Koh Tao French diving instructor found dead in Surat - police mystified

[Khon Kaen Dave]

What a bloody shame! i was really hoping he would turn up safe and sound.I am really sorry this story ended the way it did.

Bonn chance,mon ami.

[sambum]

RIP.

He looks like a nice person in his photo. I was hoping he was going to be OK.

So if he didn't look like a nice person ...........?

[Sheryl]

A post with libelous speculation has been removed.

[Sheryl]

This is NOT an entertainment event. This was a tragic death, and friends and perhaps family of the dead man are reading this thread.

Useless speculation, aspersions on the character of the deceased or his friends etc, will absolutely not be tolerated.

[Basil B]

Went to buy something and ends up dead, Thailand is certainly getting more dangerous for falang every day, RIP good sir.

AFAIK there has been now evidence of "foul play", possible contributing factors may be down to his diving activities, but due to decomposition of the body I doubt they will be able to examine soft tissue for clues as to cause of death.

has been now evidence...

Now or no ?

I think his prior medical problems, condition along with a deep dive and flying would surely be shown to have been the cause, and agree, any thorough examination and necessary tests will be too involved and expensive due to the decomposition - so rumour mongers will have even more fodder for the fantasies.

Good grief, maybe they're....... nah.

Yes I meant no...

I also wonder if he had dive computer? the log off it if had one would provide invaluable evidence.

[Jumper]

The mystery is, the frenchman and his girlfriend boarded the boat on March 14, he then disappears and the girlfriend doesn't report him missing until March 18.

Yes and no !! This is Thailand ! and the girlfriend might of taught he dumped her for another one .....just a taught ! maybe she taught he would come back the next day ? many possibilities .....different people react differently in the same situation !

Regards.

Gentlemen (and Ladies present of course):

I often read, but rarely respond to Thai Visa comments.

After reading several pages on several topics over the last few months, I think we should get reasonable and bring things back in out of the stratosphere.

I would encourage everyone to become familiar with "Occam's razor". It has been very helpful to me in making decisions in the absence of 100% knowledge:

Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected.

[seedy]

Off Topic posts - and Quoted Replies Hidden

This Thread is not about any murder on any island.

Posts trying to resurrect closed topics will be removed.

Repeat Offenders will be Suspended.

Have some Compassion for Family who may be reading this, and do not cause them undue Grief.

[roodj]

hello mens.

what's perhaps happened?

what do you think?

i don't know

[geisha]

First ,RIP, another tragic death. Though I'm sure there are a few things missing in this awful story. What happened before they boarded the ferry?

Did he really board the ferry ? Why didn't the girlfriend take their things and get off the ferry when he didn't come back? And the, why wasn't he reported missing at once? Assuming he wandered into the banana plantation alone, and sick, he might have been found alive if there was a search team straight away ! I know that I would never leave a friend disappear that way and not make a huge fuss to find him/ her!!! What happened?

[seedy]

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[Traveller45]

This calls for a very senior kick-ass investigator of the MAIGRET type...

[yogavnture]

Tragic! Let's wait for some proper facts?

do u think we will get proper facts. or will this be washed under the rug . like all the others

[khonkaen10]

RIP

[IslandLover]

Sheryl, on 30 Mar 2016 - 12:32, said:

This is NOT an entertainment event. This was a tragic death, and friends and perhaps family of the dead man are reading this thread.

Useless speculation, aspersions on the character of the deceased or his friends etc, will absolutely not be tolerated.

Useless speculation, aspersions on the character of the deceased or his friends etc, will absolutely not be tolerated.

Nor should derogatory comments about his perceived lifestyle choices (e.g. overweight, middle-aged, smoker, risk-taking whilst diving and afterwards, etc., etc., etc.)

[mercman24]

just run this by you and reverse it, as this forum appears to be male orientated -- you get on a boat together, at the last minute your girlfriend jumps from the boat, and goes missing, and you not report it for 4 days. ?? sounds wierd to me .

[RoyEngland]

No offense to Thai people, but has his gf been Thai then this would be normal behaviour.. however, his gf was French was she not?

just run this by you and reverse it, as this forum appears to be male orientated -- you get on a boat together, at the last minute your girlfriend jumps from the boat, and goes missing, and you not report it for 4 days. ?? sounds wierd to me .

[balo]

Yes the gf was French , but we don't know the full story do we ? We only read media reports and speculate , thats all we do in here. If there is an autopsy being done soon maybe some answers can be found.

[cumgranosalum]

It seems to me that the plethora of theories this thread has generated whether true false, baseless or just plain stupid, shows one thing quite clearly......ANYTHING to do with Koh Tao and surrounding region is now tainted by the alleged activities on that island.

Seems to me that regardless of the truth about this particular tragedy, there needs to be some assertive active to reclaim the image of "paradise isle" as it relates to Koh Tao.

[F4UCorsair]

Yes the gf was French , but we don't know the full story do we ? We only read media reports and speculate , thats all we do in here. If there is an autopsy being done soon maybe some answers can be found.

Exactly, balo, we only read press reports, and you can bet that the press is playing up the Koh Tao connection. Sensationalism sells, probably almost as well as sex sells.

[Moonsterk]

Sheryl, on 30 Mar 2016 - 12:32, said:

This is NOT an entertainment event. This was a tragic death, and friends and perhaps family of the dead man are reading this thread.

Useless speculation, aspersions on the character of the deceased or his friends etc, will absolutely not be tolerated.

Useless speculation, aspersions on the character of the deceased or his friends etc, will absolutely not be tolerated.

Nor should derogatory comments about his perceived lifestyle choices (e.g. overweight, middle-aged, smoker, risk-taking whilst diving and afterwards, etc., etc., etc.)

