The devastated wife of a British-Australian tourist who fell overboard during a speedboat trip in May is begging for her husband’s body to be recovered.
Dual-national Wesley Bate, 42, was flung from a vessel in the waters around Koh Samui island in Thailand on May 15.
The ship’s captain said Mr Bate and his four friends ignored repeated warnings not to sit on the bow of the boat without life-jackets.
Mr Bate’s wife Davina said she was desperate for his body to be found and returned to Australia.
‘It is devastating that he has not been found and remains ”missing”,’ Mrs Bate said.
‘The police continue their criminal investigations and I await the outcome, which I believe could take months.’
The family are liaising with the Australian Consulate for more support to help find Mr Bate (far right)
Dual-national Wesley Bate, 42, was flung from a vessel in the waters around Koh Samui island (pictured) in Thailand on May 15
Thai officials search the waters for the group – his body has not yet been recovered
Mrs Bate circulated her husband’s photo to local hospitals and fishermen in hopes someone would have located him to bring his body back.
‘He deserves to be found and be repatriated,’ Mrs Bate said.
The boat’s skipper Chaktham Jaijong, 23, said he asked the group of four men and one woman to move to the passenger seats inside as they journeyed over windy and choppy waters.
Mr Bate is understood to have been thrown into the water while the group were returning back to the island a couple of hours before sunset, about 4pm local time.
Police, coastguards and fishing boats have now been searching for the holidaymaker since May 15 without success.
The boat’s captain, who was quizzed by police said: ‘They didn’t listen to me when I told them to sit properly because it was very dangerous to sit on the boat’s head.
Mr Bate’s friends (pictured) wait outside a police station on after the incident
Mr Bate’s friends outside the police station on May 15 – they had experienced choppy waters while out on the speedboat
‘They looked very angry, so I didn’t want to keep bothering them, so I just let them sit there.’
Chaktham said that he had taken the group on a trip from Koh Samui to Koh Tean, which is also surrounded by several small uninhabited islands.
But the rough weather began tossing the boat when they returned, the missing man is said to have lost his balance and fell into the sea in front of his friends.
Chaktham told police he stopped the boat and sailed around the area where he believed the man had disappeared. Mr Bate was still not found after three hours of searching with help from nearby fishermen.
The rest of the tourists were dropped off at the island of Koh Samui before the boat captain reported the missing man to the sheriff and the police.
Officials spent another two hours looking for the tourist before they decided to delay the search due to the wind and darkness.
Boat captain Chaktham Jaijong, 23, is quizzed by police after the incident – he said the passengers were when he picked them up
The operation with Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation help, including rescuers and divers, resumed at 9.30am of the following day.
Police Major Worasak Akarakul, the inspector of Koh Samui police station, said on Wednesday that they had still not found the missing man.
‘Officers have questioned the boat captain and the owner of the vessel. Their statements will form part of the investigation,’ he said.
‘Rescue teams are co-operating to search for the tourist and all vessels in the area have been notified alerted.’
A Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: ‘We are in contact with the Australian embassy in Thailand, which is leading on a consular case following an incident involving an Australian-British dual national.’
In honour of Mr Bate’ memory, his wife and friends will be running the Melbourne Marathon on October 13.
The speedboat the group of British tourists were riding in on May 15 for snorkelling and sightseeing