This story is actually a few days old.At first it was thought the poor old guy had taken his own life but now its not so sure.......RIP.

PHITSANULOK: -- Police are keeping an open mind in the death of a British pensioner found dead in the Nan River in downtown Phitsanulok on Friday of last week.  
They are working on several theories - suicide, accident or foul play.  
Though later yesterday after his wife was interviewed another possibility came to light - changes in the way the British government pay pensions may have led to the man taking his own life in despair.  
Phitsanulok police were called yesterday when Trevor Roberts, 74, was found floating face up in the river. He had been dead about two hours, reported Thai Rath.  
There was a driving license in his pocket, 2,640 baht in cash, a house key and car keys for a Mitsubishi. He was wearing a watch and carrying an appointment card for a visit to the Krung Thep Phitsanulok Hospital.  
There was no sign of his Mitsubishi car nearby.  
There were no signs of attack on the body but there was a bruise on his right arm.  
Police contacted the younger sister of his wife called Phuangthong Nuanjan, 59, who said that Mr Roberts was a former language teacher at a college in the area and had been in town about ten years and was now retired.  
He usually stayed home with his wife, her elder sister, but occasionally went to visit foreign friends in his car. He used to drink but had given up nearly a year ago, she said.  
She said she had been to visit the couple only last Tuesday when her sister had told her that the couple had been arguing lately. Mr Roberts had been complaining that he was in financial difficulty because his pension was less than before due to some British government changes in the way it was paid.  
Apparently the wife did not accept this and suggested that her husband might be spending money on a woman on the side and this led to them arguing frequently.  
Police got the sister to contact the wife, Pratheuang Roberts, to inform her what had happened.  
Later Mrs Roberts told police that her husband had said two days ago that he wanted to die. She thought nothing of it at the time.  
Yesterday at 7.30 she went to town to do some business and when she returned at 9am her husband had already gone out in his car.  
She thought he had gone to see friends. The next thing she heard was when her sister called to say he had been found floating in the river.  
Phitsanulok cops are hunting for the victim's car. They are as yet unsure as to whether he jumped in the river, had an accident involving his car or someone else was involved in his death.  
Police have sent the body for a detailed autopsy as investigations continue.

This from a friend on Thai Visa forum......
Posted Friday at 05:25 PM
"I knew Trevor, although I had not seen him for a while.
As far as I was aware, he had no financial worries and his wife was gonna be well taken care of after his death. 
To be fair, having met his wife a couple of times, I would've jumped in the river a long time ago. She's a nasty vindictive piece of work. However; this was not his style.
Anyone who knew him would tell you that to suggest he had a bit of spare is absolutely ludicrous. And this coming from his wife's family.
Draw your own conclusions
RIP my friend "

Don't want to be a detective on this one but.natural causes.dont think there's much chance of that being found floating in a river.suicide due to pension probs,money troubles.not much chance on that one.if he had a car and I presume a house and probably 1-2 pensions it's very unlikely as he didn't drink so living would be very cheap for him.accident,well this might be one theory but you have to ask yourself what was he doing down by a river all alone without a fishing rod.now the murder one.well it's convenient that the wife was out shopping all day when they have supposed money problems and it gives her the alibi needed.maybe she was shopping for a dress for the funeral.the only thing that is in her favour is that there wasn't any major injuries to his body.as his friend pointed out she's not the best of her species and accuses him of having another woman so obviously paranoid,twisted and vindictive.i think it's a sad story that a man works all his life and ends up the other side of the world floating in in a river.i just pray that one day my daughter doesn't get news of me ending my life like this poor soul has.as a farang and the inquiries will be undertaken by the keystone cops I think unless she slips up it will be down to the old suicide jobbie.

There haven't been any changes in the way that British pensions are paid either to banks in Thailand or within the UK, that I know of. There would have been a reduction in the amount received when exchanged from sterling into baht, as a result of the fall in the value of sterling over the last 11 months (since the Brexit vote). That wouldn't have been huge. All sounds a bit suspicious to me, particularly in view of what he had in his pockets, - meaning it doesn't sound like a suicide.

arjay wrote:There would have been a reduction in the amount received when exchanged from sterling into baht, as a result of the fall in the value of sterling over the last 11 months (since the Brexit vote). That wouldn't have been huge.

I would agree that the Government has done nothing itself to alter UK pensions.
However the drop by 20% in value of those pensions due to the exchange rate slump after the Brexit vote is hardly insignificant!!

Maybe he just had enough of that woman and couldn't see anyway out without her stripping him of all he's worked for.at 74 with probably a home to lose and nowhere or future he couldn't face it but what a way to end things by throwing yourself in the river.

Phitsanulok cops are hunting for the victim's car.

Where's the car? seems to be a small piece of the story that is missing.

I agree Barney.
They state the keys were in his pocket.
I would be asking where the spare keys are ??

a sorry incident altogether.My thoughts go out to the family.

Drowning ( if that is the case) is not easy to do oneself, unless one cant swim.
would be interested if the Death Cert / autopsy report states drowning, or something other like suffocated
No details of why he had a hospital appointment.
the bruise on his arm can be significant in the circumstances.
I would question whether there was a second set of keys for the missing car too, ( cars are worth abit )
and if he had a cellphone, and where is it.

I would be interested in any further info on this case if it comes to hand.

