Popular Eastbourne man dies in Thailand

Dale Andrews, 56, was found dead at his home in Bangkok on December 10 2019.

An inquest at Eastbourne Town Hall on Thursday (December 10), heard that Mr Andrews, a teacher who had moved to Thailand 16 years ago, was planning to move back to the UK in spring this year.

Mr Andrews’ family said that he had never shared any medical conditions with them and was in ‘good health’ when he spoke to them via video call on December 6.

A statement from his family said, “He was an outgoing person, he always seemed happy. We find it so hard to understand how Dale could die.”

Post mortem documents from the Thai authorities concluded that Mr Andrews died due to respiratory and circulatory failure, the inquest heard.

The inquest was told a colleague and friend of Mr Andrews, Michael Rogalla, found him on December 10. He said he had been ‘his usual happy self’ the previous day and he had gone to the flat because Mr Andrews had failed to turn up for work.

Mr Rogalla had tested positive for Covid-19 and assumed that Mr Andrews could have caught it from him.

However, East Sussex coroner James Healy-Pratt said, “There is evidence to suggest Covid was in Thailand last December, but no evidence to prove Mr Andrews had contracted Covid himself.”

Mr Healy-Pratt ruled that Mr Andrews’ death was due to natural causes.

He said, “It could have been a cardiac arrest of some sorts, we just don’t know, but something happened that led the Thai authorities to say it was lung and heart related but we don’t know what.”