An Irish backpacker’s cause of death has been revealed after his body was found in his bed on the Thai island of Koh Tao.
Robby Kinlan, 21, from Quilty in Co. Clare, found dead with his phone in his hand and his earphones on last week, his family said.
Initially there was mystery around Robby’s sudden death but in an interview with the Irish Daily Mail yesterday, the family said that initial postmortem results found he had died as a result of acute pulmonary cardiac failure.
The family expects to get more concrete results in the coming weeks.
Speaking to the Mail, Robby’s mother Tracy King said her son’s ‘personality was his greatest talent’ and described how he loved to work with people and that his kindness and selflessness shone around with others.
Robby was found dead last Thursday on Koh Tao, which some refer to as ‘death island’ due to the number of unexplained or suspicious tourist deaths there.
Robby had just completed an advanced diving course on the island and was ‘living his dream’, friends said.
Paying tribute to her son, Ms King said: ‘He was a freediver and a master diver. He went out there on November 20 last year. He got two qualifications in the short time he was there.’
She described her son as a ‘water baby’ and diving was ‘all he wanted to do’.
She said of his death: ‘It was all very unexpected. He was in a really good place mentally and his normal self.
Robby (left) pictured with his mother, Tracy, and brother, Tommy
Robby was found dead last Thursday on Koh Tao, which some refer to as ‘death island’ due to the number of unexplained or suspicious tourist deaths there
Officers said Robby was staying at a resort fewer than two miles from the Sairee Beach where Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were bludgeoned to death in September 2014 – the incident which gave rise to the grim moniker ‘Death Island’
‘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. That’s where all the diving was,’ she said.
‘He was doing very, very well over there and supported himself through his [diving] qualifications. His personality was his talent – and I would say to him, ‘Robby, you have to be an actor or a barman’ or someone who deals with the public in some way.’
Robby’s older brother Tommy, 28, told the Mail that he would give anything to see his younger brother again.
He made the comments after a GoFundMe to return Robby’s remains to Ireland reached over €43,000 in less than a week.
Tommy said: ‘He got to work with tourists and they loved him. He had that way about him. He was just fun and charming and people took to him.’
He said the family would be ‘eternally grateful’ for the funds raised and the support they are receiving from neighbours and friends of Robby, but they just wished he was still with them.
‘He was just a really good guy. He didn’t have a bad bone in his body. He was young and the world hadn’t made him cynical yet.
‘He had such a good outlook. I looked up to him most because he was able to see the good in any situation,’ said Tommy.
‘Other than that – just like any other person he struggled but he was really working on himself.’
Robby’s friends have since set up a crowdfunder to pay for his repatriation
Robby’s body is currently being kept at a temple until it can be sent for an autopsy
He was discovered still holding his phone, which was connected to a wall socket and charging, police said today
‘We often spoke about supporting each other and how we were going to work out the problems we had. He was doing a really good job of doing that. He was absorbing the wisdom and listening to his elders and he was doing well and now he’s gone.’
He added: ‘You can offer me any amount of money in the world and I’d turn it down to have him back.’
Tommy said that he and his family are still dealing with the Thai authorities with the help of the Irish consulate and that they hope to have Robby home by the end of the week but that it could end up being longer.
He said: ‘People on GoFundMe and people being around physically, it’s been a great help and support and we do appreciate it. We’ll be eternally grateful for the help towards his funeral.’
Robby was found unresponsive after his friend knocked on his hotel door at around 11am on January 9. ‘The room had not been broken into or searched, and there were no signs of any assault. He died alone in the room,’ Lieutenant Colonel Theeraphat Sanjai said.
Robby’s friends at Dive Academy in Inis Mór, Co. Galway, set up the fundraiser to help bring the body home to his grieving mother.
One of Robby’s friends has decided to stay with his remains in Koh Tao so that he ‘is not alone’, his mother said.
Robby was travelling in Thailand, ‘living his dream… in the place that made him happy’
Police search the room of the young traveller after a friend and staff found him unresponsive
Robby was staying at the BaanTao Bungalo Resort on the Thai island
Officers said Robby was staying at a resort fewer than two miles from the Sairee Beach where Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were bludgeoned to death in September 2014 – the incident which gave rise to the grim moniker ‘Death Island’.
In the last decade alone, there have been more than a dozen cases of unexplained or suspicious tourist deaths on the island.
Many believe that cases are covered up or not investigated properly to protect powerful local interests on the island, which has a long history of violence and corruption.
