Police investigators who initially thought they had a murder on their hands now say a Russian man found dead in a ditch at Karon beach might have committed suicide.

Investigators were told that the man had showed psychotic behaviour and used marijuana, which might have led to violence, police said.

According to the man’s Russian wife, her husband had tried to commit suicide several times.

Investigators are gathering more evidence before holding a press conference about the cause of death.

The Russian man, identified only as Ilia, had multiple injuries, including wounds near his eyes, bruising around his left ear and deep cuts on both arms. It appeared he had been hit with a hard object.

His body was found in the ditch near the Naga statue along the road fronting Karon beach on Tuesday.

Doctors estimated he had been dead for at least 8 hours before his body was found.

Police initially believed he had been killed elsewhere and his body dumped there.