The body of a missing Ukrainian woman was found on the resort island of Samui on Sunday, police said

Police said the dead woman was found by Uthen Ruangnon, 47, a hotel employee.

Mr Uthen said that on Friday he was out looking for mushrooms about 30 metres from a local road linking Lamai and Mae Nam villages.

He noticed a foul smell, walked to a nearby ditch and saw something like a human leg in the water, but did not dare take a closer look. 

He went back home and told his wife and some friends what he saw. On Sunday, they went together to take a better look. They found it was the body of a dead woman.

Police found a decaying body, with some bones partly visible. The woman was estimated to have been dead 15-17 days. A backpack was found near the body, containing 700 baht cash, some medicines, a phone charger and earphones. 

Shortly afterwards, a Ukrainian man, Dimas Frolova, 40, a freelance photographer, viewed the body and confirmed it was his wife Olha Frolova, 32, who had been missing since May 25.

Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Frolova said he and Olha had been married for 12 years and had a son. They had been living on Samui about five years.

During the past year his wife had met another foreign man. Two months ago she left him and went to stay with her new boyfriend, taking their son with her. Olha had contacted a lawyer and they were preparing documents to file for a divorce, he said.

During the past two months, she had visited him several times. She sometimes left their son with him.

On May 25 she visited him and left their son in his care, saying she would return to pick him up later.

Mr Frolova said he waited until May 29. She had still not returned so he filed a missing person report with police and asked them to look for her.

Police said the woman's death had been reported to the Ukrainian embassy. The body was taken to Koh Samui Hospital for an autopsy.

Police were investigating.