A Danish man was found dead in his bedroom in a commercial building in Nakhon Si Thammarat late on Tuesday night, police said.

He was found by a worried friend who had not heard from him.

Police and a doctor were called to the man's room. The dead man was lying on a bed, wearing only a pair of yellow shorts. There were no signs of violence. His belongings appeared untouched and included a passport identifying him as a 66-year-old from Denmark.

He was an English teacher at a school in Nakhon Si Thammarat, police said.

Invstigators learned that the man had suffered from obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

A close friend said when they met two days previously the man complained he was not feeling well and would take a rest. He had not heard from him since.

On Tuesday night his concern for his friend led him to go to the man's room. The door was locked and there was no answer to his knocking. He decided to break into the room and there he found the man dead on the bed. He called the police.

The body was taken to hospital for an autopsy.