An amateur photographer who discovered the body of a dead foreigner in an abandoned building on Friday was forced to take to social media to raise the alarm after police showed no interest in investigating the case.
ghost building: Belgian tourists look up at the deserted Sathon Unique Tower where Stig Johan Kristian Hammarsten, a 35-year-old Swedish national, was found hanged.
Nattawat Wasatient, the 33-year-old amateur photographer, was taking photos of the Bangkok landscape from the empty building on Friday when he noticed a foul smell and discovered the body of what turned out to be a Swede hanging in a toilet.
Mr Nattawat quickly left the building and tried to inform a nearby police station by calling 191, the police emergency line, several times. But police took no action and no officers were sent to the scene.
After going to his home, Mr Nattawat decided to post the story on the pantip.com website and called JS100, a radio station that does live traffic reports. The station then informed the Por Tek Tung Foundation about the body, which sent people to investigate. After finding the body the foundation called the Yannawa Police Station, which sent a forensics team to the site.
Police identified the man as Swedish national Stig Johan Kristian Hammarsten, 35, and said he was found in a toilet on the 43rd floor of the Sathon Unique Tower, a deserted and unfinished high-rise on Charoen Krung Road in Yannawa subdistrict.
Mr Hammarsten was found with a nylon rope around his neck and his body was in a state of decomposition. Police estimated he had died a week earlier.
In his wallet police found a Swedish driving permit, two credit cards and some business cards. Police also found a can of beer, a packet of cigarettes and an empty food container at the scene. The body was taken to the Police General Hospital for an autopsy. Officials have asked the Swedish embassy to notify relatives.