POLICE in Patong are investigating the mysterious death of a katoey ladyboy whose naked body was found amid signs of a disturbance in a Nanai apartment.

Officers responded about 6.30pm yesterday to a telephone call from a neighbor in another apartment on the second floor of JJ Mansion in Patong's Nanai district.

Opening the door of the small apartment, they found the naked body of Chalermpong ''Nancy'' Pimpawong, 27, on the floor beside the bed.

The room looked as though it had been the scene of a fight, and Khun Nancy's face bore several scratch marks.

Officers at first suspected that Khun Nancy, who had had a sex change, was the victim of a robbery or a heated dispute with a lover.

However, inquiries showed that Khun Nancy had been involved in a bad motorcycle fall the previous day, after which she preferred not to have medical attention.

A doctor at Patong Hospital who examined the body found a head wound ascribed to the motorcycle fall that may not have been obvious at the time.

The messed up room could possibly have been Khun Nancy's preferred living style.

Inquiries are continuing.