DATELINE: 20 January 2003

DIVING INSTRUCTOR HELD AS MURDER SUSPECT IN THAILAND

48-year-old Mark Storey, a diving instructor from Torquay, UK, has been arrested at Phuket airport after his Thai girlfriend was found fatally injured in the apartment they had shared.
Storey had moved to Thailand after selling his Torquay-based diving business two years ago. He was working in Thailand as a diving instructor, but appears to have decided to return home. His 30-year-old Thai girlfriend, Rattanaporn Pimkot had shared his apartment for three months. She was found by neighbours shortly after Storey left for the airport, and had apparently been strangled with a telephone cable and stabbed with a kitchen knife. Despite being taken to hospital, she died from her injuries.
Storey appeared in court at the weekend and was remanded in custody at Phuket police station. He has been visited by an official from the British Consul. No charges have yet been made.