British Resident found dead at his North Pattaya home



PATTAYA: -- On Sunday afternoon Police and medics were called to a gated-village in North Pattaya where a British Resident was suspected of drowning in his private swimming pool.

Medics arrived first at the house located within the Nucha Village off Pattaya Third Road and examined the body of Mr. Nicholas Morton-Smith aged 57. He had a small bruise to his head and was known to have been recovered from their swimming pool by a painter who was currently working at the house.

Also there was Khun Piaw aged 57, the wife of the deceased man, who told Police that she had been in Bangkok on business since Friday and returned to Pattaya on Sunday as soon as she heard about the death of her Husband.

Khun Boonchan aged 60 had earlier spoken with Mr. Morton-Smith at 2pm but when he returned to continue painting at 4pm, he saw Mr. Morton-Smith floating face-down in the water.

Source: http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/160886/british-resident-found-dead-at-his-north-pattaya-home/


-- Pattaya One 2014-12-22

Let the speculation begin.

In the meantime, RIP.

R.i.P.

how convenient the wife away on business ..............yer right

RIP

The butler/painter did it.....

Amazing how people immediately jump to the conclusion that foul play involved. Far more likely a tragic accident. Wait for the autopsy results.

The butler/painter did it.....

There was no butler and the painter was at lunch and the missus was in BKK and the bump on the head magically appeared.

Another cold case file.

Come on guys, sounds like an accident so far don't you think.

One small bruise to the head and everyone starts pointing fingers, did anyone ever think he may have slipped and banged his head maybe ???

What is the world coming to?

Yes it may be that in light of recent events in Thailand that we automatically assume the worst, but come on guys, one small bruise to the head is all the evidence they talk about here, and that does not suggest a major struggle, does it?

Look at the photo, maybe he slipped, had a sherbet too many or something , tripped / slipped , banged head on column next to pool and then fell into the pool, what is the point in speculating otherwise at this point in time???

RIP to Mr Morton - Smith

Edited December 22, 201411 yr by daiwill60

Come on...

He could have just slipped and knocked himself out on the edge....Quite possible.

Pattaya is quite far from Koh Tao...

Edited December 22, 201411 yr by slipperylobster

Amazing how people immediately jump to the conclusion that foul play involved. Far more likely a tragic accident. Wait for the autopsy results.

And an autopsy done in Thailand will tell you what exactly? That he had drowned and there was water in his lungs, so it must have been accidental (as no one could hold his head under water.) Now if he had also suffered a heart attack or a stroke and drowned it may be a bit more conclusive.

I am not jumping to any conclusions, but I would like to see more than an autopsy done to conclude there are no suspicious circumstances.

RIP Brother.

Was he swimming at the time? did he have swimwear on? No, then he could be just walking by the pool with his cup of coffee and slipped, banged his head by the side of the pool, and fell in unconsciously.

But on the other hand...... who done it!!!

Amazing how people immediately jump to the conclusion that foul play involved. Far more likely a tragic accident. Wait for the autopsy results.

There are way too many farangs jumping off high buildings, drowning in pools, being found hanged, or being found dead with no explanation. More than one a day in Pattaya alone. Would you trust a Thai autopsy to give the correct cause of death if there was foul play?

Amazing how people immediately jump to the conclusion that foul play involved. Far more likely a tragic accident. Wait for the autopsy results.

Amazing how people immediately jump to the conclusion that foul play involved.

This becomes a natural habit if you are long enough in the country and from experience you learn- for a good reason. Just wait for the follow up of the story: ...and the widow and the painter lived happily ever after.

Edited December 22, 201411 yr by Lupatria

Look wifey was in Bangers, the painter had gone to lunch. He was only 57 years old and he had a bruise to the head.

Too many co-incidences.

1 in 2,400 British tourists dies in Thailand, perhaps more if you add in Expats. Either way you slice it, it's another tragic death by unnatural means in the Kingdom.

RIP Buddy.

We never know when our day comes ...

his house doesn't look to have any balconies .... RIP.

When she demanded 'off white' in the pool area i wonder if the painter got the wrong idea?

...and thais take lunch at mid day...you can set your watch by them.

Let the speculation begin.

In the meantime, RIP.

Yes agreed RIP

Interesting thing "speculation" I see there are people on here speculating that this was an innocent accident, does anybody believe we are ever party to the full facts?? to even begin to know a definitive answer??

A hose under my kitchen sink blew out the other day with very visible and audible spray of water against the back wall. As I rushed into the kitchen, I failed to see the pool of water that has already formed on the ceramic floor and I ended up flat on my back. Luckily, I managed to get my arms and elbows down in time to prevent the back of my skull hitting the floor and a very probable end of game for NL.

My wife was up-country visiting friends so I would probably have lain there for several days before the water or smell attracted any attention.

Accidents do happen and I only hope that if I had passed away as a result of the above accident, you would have been less accusatory and defamatory towards my sadly widowed wife.

There are some stupid people on this forum. He's more than old enough to have had a heart attack or similar such event. His wife was away on business and as yet this hadn't been disproved but some of you don't understand this. Muppet brigade out in full force with your insensitive comments. To be honest, you're no better at solving these mysterious events than the RTP.

its sad news - but its happening with such horrendous regularity I have to confess to becoming desensitized.

I wud not like an autopsy done on my family member in Thailand . For one, things we think of as important, they don't

Edited December 22, 201411 yr by enufsaid

Off topic and distasteful posts removed

And the conspiracy mongers come out in force. Never fails to amaze me how pathetic and insensitive some of the TVF regulars are.

Condolences to family and friends

Amazing how people immediately jump to the conclusion that foul play involved. Far more likely a tragic accident. Wait for the autopsy results.

There are way too many farangs jumping off high buildings, drowning in pools, being found hanged, or being found dead with no explanation. More than one a day in Pattaya alone. Would you trust a Thai autopsy to give the correct cause of death if there was foul play?

Yes, some of these are probably not suicides, but there are a number of reasons why the numbers here may seem unusually high (i.e., our 'benchmarks' may fool us).

1. These things don't get reported back home (unless you come from a smaller town where everything gets reported); basically every farang death gets reported here in the 'farang news'; a Nigerian falling from a balcony may not get reported.
2. These things are more salient because many people strongly self-identify here as 'farangs' - when a farang dies we notice it more. [We might not notice the story of the Nigerian who fell from the balcony if it actually did make the news].
3. There is corruption in the system, so it is plausible that murderers can get away with making things look like a suicide.
4. Building safety (height of railing, type of groundwork around a pool, etc) is of a lower standard here.
5. The 'sample' of farangs staying in Thailand is not representative of the population 'back home'... there may be an understandably higher incidence of suicide among the farang population here. There is probably more use of alcohol (and perhaps drugs) here, fewer people have work responsibilities to engage them, some people may have come here to escape unhappiness at home, some people may feel more isolated here, some people may fall for the 'love you long time darling', etc, etc. etc. [Of course, I'm not talking about you or me, reader ]

Factors 1 to 3 contribute to our heightened attention to suicides and our greater suspicion around them. Factors 4 and 5 contribute to a higher baseline of actual suicides. So the real numbers are probably higher, and our perceptions are exaggerrated beyond that.

Let the speculation begin.

In the meantime, RIP.

Didn't take long, the 2nd post. The others will come. RIP.

Edited December 22, 201411 yr by Si Thea01

The butler/painter did it.....

There was no butler and the painter was at lunch and the missus was in BKK and the bump on the head magically appeared.

Another cold case file.

But the bump on the head could have been caused by a blow to the head?