Police: Diver found with throat slit off Thai beach resort was Russian national

THAI police investigating the case of a man found with his throat slit and tied to a post in the sea have made a key discovery.

A western man whose throat was slit has been found tied to a concrete pole in the ocean near Samae Beach in Thailand. Picture: YouTube

A DIVER found with his throat slashed and tied to a post in the middle of the sea near a seedy Thai beach resort may be Russian, police said Monday.

The body, in a full wetsuit and flippers, was found on Friday tethered to a mooring post dozens of metres out to sea off Samae Beach on Koh Larn — an island near the sleazy, crime-ridden beach town of Pattaya.

The macabre case has baffled detectives who say they are unable to ascertain how he died.

“The initial autopsy found his throat was slashed ... but the forensic doctor said it could have happened by suicide or by someone cutting him,” Pattaya police colonel Apichai Krobpetch told AFP.

The body was found just a short boat ride from Pattaya — a town notorious for its go-go bars and links with organised crime. Picture: Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images

“We believe he could be Russian ... there are witnesses who said they heard him earlier speaking Russian,” he said, adding they were seeking consular help to identify the man.

The 33-year-old Cambodian jetski driver who found the body told police he had been circling around the area to warn tourists against riding in the rocky area of the beach, Asia One reports.

Koh Larn is a short boat ride from Pattaya — a town located a few hours south of Bangkok and notorious for its go-go bars and links with organised crime.

The town is popular with Russian holiday-makers, who are met with Russian-speaking staff in some hotels and menus and street signs written in their language.

But its permissive atmosphere and sprawling red light district also hides a dark side.

Pattaya is infamous as a bolthole for criminals from across the world, including Russian underworld figures.