. I mean those naughty Western expats on back to back visa runs is one thing. But African hookers are clearly fast tracked through Immigration.

6 hours ago, Beat666 said:

Considering it from another perspective, it seems unusual for someone to travel to Thailand specifically to be with a Black woman. What’s the reasoning behind that connection? I’ve never heard anyone express excitement about a Thai vacation with the intention of seeking out an African Sex worker. It just doesn’t add up.🤔

I doubt he came to Thailand specifically to be with an African woman. She just happened to be the prossie who sidled up to him and caught his fancy

4 hours ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

Soi 7/1 is a cessepool of ladyboys and African hookers. The most likely scenario is that one or more hookers spiked his drink(s) but didn't manage to get him alone to rob him before he collapsed in the bar. When he returned from hospital either he already had a lethal dose in him, or his drinks were further spiked. Thailand is relatively safe and I wouldn't make these assumptions if this was "normal" drinking establishments or even somewhere "dirty" but popular like soi 4. But soi 7/1 area I would not be surprised. While it's technically possible (but difficult) to drink yourself to death - if he collapsed from alcohol he wouldn't have been able to walk out of the hospital. This was definitely substance related.

Let’s face it, the hookers who spike drinks aren’t trained chemists. They stick in whatever drugs they happen to have on them and which often get the job done. Mixing different capsules doesn’t seem a stretch given that they don’t care what it is so long as it works.

To me the obvious possibility is as you say, one or more hookers spike drinks of someone already drunk. He goes to hospital and instead of taking a break and letting the alcohol out of his system, which would also have allowed the other stuff to dissapate, he headed out for yet more alcohol.

Very likely he didn’t know about the drugs of course, but you would have thought he wouldn’t be feeling too well.

Sad, a young life lost basically due to booze, that meant he didn’t know what else he’d had in his body.

with the news lately, if I am British, Thailand would be off my traveling list.

21 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

“Police have not yet received the official autopsy results

21 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Kershaw’s family have said the case is now being treated as “murder/manslaughter”, citing preliminary toxicology findings of “a combination of seven different substances in his system at extremely high levels”.

What 'substances' and at what levels ?

That alone might indicate recreational use or something more nefarious.

21 hours ago, arick said:

Discharge yourself from hospital and return to the bar. That is being young and very stupid

21 hours ago, arick said:

Discharge yourself from hospital and return to the bar. That is being young and very stupid

21 hours ago, arick said:

Discharge yourself from hospital and return to the bar. That is being young and very stupid

I agree- perhaps as he was here only 1 week he wanted to have as much fun as he could in the limited time available to him?

A sad loss of a life so young

RIP

15 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Switching off if somebody were to try to kill somebody why would they use seven substances to do it? That alone raises an awful lot of suspicion.

I'm not saying he wasn't murdered but the presence of seven drugs in his system seems odd.

There is a 99% chance he took them himself.

14 minutes ago, shdmn said:

There is a 99% chance he took them himself.

Is this common in Thailand? ie spiking drinks?

I heard it's a big problem in Medellin, Colombia.

But if it's not sth common here, it could be that he took the drugs volanturily.

Never take open drinks and never leave your drink unattended. But that's hard to do when you're drunk.

3 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Is this common in Thailand? ie spiking drinks?

I heard it's a big problem in Medellin, Colombia.

But if it's not sth common here, it could be that he took the drugs volanturily.

Never take open drinks and never leave your drink unattended. But that's hard to do when you're drunk.

People don't spike other people's drinks with 7 different things. Also, he was admitted to hospital once and then left on his own and then went straight back to the bar. Connect the dots. Like I said, there is a 99% chance he took them himself.

3 minutes ago, shdmn said:

People don't spike other people's drinks with 7 different things. Also, he was admitted to hospital once and then left on his own and then went straight back to the bar. Connect the dots. Like I said, there is a 99% chance he took them himself.

I think you nailed it, Sherlock.

Elementary.

Nice job.

On 3/26/2026 at 8:44 PM, arick said:

Lots of people in this World drink themselves to death. You could say it's almost not normal for a Brit to come on his own at the age of 21 and hit the hookers and the bars and drink until all early of the morning.

When I was his age, I would have went back to the hotel early with that black lady to watch a movie and f*** the night away. Look at the milkers on her. I don't think this young man realized how easy it was to get it on with the women he was around. If I knew, he wouldn't have out longer just drinking like a fool. Which makes it and even bigger tragedy

17 hours ago, Beat666 said:

Considering it from another perspective, it seems unusual for someone to travel to Thailand specifically to be with a Black woman. What’s the reasoning behind that connection? I’ve never heard anyone express excitement about a Thai vacation with the intention of seeking out an African Sex worker. It just doesn’t add up.🤔

This is dumb.

He was at a bar and a black woman happened to be there. He probably didn't even know that she was a full blown whore. If he did, he probably would have went back to his room sooner

Joshua Kershaw had 'heroin and cocaine' in his system - inquest update

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/joshua-kershaw-heroin-cocaine-system-33671480

On 3/26/2026 at 7:34 PM, arick said:

Discharge yourself from hospital and return to the bar. That is being young and very stupid

Bingo. Huh, what? Einstein?

3 hours ago, Harsh Jones said:

This is dumb.

He was at a bar and a black woman happened to be there. He probably didn't even know that she was a full blown whore. If he did, he probably would have went back to his room sooner

It's just a different opinion. Nothing wrong about that.

No need to call me dumb.