A British tourist is being investigated after a Thai sex worker was found dead in his hotel room.
Bearach Beataidh, 71, from County Down, Northern Ireland, was reportedly seen kissing and holding hands with Duangta Khampongsom, 45, at a guesthouse in Pattaya, Thailand, on December 18.
The city is dubbed the sex capital of the world and is a popular beach resort 93 miles southeast of Bangkok.
Mr Beataidh allegedly appears on CCTV exiting a room at the guesthouse on December 22. Caretaker, Prayoon Chinsai, 57, contacted the police after smelling a foul odour coming from the room on the same date.
He knocked on the door, but when no one answered he let himself in and found the woman’s decomposing body on the bed.
Thai police visited a bar at Jomtien Beach near the guesthouse and found the British tourist, who reportedly said he didn’t know the woman was dead.
Police Captain, Puttharak Sonkhamhan, from Pattaya City Police Station, said officers have been questioning Mr Beataidh.
Mr Sonkhamhan said the woman had been dead for at least three days and her body had started to decay, giving off a foul smell throughout the room.
He added she was wearing only denim shorts and nothing on her upper half. An inspection of the room found no signs of a struggle or of its being ransacked, according to the officer.
The policeman said: “It would be hard not to notice she was dead as her body was already decomposing. There was also fluid and blood on the bed.”
Mr Beataidh told police he invited Ms Khampongsom to stay in his room after she was allegedly attacked by an unknown assailant on December 18.
CCTV footage shared by local police shows a woman, believed to be Ms Khampongsom, behind a man in a corridor at the guesthouse on December 18.
Mr Beataidh has denied hurting or killing Ms Khampongsom, whom a former co-worker, named only as Pim, said had a drinking problem.
A bar owner, who only gave the name Kaew, said the woman was an alcoholic and a “regular heavy drinker”.
Her cause of death has yet to be determined. Police Captain Puttharak said forensic officers have been collecting fingerprints and DNA as the investigation continues.
