58 Year-old Swiss National Philipp Leonhard Halter Found in Hua Hin Ravine

HUA HIN – The Royal Thai Police have reported that authorities have recovered the body of a 58 year-old Swiss man from a ravine at about 8.20pm in the south central Thailand, Saturday.

Police in Hua Hin were notified by monks at Wat Khao Sanam Chai temple temple in Hua Hin after they found a scooter on a road leading to the top of a mountain close to the monastery.

Monks also told police that they noticed a strong, bad smell around the area near the temple over the past few days.

In a search, a team of police and rescuers from a local charity foundation found the swollen body of a man lying face up in a bamboo forest in the ravine. He was believed to have been dead for a several days.

The man was later identified as Philipp Leonhard Halter, 58, a Swiss national. The rescuers spent more than two hours removing the body from the bamboo forest.

Several days earlier, Wilawan Warachina, 42, the Thai wife of the Swiss man, filed a complaint with Hua Hin police, saying that her husband had disappeared from their house in Soi Hua Hin 102 after leaving on a white Yamaha  motorcycle. She said her husband was suffering from depression.

The police found the motorcycle on top of a hill overlooking the ravine.

It was initially believed that the man had driven up the hill for a routine sightseeing trip and might have accidentally slipped and fallen from the hilltop down the ravine, about 20-30 metres below.

After spending more than two hours removing his body from the bamboo forest, it was transported to Police General Hospital in Bangkok to undergo a postmortem examination.

Police said they will notify the Swiss Embassy.