A Phitsanulok fisherman was shocked to discover he had caught the body of a young university student on Tuesday morning.

Naret Saenhansirikul, 58, told police he was fishing in the Nan River when his hook seemed to catch on a log under the water.

He pulled on the line and was shocked to see he had hooked a young woman's body by her clothing.

Police said the body was dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans amd was identified as a 21-year-old from Phichit province who studied at a university in Phitsanulok.

It was inititally estimated she had been dead about eight hours.

The dead woman's relatives were called to the scene. Her friends told them the young woman had gone with them to a pub ion Monday night and they left together when it closed.

They were traveling in their car back to their dormitory when the woman asked them to stop on the bridge, saying that she would get out and wait there for her boyfriend.

After getting out of the vehicle, the woman said goodbye and dove into the river. The friends tried to find her under the bridge and called rescue workers for help, but to no avail.

The found no sign of their missing friend until the fisherman reeled in her body on Tuesday morning.

Her family told police that she suffered from depression.