The body of a man was found inside an electrical utility box on a footpath in Min Buri district of Bangkok on Thursday.
Police at the Min Buri station were alerted about the discovery of the body in front of OneHome, a construction materials shop near the Rom Klao intersection, at about 7.20am, said Pol Lt Anukul Chanchek, deputy investigation chief of the station.
Police, forensic officers, a doctor and and rescue workers went to the scene to investigate. They found an old utility box, 45cm wide and 100cm high, with its cover opened.
At the base of the box was a hole about 40cm wide and one metre deep. The team saw a corpse lying on its back, with the right hand holding an electrical wire. A foul odour was spreading.
Police asked the Metropolitan Electricity Authority to cut off the power so that they could retrieve the body safely. Rescue workers then used tools to remove the box and the cement around the hole before they managed to bring the body out.
The man, wearing a black T-shirt and blue shorts, was believed to have died two or three days earlier. A small pack of tobacco, a lighter and a 20-baht banknote were found in his pocket.
Panadda Ngokngam, 44, a street cleaner with the Min Buri district office, said she smelled a bad odour from the utility box while sweeping leaves at the Rom Klao intersection at about 6.40am on Thursday. When she went to check, she saw the body and immediately contacted traffic police at a nearby booth.
Pol Col Krit Komnoi, chief of the Min Buri police station, said it was initially unclear how the man died.
He believed the man might have gone into the box and been unable to climb up, or he might have died from an electric shock.
Police are examining security video from cameras in the area to see if they can learn more. The body was sent for autopsy to find out the exact cause of death, said the station chief.