The decomposed body of an unidentified dead man was found washed ashore in Pathiu district of Chumphon on Sunday.
The body was found on rocks along the beach by local fishermen, near a pier for tourist boats, about 5 kilometres from Koh Khai, police said.
The body was unclothed and most of the flesh was missing, leaving the legs, arms, head and skeleton. Police said the man had likely died a month or two ago. His identify was a mystery.
The remains were sent to Pathiu Hospital for closer examination.
Pol Capt Sayant Tumrawat, deputy investigation chief at Pathiu, said it was too early to say if the dead man was one of the missing sailors from HTMS Sukhothai, which sank during a storm in the sea off of Prachuap Khiri Khan in December.
The discovery of the body was reported to the navy.
HTMS Sukhothai sank in water about 50 metres deep roughly 19 nautical miles off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan's Bang Saphan district on the night of Dec 18.
There were 105 crew on board, of whom 76 were rescued, 24 were found dead and five remain missing.