Lifestyle choices are a cause of many a death.

His choices and situation were laid out in initial media reports and I'm presenting them as known facts, highly pertinent and nothing inanely derogatory about discussing them as such.

He was ill with an infected leg, and/ or had a condition that caused his right arm to swell. He' d had a fever. He'd taken medication for the fever. He was overweight. He was a smoker. He was 46 yo. Had gone on a deep dive, and then flown. He appeared disoriented before his disappearance. He was observed walking away from the pier at 10 PM .

From the facts above, what's most speculative:

He made his way over the next few hours, or possibly a day or two- to approx 2 k away, laid down and died, or...

..... he was robbed-(except he still had his valuables.)

... he knew deep, dark secrets about some rumours, was stalked by a bogey man, who somehow got him to mimic all off the above so as to do away with him in a fashion to be non ascertainable.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Moonsterk

[Moonsterk]

Yes the gf was French , but we don't know the full story do we ? We only read media reports and speculate , thats all we do in here. If there is an autopsy being done soon maybe some answers can be found.

Exactly, balo, we only read press reports, and you can bet that the press is playing up the Koh Tao connection. Sensationalism sells, probably almost as well as sex sells.

It's not press reports regurgitating the BS- it's facebook groups and community pages with administrators who are actively involved in spreading rumours and false information, and will not allow dissenting opinions that are based on facts, and not emotions.

[Moonsterk]

A great example of how misinformation (or dis...?) gets regurgitated into fact.

Where is the report that states she waited 4 days to report him missing? The first media reports of his disappearance are 4 days later.

But even if so, there are many plausible explanations that do not indict her on complicity in the death as I wrote earlier.

The mystery is, the frenchman and his girlfriend boarded the boat on March 14, he then disappears and the girlfriend doesn't report him missing until March 18.

Where did you read this, please?

The first media report was 4 days later, on the 18th, I've not read anything about the date he was reported missing.

But if it was 4 days later, I can think of many explanations;

Maybe they don't live together and so she wouldn't know if he hadn't caught the next night's ferry, which I take gets in very early morning? And so already the 3rd day has passed.

Maybe they had a fight and she was done with him.

Maybe she really thought he went out on a bender.

Maybe she has another beau.

Maybe she relished the alone time.

Maybe..... ad infinitum..

The mystery is, the frenchman and his girlfriend boarded the boat on March 14, he then disappears and the girlfriend doesn't report him missing until March 18.

Yes and no !! This is Thailand ! and the girlfriend might of taught he dumped her for another one .....just a taught ! maybe she taught he would come back the next day ? many possibilities .....different people react differently in the same situation !

Regards.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Moonsterk

[IslandLover]

In reply to post #83 above

From the OP of this very thread:

The 46 year old had been missing since the 14th of this month when he had been on his way to Koh Tao. His decomposing body was found at the back of a banana plantation behind a school in downtown Surat.

Investigators think that the man had been dead anywhere between 10 and 15 days and are following up all leads in the baffling disappearance.

He was reported missing two weeks ago on March 18th. He had boarded the ferry to Koh Tao with his French girlfriend. He had left the boat before it departed to go and buy something but he had never returned.

All other press reports (Bangkok Post, Khaosod English, Samui Times) state the man went missing on 14th March 2016 but was not reported to the police as missing until 18th March 2016 by his girlfriend. That's 4 days, is it not?

Edited March 31, 2016 by IslandLover

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Maigret has been dead for years,and his methods would be entirely out of date now.If i were to call on a fictional detective to solve this poor mans demise,it would be the new Sherlock.Benedict Cumbersnatch,or what ever his name is.He's the guy for me.But unfortunately he is only fictional.

[Moonsterk]

RIP Jean-francois Louet who looks to have lived life to the fullest.

[AleG]

From what was reported at the time I thought he may had been suffering from neurological problems caused by decompression sickness, they can manifest themselves some time after diving, i.e. disorientation and erratic beheaviour.

It's very unfortunate (to say the least) that what I thought may have happened, that he wandered off and ended up in a field somewhere, turned up to be the case.

My condolences to his family and friends.

[metisdead]

Baiting posts have been removed. A post containing a link to Bangkok Post has been removed:

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[IslandLover]

Moonsterk, on 31 Mar 2016 - 03:49, said:

It's not press reports regurgitating the BS- it's facebook groups and community pages with administrators who are actively involved in spreading rumours and false information, and will not allow dissenting opinions that are based on facts, and not emotions.

In your opinion. You seem to be obsessed with these so-called facebook groups. Is that because they have banned you from commenting? When it comes to speculation, you know no more about the "facts" of this case than anyone else here.

The only sensible post I have seen on this thread so far has been the one from AleG, although he is also speculating because presently no-one knows what really happened to M. Louet.

[bamukloy]

RIP Jean-francois Louet who looks to have lived life to the fullest.

Jean L whisky crop.jpg

.

I suspect you and your type are the reason foriegners hate each other here. I cant think of any

reason why a normal sane person would feel the need to speculate and add the thinly disguised innuendo you did in that post.

I guess, other than trying to draw attention to yourself by posting a pic of him??

The guy is dead for F's sake.

Are you in perfect physical shape?

Why not post a picture of yourself so we can all splendour over your 180cm, 78kg frame?

[gk10002000]

Did he have a fight with his G/F. Did anyone actually see him on the ferry or was it just her word. Certainly no robbery was involved as he was still wearing his gold necklace and diving watch. I think that the police need to question his G/F a little more, find out why she took 4 days to report him missing.

Do we really know she was his GF? That term is used a bit loosely over there. How long were they together? Was it a one or two day recent meeting?