What happened to my dead brother?
James Hughes was found dead in a Hua Hin hotel room on Sept 6 after having disappeared on Aug 5. He was 58 and his cause of death was given as "circulatory failure". But when brother David Hughes received an autopsy report a month later, he was convinced that something major was being covered up.
The results showed that the American lecturer, who taught at Webster University Thailand (WUT), sustained several bruises from head to toe and an internal bruise in the occipital region of his head.
"He was beaten badly and I am sure he died from these injuries, definitely," David Hughes told Spectrum in a telephone interview from New York.
The hotel where James Hughes died was located in a bar district near Hua Hin police station and only a block and a half away from the savage attack on a British family during the Songkran holiday in April. That assault, captured by overhead security cameras and posted on social media, sparked outrage over its brutality.
"This is a faulty police, embassy and Thai government issue and cover-up," said David Hughes. "It's like with the British couple that was beaten in Hua Hin. They [Thai authorities] didn't want that to get out there, I'm sure. It kills tourism."
Two months after James Hughes' death, police closed the case, saying there was no evidence pointing to murder. But friends and relatives are urging authorities to investigate what they say is a likely murder.
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