British fund manager, 57, dies in truck crash in Thailand, months after marrying a local man

A British investment fund manager was killed in a horror pickup truck crash in Thailand last week, just months after moving to the country to wed his Thai lover.

Bryn Adrian Whalley, 57, from Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, worked at the London Stock Exchange before taking early retirement and paying an eight million Baht (£183,000) dowry to wed Thanat Worakulritthidamrong, 47, last year.

But friends said the Brit and his male partner were having marital difficulties and Thanat confirmed this week they had been living apart.

Whalley was driving his pickup truck in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand, around 1am on October 21 when he reportedly lost control of his vehicle and crashed into an electricity post.

Paramedics arrived and found the modified blue Isuzu with red leather seats severely damaged having left the road, smashed into the post and ended up in a ditch.

Whalley was found stuck in the wreckage with a severe head wound. 

He was cut free from the remains of his demolished truck and rushed to hospital in a critical condition, but succumbed to his injuries just one day later. 

Bryn Adrian Whalley, 57, from Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, worked at the London Stock Exchange before taking early retirement and paying an eight million Baht (£183,000) dowry to wed Thanat Worakulritthidamrong

Paramedics found Whalleys modified blue Isuzu with red leather seats severely damaged in a ditch on a bend in the road in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand

The pair are seen at their wedding last year

Husband Thanat said he had been dating Whalley for around a year before they were married in December 2023 in a Buddhist ceremony

Husband Thanat said he had been dating Whalley for around a year before they were married in December 2023 in a Buddhist ceremony.

He said: Im still in shock that Bryn has gone. We had been through a lot together and I loved him. All my dreams came true when we were married. He was a very, very good person.

We were living in different homes the last few months. I never expected him to crash. Now we will have a Buddhist funeral ceremony for Bryn.

I will not receive any of Bryns possessions because we were married before it was legally recognised in Thailand. We had hoped to do that some time in the future.

We moved his body from the Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital to the Wat Kradang Nga temple for the funeral rites. There will be a cremation in the afternoon.

Part of Bryns ashes will be scattered in a ceremony, and the remaining ashes will be sent back to the UK, which is what he wanted.

The Brits friends said he had been visiting Thailand for several years before moving to the country when he retired. 

He had reportedly previously been a fund manager at the London Stock Exchange and collected antiques in his spare time.

But he sold his possessions to travel the world and later bought a home for his male partner and his family at a lavish wedding ceremony, in which the relatives also received cash and bars of gold.

Whalleys close friend, Khwanchai Chaiphian, 50, said: I was abroad when I learned of Bryns death from our mutual friends. Ive known him for about 10 years and he married a Thai man in 2023.

He and his partner used to have a house together in the Sichon district but they broke up around three or four months ago.

Bryn had not worked for a long time. He sold almost everything in the UK before moving to Thailand. He would drive around whenever he was feeling stressed.

Im not sure what happened because he drove along that road quite often. He was familiar with it. Its possible he dozed off while driving but we dont know.

He was a very experienced driver and he was familiar with the roads. The crash doesnt make any sense.

He was a very friendly, sweet and generous person. He was one of my closest friends.

Whalleys husband Thanat said: Im still in shock that Bryn has gone. We had been through a lot together and I loved him. All my dreams came true when we were married. He was a very, very good person

Whalley was driving his pickup truck when he allegedly lost control of his vehicle and crashed into an electricity post

The Brit and his partner were having marital difficulties in recent months and had been living apart

Police and ambulance services are seen at the site of the crash on October 21

Paramedics from the Phetkasem Foundation rescue team said they received a report of a serious car crash at 1:14 am. 

They arrived at the scene and found the blue pickup mangled on the roadside. 

Whalley was inside, alive but bleeding from a severe head wound.

A rescue officer said: His body and legs were stuck in the vehicle, so we could not immediately remove him. We brought cutting equipment to pry him loose. It took around 15 minutes.

We found him unconscious, with a large wound on his head around eight inches long. He was given CPR and rushed in an ambulance to Sichon Hospital.

He was later moved to the Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital, but doctors were unable to treat him and he succumbed to his injuries at 3:42 pm on October 22. 

A nurse said he died of intracerebral haemorrhage.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Piyawat Chin-Uam of the Sichon Police Station said: There were no signs that the deceased was drunk. 

The nurses said he did not smell of alcohol, and the rescue team did not find any alcoholic drinks in his pickup. He may have lost control due to reckless driving.

His death was confirmed at the Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital. We inspected the scene and found traces indicating the car had skidded off the road. His relatives have been informed.

Thailand has one of the worlds worst road safety records. 

Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.