THE companion of a Swedish woman who died a beggar on Phuket may hold the key to her past life. But the man may not yet even know that his female friend has died.

Bjorn Lennart Lundqvist and Gabriella Rose-Marie Strand travelled between Sweden and Phuket at least seven times as they pursued their life as international freeloaders, a spokesman for the Swedish embassy in Bangkok confirmed today.

Ms Strand's life as a holidaying hobo came to an end with her death aged 60 on Saturday at the Loma Park restaurant complex.

Her body was found about 9am. She now lies in Patong Hospital as officials determine what to do next.

Mr Lundquist, aged about 60, has not been seen for some time, although Swedish embassy officials believe he is probably somewhere in Thailand.

Ms Strand was a familiar figure in Patong, begging her meals and cadging a place to sleep. When she had difficulty finding a place to lay her head, she would go to Patong Hospital for the night where, according to police officers, the nurses would usually say: ''Oh no, not you again.''

But when the couple did have money, Phuketwan has been told, they enjoyed spending it on beer and good food. In January when their strange life was revealed for the first time, Phuketwan christened the couple the 'Scamdinavians.'

Swedish embassy senior consular officer Par Kageby said today that officials from the embassy had ''basically begged'' the Patong police and Immigration officials to take the couple into custody and hold them for repatriation back to Sweden, but the Thai officials had declined to arrest them.

It is believed the couple travelled backwards and forwards at least seven times, each time quickly parlaying their substantial Swedish social security benefits into the next ticket for Thailand, and a life on the edge in the Phuket sunshine.

The next step will be for the embassy to seek to find out if Ms Strand has relatives, so they can be notified of her death. But as this inquiry has been conducted each time the couple has run out of money in Thailand, an answer is expected back from the Swedish Foreign Office officials within a couple of days.

At that point, Mr Kageby said, officials at the embassy will have to decide what to do next. ''It may have to be a local funeral,'' he said. ''We will try to find her boyfriend.''

Mr Kageby said it would have been possible for Thai authorities to blacklist the couple to prevent their entry, but that was never done.

There was a time about 18 months ago when Mr Lundquist was ill for about two weeks and was given help with accommodation, but Swedish officials are generally reluctant to provide more assistance than is absolutely necessary.