On April 26 at 11 a.m. Vice Admiral Khant Thongpoon, commander of Royal Thai Navy Region 1 in Sattahip, ordered 3 scuba divers to search for a Russian tourist who had gone missing while swimming in the sea about 3 nautical miles south of Koh Kram Noi off the coast of Sattahip.
The next day, on April 27, officials of the Sawang Rojanatham rescue unit received a report that the body of Russian tourist Oleg Peminiaka, 37, was spotted by Long Kruafoon, a teacher at the Pattaya Flying School who flew his para-glider in search of the missing person.
A Navy search and rescue team scours the horizon for signs of the missing Russian tourist.
The Russian tourist’s body was found on the rocks on the east side of the island about 500 meters from the spot where he was last seen.
Rescue workers transported the body to Bang Saray village before sending it to the forensic department of the Police Hospital for an autopsy.
Later, Long Kruafoon, accompanied by a colleague of the missing person, went to see the police with the deceased person’s passport to verify the identity of the body found. It was noticed that the dead person was wearing a Casio watch on his left wrist and a black woven band on his right wrist, which verified the identity of the corpse.
Pol. Capt Athorn Jitrthin, the officer in charge of the case said that they must wait for the results of the autopsy to determine the cause of the lacerations on Peminiaka’s face and shoulders. It could either be wounds inflicted by a person or could have been caused by the body being smashed against the rocks on which he was found.
Officials are now trying to locate the relatives of the deceased to inform them of the tragedy and to take back the body for religious rites.
