Brit backpacker’s agony as boyfriend, 24, dies in horror fall from train while heading to Thailand’s ‘Death Island’
A BRIT backpacker has been left devastated after her boyfriend died after falling from a train on route to Thailand’s “Death Island”.
Shona Moragan, 22, from Northern Ireland, was travelling with Canadian Ryan Joseph Ralph, 24, when he fell from the overnight locomotive from Bangkok on March 20.
The couple, named by local media, were trying to reach the notorious Koh Tao island in the south of Thailand for a birthday trip when the tragedy struck.
A couple of hours into the journey, Ryan had left Shona sleeping while he went for a cigarette at the end of the carriage, where many have no doors or barriers.
The tourist, from Kingston, Ontario, is believed to have been injured in a fall from the train before being pulled briefly along the tracks.
He was found dead the next day on March 21, under a newly built platform at the Chet Samian Railway Station in Ratchaburi province.
Police believe that Ryan fell and was struck by part of the concrete platform while the train was still moving, before dragging himself underneath to escape the wheels.
They say he later passed out and died from blood loss.
Ryan had been travelling in Thailand since February 17 and Shona siad she flew into the country shortly after to celebrate his birthday with him.
Lt. Col. Rathnont Kasemchaisit of the Photharam Police said: “The dead man was shirtless, wearing brown shorts and a necklace, and lying on his back with severe injuries on both of his legs.
“He had in his pocket a wallet containing various documents and Thai banknotes.
“From the preliminary investigation, there were no traces of assault. We believe he had been dead for at least five hours.
“The Canadian did not die instantly. He managed to crawl under the platform, but died of blood loss later on.”
Shona said she became worried after she woke up an hour later and could not find or contact her boyfriend.
She disembarked from the train and notified officers at the nearest police station at around 10:30pm local time.
Authorities used the GPS tracker on Ryan’s phone to launch a search, scouring the 30km stretch of tracks from the Khlong Bang Tan Railway Station to the Ban Kluai Railway Station.
However, they failed to initially locate him.
As the search resumed the following morning, Photharam Police Station officers received a report that the body of a dead foreigner had been found at Chet Samian Railway Station.
Police arrived at the scene, where they found dried blood on the side of the platform and on gravel.
In the gap under the platform, Ryan was discovered splayed out on the dirt.
A pair of headphones, a smartphone, and sandals believed to belong to the deceased were also found nearby.
Cambodian rail worker, Makala, 23, the man who discovered the body, said he often slept under the platform during his breaks.
He added he was shocked and ran to inform his boss when he found the Canadian’s corpse that day.
He said: “The person was lying down, so I thought he was sleeping at first. When I took a closer look, he was not breathing. I was scared so I rushed to inform my supervisor about it.”
Authorities said that Ryan may have been struck on the leg by the platform, which had insufficient lighting and was only around 50cm away from the train tracks.
Ryan’s body was taken to the Forensic Institute for a post-mortem examination.
Police said they had given the details to the Canadian Embassy to inform his relatives of his death.
Thailand’s ageing trains have become notorious for their poor safety standards.
In 2014, Matt Lawlor, 19, died during his gap year trip in Thailand when he fell from a train on the same route from Bangkok to the south of the country to visit the island Koh Phangnan.
He was reportedly leaning from the open door to have a cigarette at the time.
In February 2017, British backpacker Daniel Clarke, 20, was left in intensive care after falling from a moving train on the same journey as the vehicle passed through Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand.
While in January last year, Irish national Patrick Ward, 45, tragically died after falling from a moving train in Kanchanaburi. He was reportedly trying to take a selfie at the time.
Koh Tao was dubbed Death Island following the murders of British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in 2014. Dozens of other cases of tourist deaths have since emerged.
Authors, documentary makers and researchers have blamed corrupt Thai police and a powerful clique of local families that control the island for covering up the murders in order to protect the lucrative tourism industry.
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