I did think aways back, when the currency took a dive, that it would see some on the breadline having to leave, or getting into difficulty, but something just doesnt ring true now on that excuse..

Death from drowning is sometimes quite easy to identify at Post Mortem, particularly as the deceased was found up to 2 hours later.

The lungs will be dry, as the deceased gets a laryngeal spasm, which blocks off the airway and you die from hypoxia / asphixiation etc.

Lungs full of fresh water, indicate the possibility of death prior to being immersed in the water.

Fresh water drowning is also quite different to Salt Water drowning. Total different physiology.

Microscopic examination of the red blood cells could indicate the changes that occur during a fresh water immersion when your still alive etc....

Many deaths occur from drowning when males urinate on the edge of the river, lake etc, especially if alcohol intake has occured, and the fact that your " Fly / Zipper " is open is also accepted by the Coroner to assist in their findings when no suspicious circumstances are indicated.

BobHelm wrote:

arjay wrote:There would have been a reduction in the amount received when exchanged from sterling into baht, as a result of the fall in the value of sterling over the last 11 months (since the Brexit vote). That wouldn't have been huge.

I would agree that the Government has done nothing itself to alter UK pensions.
However the drop by 20% in value of those pensions due to the exchange rate slump after the Brexit vote is hardly insignificant!!

You Hit the Nail right on the head,There Bob !!

Greetings As you can imagine Trevor's death is a total shock to all who knew him. I last spoke to him before Christmas and understood that he had packed up drinking and was enjoying retirement. together with a mutual friend in the UK we are determined to unravel the reality and the wholesome truth of his death. Questions as follows are relevant. Has his car been located? How was his wife's sister presented at the riverside pontoon., Did she just appear or was she contacted? Where is Trevor's mobile phone? What "" business " was Trevor's wife attending to in the evening? I am not trying to br a poor mans Shetlock Holmes but we,all of his old friends need to know. We loved little Trevor he was a great raconteur humorous sarcastic and part of our social group back in the UK. His death is still shrouded in mystery and we hope somebody can follow up on my requests. We all doubt he would suddenly terminate his own life. Was he hiding an ailment from everybody? We await your investigations. RIZp Trev.

having been involved in a number of these things here before, can I just outline Geez, that the wheels of whatever here, turn oh so slowly, and that some things, and places are off limits, so the search for answers can be a long road. Rocking up and asking questions can half the time get a blank stare..and so on and so on...do you catch my drift.? If you can get hold of a family member then you can approach the embassy, and they will tell you the hospital he was taken to, they may get an autopsy report and death cert with the aid of the embassy, and from there you can preen some answers..other than that you need to be on the ground, and even then local people dont like to squeal if it wasnt an accident..to much to loose...get the offical report and take it from there..have family ask about the car and phone and things and see what reply you get...I am interested in this one, but am hours away, and cannot do much at this stage...view Thaivisa.com and here, and google mystery death phitsanlock form time to time as other tit bits of info come from these sources...

Geez, if you have his cell phone number then call it, but tape record any voice that may pick up...keep it for later..

Car missing,wife away when this happened,sister turning up at the scene,pals saying enjoying retirement and don't seem the type of bloke to commit suicide.no reason for him to be at the water.if I was a pal from phutsanulok I would be personally involved to find out more.i know which way my fingers starting to point.another question is how much has the wife got to gain out of this and if the sister is on something she may well be the weak link.as for the police doing something like a thourogh investigation,well we all know what they are like.lets see what the outcome of this mystery.

747man wrote:

BobHelm wrote:

arjay wrote:There would have been a reduction in the amount received when exchanged from sterling into baht, as a result of the fall in the value of sterling over the last 11 months (since the Brexit vote). That wouldn't have been huge.

I would agree that the Government has done nothing itself to alter UK pensions.
However the drop by 20% in value of those pensions due to the exchange rate slump after the Brexit vote is hardly insignificant!!

You Hit the Nail right on the head,There Bob !!

I said "not huge". My point was that I doubted that that would be enough to cause someone to commit suicide!

GeezinMelbourne, if you go to www.farang deaths there is a video of the find, and wifey being there...and there are other comments from a bloke who supposedly knew him for 40yrs, that he had health problems from smoking...also that the wife's previous Scots husband topped himself too...apparently the wifes sister just turned up and introduced herself to police, but whether someone recognised Trev and phoned her, is anyones guess...this is all heresay, facts are what you want..
nothing about the car yet, but he appeared well dressed, even still had his shoes on, and as if he was off to his hospital appointment, if it was on that same day..maybe he had been there and got bad news..maybe his car is in the hospital carpark

The wife sounds like the angel of death.

heres a photo of trevor from the trip to ko samet in the 80s .he would have wanted a last roll call ..
his lungs were in a bad way from years of smoking so that may have caused him to jump .we never heard from lek his wife abut his demise...trevor is seen with mac a gal from a pattaya bar on the boat over to samet

This may sound cynical, BUT, all men married to Thai women should have a plan "B". That plan "B" should allow you to never be trapped in Issan. Few things could be worse that living with a bitchy Thai woman with no way out except suicide. That said, this sounds somewhat fishy.

lek was no trouble as she had her own house and taught english with a jock accent ..she was a tad nutty like most thai women though..knowing her and him i dont have any suspicions