The man has been named as Leslie Richard Beasley, who was due to celebrate his 69th birthday on December 26. He is understood to have been on Phuket for about seven years. The yacht is Scara Mouche.


PHUKET: The body of a man - a longtime resident - was found on board a yacht moored off Phuket's Chalong Bay today.

Investigating police believe the man, a South African, had been dead for several days.

Initial reports say that the 68-year-old man was found on a sofa with his head in a plastic bag and with a pipe leading from the bag to a gas cylinder.

He was dressed only in a pair of black underpants. A sign on the side of the yacht says it is for sale.

The owner of the yacht was overseas and had been calling the man, believed to be an employee, for several days, without success.

The yacht owner eventually organised for friends to go out to the yacht, about 800 metres offshore, where the man's body was found about 8am today.

The yacht arrived off Phuket in August and was due to depart in May.

The body has been taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital, north of Chalong in Phuket City. Police believe the man had been dead for four or five days.

Phuketwan has been given the man's name but will not publish it until relatives have been notified.