A heartbroken mum has paid tribute to her ‘water baby’ son who died on an infamous Thai island.
Robby Kinlan, a 21-year-old from Clare, Ireland, was found dead in his bed on the morning of January 9. A friend entered his room at Baan Tao Bungalo Resort in Koh Tao to discover him unresponsive wearing only his boxer shorts, lying with his mobile phone in his hand and earphones in. Efforts to resuscitate him sadly failed.
Now Robby’s ‘heartbroken’ family have paid tribute after his cause of death was revealed in an initial post-mortem. Thai authorities found he had died as a result of acute pulmonary cardiac failure.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, mum Tracy King said her son was in “a really good place mentally and his normal self” during his stay in Thailand, where he had picked up two diving qualifications. She added: “He was an absolute water baby since he started when he was 12 and he spent lots of time over in Lahinch and then went back to Inis Mór last summer. He just walked in one day and said, ‘I am going to Thailand, I have already booked the ticket’. It’s all he wanted to do.”
Robby’s family have launched a Gofundme appeal to have Robby’s body repatriated for burial. If they are unable to bring him home, they intend to have him cremated at a Buddhist Temple.
Koh Tao – despite its reputation for murders and mystery fatalities earning it the nickname ‘Death Island’ – draws in hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers a year, thanks to its thriving marine life and picturesque beaches. Many of them are young backpackers seeking out the local party scene. Last year, a British backpacker was found dead in a drain on the island after going missing on a pub crawl. In 2014, David Miller, 24, from Jersey, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, were bludgeoned to death on Koh Tao by Burmese nationals Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo.
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