My brother was found dead on Thai beach – cops say he drowned but eerie CCTV & bruises point to something more sinister

WHEN the heartbroken sister of Regan Kelly started piecing together her brother’s final movements after he was found dead on a Thai beach, alarm bells started ringing.

The Brit tourist’s death was quickly determined by police as a case of accidental drowning – but devastated Laurie Blackall is still battling for answers to some troubling questions. Why did CCTV show Regan running towards the beach? Why was he found naked apart from one sock? And why did an autopsy show mystery bruising on the 28-year-old’s head?

Regan, from Selsdon, South London, was found dead days into his trip with a friend to paradise island of Phuket, on January 3, 2024.

A year on, his sister Laurie spoke to The Sun about her efforts to find out what really happened to her brother, believing a series of clues point to foul play.

Laurie told The Sun: “I’m not pointing the finger at anybody, but I just don’t believe it’s as simple as they’re making out.”

Thai police quickly put the building surveyor’s death down to accidental drowning – but Laurie fears there’s more to it.

Mum-of-one Laurie is still trying to work out how her beloved brother ended up in the water naked – apart from one sock.

Such a tiny detail might be overlooked by many, but for Laurie, it’s the smoking gun that tells her someone else was involved in Regan’s death.

Laurie said: “My brother was very spiritual, and there is no way he would go in the sea with socks on.

“He’d say to me you’re creating a barrier between yourself and Mother Nature if you wear shoes or socks in the sea.”

More than 12 months on, Regan’s grief-stricken family are none the wiser about his final moments, and how he ultimately ended up in the sea.

Regan’s dad flew to Thailand with Laurie after his body was found, and they both still suspect there is more to the tragic case.

“Everyone keeps saying to me ‘you’re hanging on Laurie’,” she said.

“But the thing is, as his sister, I am going to scrutinise absolutely everything.

“Regan is still a part of my life – and I can’t just put it to bed.”

Tourist ‘death trap’

After celebrating Christmas with his family in 2024, Regan had planned to spend three months in Thailand travelling.

He was tragically found dead just days into his trip.

Laurie said after Regan and his pal had a disagreement, her brother sat with another man where they were staying at the Mad Monkey Hostel and “vented” to him.

CCTV shows Regan in animated conversation with the man, before they left the hostel’s bar and went in separate directions.

Laurie managed to track down the man from the footage, who told her Regan was upset after falling out with the friend he was travelling with.

She said: “Although it looked like they were having a heated conversation, I think it’s because Regan was just expressing his emotion of how he was feeling to this guy.

“Regan was really upset and couldn’t find his friend.”

Further CCTV footage then showed Regan running towards Patong beach – his last known movement.

But hours later, Regan’s body was found by a watersports instructor at around 10am.

A vital CCTV camera on the beach, Laurie believes, would have shown exactly how Regan ended up in the water, which was broken after being damaged in a sunbed fire.

Laurie said: “I have had so many messages on Facebook from people saying how dangerous the beach can be and how it can be quite a violent place at night.

“The amount of deaths that happen, especially in Thailand and Southeast Asia, is just incredible. It is insane. And that’s not in a positive way.

“It’s insane how many people lose their lives over there.”

With Thai police putting Regan’s death down to a tragic case of drowning, Laurie hoped autopsies would shed further light.

But despite one being done in the Southeast Asian country and another back in the UK, it has only cast more confusion over what happened.

Laurie said: “The autopsy said there were two areas of bruising on his head, which hasn’t really been explained to me.

“The Thai autopsy also noted that Regan had an appendix – but I know in 2019 he had it out, I was with him in hospital.

“But in the autopsy here, it doesn’t mention an appendix.”

Regan is still a part of my life – and I can’t just put it to bed

Laurie is now hoping an inquest in the UK, which is due to be scheduled this year, will finally give her a chance to ask pressing questions.

She has vowed to keep fighting for answers – even though she fears she may eventually be forced to accept that she will never find out the truth about her brother’s death.

“I’ve been so overwhelmed with it all, I got to the point where I had to just try and take a break from it.

“I want to keep looking, I want to go back to it with a clear head.”

Regan’s family spent a difficult first Christmas without him – but came together last week to mark the anniversary of his death.

Laurie said: “It was hard going into a new year without him, but it was lovely at the weekend [Jan 3].

“We went to Brighton beach and released lanterns – it didn’t go quite as I envisioned it but it was imperfectly perfect.

“A lot of them kept catching light as it was windy, I’m sure Regan would have been laughing.”

The Sun has contacted police in Phuket for comment.