SAMUT PRAKAN: A reclusive German monk was found dead in an set-apart house at Wat Asokaram in Muang district on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Pol Lt Col Wuthi Puthipanon, a Muang police investigator, said the discovery of the body was reported about 4pm.
Police and rescue workers sent to the scene found Phra Inko Muller, 80, dead in a house for monks in a mangrove forest by the Chao Phraya River.
There were no signs of violence. He was estimated to have died three days previously.
The body was sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for autopsy.
Monks at the temple told police that Inko had ordained as a monk and had stayed at the temple for about 28 years. He was reclusive, staying away from other monks, with a hoard of used bottles and other trash he collected.
On Tuesday afternoon, they asked an assistant village chief to take a look after having not seen him for several days. The man found Inko dead in the house.