A British investment fund manager was killed in a horror pick-up truck accident in Thailand last week, just months after moving to the country to marry his Thai lover.
Bryn Adrian Whalley, 57, from Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, worked on the London Stock Exchange before taking early retirement and paying a dowry of eight million baht (£183,000) to marry Thanat Worakulritthidamrong, 47, last year .
But friends said the Brit and his male partner were having marital problems and Thanat confirmed this week they were living separately.
Whalley was driving his pickup truck in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand, around 1 a.m. on October 21 when he reportedly lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a utility pole.
Paramedics arrived to find the modified blue Isuzu with red leather seats badly damaged after it left the road, crashed into a pole and ended up in a ditch.
Whalley was found trapped in the wreckage with a serious head wound.
He was cut free from the remains of his wrecked truck and was rushed to hospital in critical condition, but succumbed to his injuries just a day later.
Bryn Adrian Whalley, 57, from Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, worked on the London Stock Exchange before taking early retirement and paying a dowry of eight million baht (£183,000) to marry Thanat Worakulritthidamrong
Paramedics found Whalley’s modified blue Isuzu with red leather seats badly damaged in a ditch at a bend in the road in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand
The couple was seen at their wedding last year
Man Thanat said he had been dating Whalley for about a year before they married in a Buddhist ceremony in December 2023.
Man Thanat said he had been dating Whalley for about a year before they married in a Buddhist ceremony in December 2023.
He said: ‘I’m still in shock that Bryn is gone. We had been through a lot together and I loved him. All my dreams came true when we got married. He was a very, very good person.
‘We have been living in different houses for the past few months. I never expected it to crash. Now we will have a Buddhist funeral ceremony for Bryn.
‘I will not receive any of Bryn’s assets because we were married before it was legally recognized in Thailand. We had hoped to do that at some point in the future.
“We shifted his body from Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital to Wat Kradang Nga Temple for funeral rites. A cremation will take place in the afternoon.
‘Some of Bryn’s ashes will be scattered in a ceremony, and the remaining ashes will be sent back to Britain, which is what he wanted.’
The Briton’s friends said he had been visiting Thailand for several years before moving to the country after his retirement.
He had reportedly previously been a fund manager at the London Stock Exchange and collected antiques in his spare time.
But he sold his belongings to travel the world and later bought a house for his male partner and his family in a lavish wedding ceremony, during which the relatives also received cash and gold bars.
Whalley’s close friend, Khwanchai Chaiphian, 50, said: ‘I was abroad when I heard of Bryn’s death through our mutual friends. I’ve known him for about 10 years and he married a Thai man in 2023.
“He and his partner used to own a house together in the Sichon neighborhood, but they broke up about three or four months ago.
“Bryn hadn’t worked in a long time. He sold almost everything in Britain before moving to Thailand. He drove around when he felt stressed.
‘I’m not sure what happened as he drove down that road quite often. He was familiar with it. It’s possible he fell asleep while driving, but we don’t know.
‘He was a very experienced driver and he knew the roads. The crash makes no sense whatsoever.
‘He was a very kind, sweet and generous person. He was one of my best friends.’
Whalley’s husband Thanat said: ‘I’m still in shock that Bryn is gone. We had been through a lot together and I loved him. All my dreams came true when we got married. He was a very, very good person.”
Whalley was driving his pickup when he reportedly lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a utility pole
The Brit and his partner had marital problems in recent months and were living separately
Police and ambulance services attended the scene of the accident on October 21
Paramedics from the Phetkasem Foundation rescue team said they received a report of a serious car accident at 1.14am.
They arrived on scene and found the blue pickup truck mangled on the side of the road.
Whalley was inside, alive but bleeding from a serious head wound.
A rescue officer said: ‘His body and legs were stuck in the vehicle so we could not remove him immediately. We brought cutting equipment to pry it loose. It took about 15 minutes.
‘We found him unconscious, with a large wound about eight inches long on his head. He was given CPR and rushed to Sichon Hospital in an ambulance.”
He was later transferred to Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital but doctors were unable to treat him and he succumbed to his injuries on October 22 at 3.42 pm.
A nurse said he died of an intracerebral hemorrhage.
Lieutenant Colonel Piyawat Chin-Uam of Sichon Police Station said: “There were no signs that the deceased was drunk.
“The nurses said he didn’t smell of alcohol, and the rescue team found no alcoholic beverages in his pickup. He may have lost control due to reckless driving.
“His death was confirmed at Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital. We inspected the scene and found evidence that the car had skidded off the road. His family members have been informed.”
Thailand has one of the worst road safety records in the world.
Ministers have set a target of reducing the number of fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.
However, the lack of road safety education in schools, along with notoriously easy driving tests, the inability of police to enforce traffic rules and chronic underinvestment in infrastructure all appear to be hampering efforts.