The sister of a British tourist whose body washed up on a beach in Thailand earlier this year believes he was ‘murdered’, she has claimed in a new documentary about the ‘dark side’ of the tourist destination.
Regan Kelly, 28, from south London, had just arrived in Phuket for a month-long holiday and travelled to nearby Patong Beach for a New Year’s Eve party last December.
The building surveyor from Selsdon went missing in the early hours of January 3 before his naked body was discovered in the water the following morning at 10am.
Nine months later, his grieving family is still searching for answers about what happened to Regan – who was last seen running towards the beach after a ‘confrontration’ with a ‘muscly tourist’ at his hotel in chilling CCTV footage – that fateful night.
His elder sister Laurie told Zara McDermott she believes Regan’s death ‘wasn’t an accident’ – while criticising the local police force’s investigation – during an emotional interview for the Love Island star’s new BBC documentary about Thailand.
Speaking from the UK, Laurie said she didn’t believe Regan had drowned while swimming because ‘he had a sock on his foot’ when he was found.
‘He would never have entered that sea with a sock on his foot,’ Regan’s heartbroken sister told Zara. ‘It just never would have happened.’
Laurie has also alleged Thailand’s tourist police told her and her father to stop their own investigation because ‘we are stirring up a hornet’s nest’ – claims the force has denied.
The sister of British tourist Regan Kelly, whose body washed up on a beach in Thailand earlier this year, believes he was ‘murdered’. Pictured: Regan Kelly’s older sister Laurie, in conversation with Zara McDermott in a scene from her new BBC documentary Thailand: The Dark Side of Paradise
Regan, a building surveyor from Selsdon, went missing in the early hours of January 3 before his body was discovered in the water the following morning at 10am. He was 28
In Thailand: The Dark Side of Paradise, Zara, 28, travels to the popular tourist destination on a quest to reconcile its two sides – its idyllic beaches and vibrant culture, with the seedy underbelly of drugs and sex work.
In the final episode of the three-part docuseries, Zara meets Laurie as she investigates the dangers of partying in Thailand while recounting cases of British tourists who have paid the ‘ultimate price’.
Among them was Regan, an ‘experienced traveller’ who had visited south east Asia before.
Laurie, who remembered Regan as ‘the most beautiful person’ in an interview with The Daily Mail, became emotional when she told Zara about the events leading up to the discovery of Regan’s body on January 4.
She revealed he made it to Patong Beach for the New Year’s Eve party and sent his family pictures of all the ‘fabulous’ sights and sounds until he suddenly went quiet – and their own messages to him went undelivered.
‘Myself and my dad had texted Regan and it was only one tick,’ she said. ‘After the second day, we was just growing even more concerned, and we were trying to post on socials that Regan’s missing.
‘And then obviously discovered that Regan had been found in the sea,’ Laurie said, her voice breaking.
Footage from the bar of the Mad Monkey Hostel, where Regan had been staying, showed him talking to a man for several hours before the conversation began to get ‘increasingly heated’, Regan’s family previously said.
His elder sister Laurie told Zara McDermott she believes Regan’s death ‘wasn’t an accident’ – while criticising the local police force’s investigation – during an emotional interview for the Love Island star’s new BBC documentary about Thailand
In January, Laurie told this newspaper that the footage showed her brother got up and left abruptly, heading towards Patong beach, before the ‘muscly’ man followed him seconds later.
CCTV footage from a hotel closer to the seafront then showed Regan running, with the unknown man following him some 15 seconds after, she said. The video, shared with the family by police, then cut off.
‘What happens on that beach after, I don’t know, because I’ve had lots of messages warning me it can be quite a violent place at night – especially the early hours of the morning,’ Laurie told Zara in the new BBC programme.
At 10am the next day, a watersports instructor found a naked body face down in the water off Patong beach. Police sent photos to Regan’s family, who had reported him missing, and his identity was confirmed.
When Zara, who also investigated the rise of sex tourism among young British men travelling to Thailand, asked Laurie what she made of the police investigation into her brother’s death, she said simply: ‘I wouldn’t call it much of an investigation.’
She felt Patong Provincial Police, which investigated the case, ruled it an accident to avoid ‘putting tourists off’ but added: ‘I feel like somebody knows what happened to Regan but they’re just not sharing.’
They allegedly did not return the production team’s request for comment.
In a chilling moment, Laurie, who travelled with her father to Thailand to try and find out what happened to Regan, told Zara: ‘I believe my brother was murdered.’
Laurie, who remembered Regan (above) as ‘the most beautiful person’ in an interview with The Daily Mail, became emotional when she told Zara about the events leading up to the discovery of Regan’s body on January 4
She revealed he made it to Patong Beach for the New Year’s Eve party and sent his family pictures of all the ‘fabulous’ sights and sounds until he suddenly went quiet – and their own messages to him went undelivered
The interview ended with Laurie admitting she still has ‘so many more questions’ before making a gutwrenching confession as she told Zara: ‘I feel like I’ve come back from Thailand and it’s completely changed me as a person
While Laurie previously told the Daily Mail she was open to the idea that his death was an accident, a tiny – but vital – clue has left her convinced something worse happened to Regan that fateful night.
‘It wasn’t an accident because when he was found he had a sock on his foot and he would never have entered that sea with a sock on his foot. It just never would have happened,’ she explained.
While she doesn’t know what happened in those final hours before Regan’s death, Laurie said she was able to track down the watersports instructor who first found Regan’s body.
He told Laurie how he ‘drove out on the jet ski’ to Regan and ‘held his hand’ the way back to the shore.
‘That was hard,’ Laurie, looking visibly upset, said.
The interview ended with Laurie admitting she still has ‘so many more questions’ before making a gutwrenching confession as she told Zara: ‘I feel like I’ve come back from Thailand and it’s completely changed me as a person.
‘I can’t see how I’m ever going to get my head around it.’
