The body of a British man who went missing after a tourist speedboat crashed in southern Thailand was found on Sunday. The body was lying on the rocks near the place where the speedboat went down.
The speedboat was carrying 32 tourists along with four crew members. The accident happened on Thursday afternoon when a huge wave hit the boat near a rocky stretch of the coast on Koh Samui, a popular island in the Gulf of Thailand.
All the passengers fell out of the vessel and some were trapped under the ship's hull.
The authorities had been searching for Jason Parnell, 46, since the incident on Thursday, although the bodies of three women from the United Kingdom, Germany and Hong Kong were soon located.
The police said Parnell was travelling with his wife, who survived the accident.
Lieutenant General Ukhcarawath Sithanaubol told AFP: "Rescue workers found his body at 9:25am near the accident site. His body was trapped among the rock. Rescue workers are bringing his body ashore by rubber boat now and we have called off the search operation."
The boats which are used to ferry tourists around the popular beaches in Thailand often lack sufficient number of life vests. The speedboats are also overcrowded because the companies try and squeeze as much profit as possible from every trip.
Police have charged the Thai vessel captain with negligence leading to deaths and injuries. In Thailand, such a crime carries up to 10 years in prison.
Thailand is known as "Land of Smiles", although its reputation has suffered in recent years due to a series of deadly bus and boat accidents, high profile crimes against foreigners and a decade of political instability.
But tourism remains one of the main sources of income for the kingdom and visitors keep coming to Thailand. According to the records, nearly 30 million people travelled to Thailand in 2015.
