THE family of a 27-year- old Durban man who had been found strangled on a beach in Phuket are at their wits’ end on what to do as they are struggling to get information out of authorities.
All that the Robson family knows is that their son is dead.The location of 27-year- old Mark Robson’s body or the circumstances surrounding his death in Phuket remained a mystery yesterday as the Durban family begged for answers from Thai authorities.
“There is a lot going on at the moment and we do not even know where the body is. Thai authorities have been giving us a run around. All we know is that the body is in one of the police stations,” Robson’s sister Cathy said yesterday.
Robson’s parents, Merneen and Keith identified their son’s body from a photograph of a body that was found on Freedom Beach in Phuket in January.
Robson had arrived in Thailand on December 5 and was expected to fly to Taipei on February 6 to teach English.His mother became concerned when the last email she had received from him was on January 15.She then contacted the Phuket Tourist Police Foreign Volunteers Group which forwarded Robson’s photograph to media houses in the area.
The Phuket Gazette news editor noted a resemblance between Robson and the body that was found on the beach on January 25.
On Sunday Merneen updated her Facebook status: “Our darling son Mark had been missing in Thailand and we were informed last night (Saturday) that his body had been found (strangled) in Phuket on either January 25 or 26. We had seen him over there for a few days while on holiday in January but lost e-mail contact after January 15.
We are absolutely devastated to have lost our very special boy.” Robson’s family were told by the Phuket Gazette that Thai police detectives suspected that the man on the beach had been strangled and was found in a seated position with bruises on his back.
Cathy yesterday said her family was taking strain as they were uncertain about travelling to Phuket to identify the body. “We just don’t know what to do next. We can’t even think about funeral arrangements right now because fingerprints still have to be taken and we are getting no help from the Thai authorities,” she said.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesman Clayson Monyela said the South African government has appealed to Thai authorities to speed up the process.
“We were notified about the incident. It’s a long process that needs to be done involving paperwork from that country linking the identification. But I can feel the frustration of the family on the issue. We are positive that the matter will be resolved soon and we are hoping that by the end of the day (yesterday) everything will be in order. We will be working with the family until the end,” he said. — Additional reporting by Nivashni Nair
Durban man found dead in Thailand
THE family of a 27-year- old Durban man who had been found strangled on a beach in Phuket are at their wits’ end on what to do as they are struggling to get information out of authorities.
All that the Robson family knows is that their son is dead.The location of 27-year- old Mark Robson’s body or the circumstances surrounding his death in Phuket remained a mystery yesterday as the Durban family begged for answers from Thai authorities.
“There is a lot going on at the moment and we do not even know where the body is. Thai authorities have been giving us a run around. All we know is that the body is in one of the police stations,” Robson’s sister Cathy said yesterday.
Robson’s parents, Merneen and Keith identified their son’s body from a photograph of a body that was found on Freedom Beach in Phuket in January.
Robson had arrived in Thailand on December 5 and was expected to fly to Taipei on February 6 to teach English.His mother became concerned when the last email she had received from him was on January 15.She then contacted the Phuket Tourist Police Foreign Volunteers Group which forwarded Robson’s photograph to media houses in the area.
The Phuket Gazette news editor noted a resemblance between Robson and the body that was found on the beach on January 25.
On Sunday Merneen updated her Facebook status: “Our darling son Mark had been missing in Thailand and we were informed last night (Saturday) that his body had been found (strangled) in Phuket on either January 25 or 26. We had seen him over there for a few days while on holiday in January but lost e-mail contact after January 15.
We are absolutely devastated to have lost our very special boy.” Robson’s family were told by the Phuket Gazette that Thai police detectives suspected that the man on the beach had been strangled and was found in a seated position with bruises on his back.
Cathy yesterday said her family was taking strain as they were uncertain about travelling to Phuket to identify the body. “We just don’t know what to do next. We can’t even think about funeral arrangements right now because fingerprints still have to be taken and we are getting no help from the Thai authorities,” she said.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesman Clayson Monyela said the South African government has appealed to Thai authorities to speed up the process.
“We were notified about the incident. It’s a long process that needs to be done involving paperwork from that country linking the identification. But I can feel the frustration of the family on the issue. We are positive that the matter will be resolved soon and we are hoping that by the end of the day (yesterday) everything will be in order. We will be working with the family until the end,” he said. — Additional reporting by Nivashni Nair
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