PHUKET: Police believe the electrocuted body of a Burmese worker may have been dumped overnight at a Phuket housing estate as a warning to other kratom drugs thieves.

Residents who spotted the stranger on the ground in southern Phuket at first thought he was sleeping off a drunken night.

But by 7am today, the man hadn't moved and was cold to touch so paramedics were called.

Ruam Jai Phuket Foundation workers found the man dead near the Kuan-u Shrine in Palai, off Chao Fa Road East. Near his body were kratom leaves, wrapped in a loincloth.

Investigators from Chalong Police Station could find no violent marks on the body.

Police speculate that the man may have been electrocuted as he attempted to steal kratom leaves from a tree, and his body carried some distance from where the incident took place before being dumped.

People who grow the illegal natural narcotic for a living have taken to protecting their trees with live electric wiring, police say.

Supplying the leaves to Burmese workers who are not able to afford more expensive drugs has become lucrative but it's believed that demand still exceeds supply.

The man's body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital where police hope friends or family can make a speedy identification.