The body of a 21-year-old Japanese tourist, who had been reported missing, was found floating in Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. Reports said the parents of Sonam Tsuboi will attempt to identify the remains on Monday.
The police had found the body on December 30 and brought it to a hospital for autopsy. But the authorities had been unable to verify the man's identity. Pol Maj-General Ittipol Achariyapradit, Metropolitan Police Bureau said the police initially thought that the deceased had committed suicide as there were no traces of any injury on the body.
Ittipol said the pictures of the body had been sent to the parents to verify the identity. "But they will come to Siriraj Hospital to check the body again," he added. It is believed that they took the decision after they were informed that the recovered corpse of an unidentified man had a tattoo on the left ankle that matched their son's.
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According to a source, the Japanese embassy officials had seen the body and said the tattoo was similar to Tsuboi's.
Since earlier this month, the parents had been searching for Tsuboi in Pai district, located in Mae Hong Son province. Tsuboi, who apparently had a history of depression, had visited Pai before he went missing. On Dec 21, Tsuboi arrived in Thailand, but his family did not a get a call from him since December 27.
Tsuboi's girlfriend said he had cancelled a planned trip with her to Pai on Dec 27 and the trip was rescheduled on Jan 7. But, when she visited Thailand on Jan 7, she was unable to find him. She lodged a police complaint on that day and his parents also flew down to Thailand.
A CCTV footage showed Tsuboi leaving his guesthouse with a bag at 9.20am on December 28. That was the last record of anyone seeing him. The police said DNA tests would definitively determine the corpse's identity.
