Fareham family's heartbreaking ordeal after loved one died in Thailand bike accident - and the journey to bring him home

A Fareham family is heartbroken after their beloved grandfather has died in a motorbike accident in Thailand.

The Murphy family has been put through a traumatic ordeal after they have found out that Anthony Murphy, who was on holiday in Thailand, has died in a road accident – but they were not told until five days after it had happened.

The 61-year-old had spent the last ten years travelling out to Thailand during the winter months, and last year was no different. He set off in December 2022 and was due to come home on January 24, 2023, but on January 10 he was involved in a motorbike accident, where he was pronounced dead at the scene.

His family, who had been trying to get in contact with him, began to grow worried and his son, Tony Murphy, 43 from Fareham, said that they would usually check when he was last active on Whatsapp, but this time, he had been inactive for days.

Tony said: ‘He goes over there in the winter for three months usually because he can’t stand the cold, that’s what he used to say.

‘We are always in contact with him and we hadn’t heard anything. We are always checking to see if he had been on Whatsapp and he hadn’t this time, and it was quite a few days, so we began worrying.’

It was not until January 15 that Tony, his brother Glen Murphy and their two sisters, Tara and Lorraine Murphy, found out that their father had died, and it was only by chance that they were informed.

It is believed that a stranger, who was visiting a friend who was also involved in the accident, found out that Tony had been named a John Doe after he was found with no ID on him – and he decided to help.

The stranger managed to get hold of Tony’s phone and put the sim card into his phone, where there was only one number saved – a friend of Tony’s in London, who he called.

The family was then relayed the heartbreaking news, and are ‘absolutely devastated’ – but that has only been the beginning of their ordeal.

Anthony, who was a gardener and landscaper, was staying in Hua Hin in Thailand, but when the family rang the embassy, it was unclear where his body was being kept and so the siblings began the search to find their father in a bid to bring him home.

They were trying to find the closest temples to the scene of the accident, and after looking at maps and calling everywhere they could, they have finally managed to track their dad down.

Tony said: ‘We got the call on Sunday, we didn’t know how the accident happened, we have no information so I rang the embassy on Monday and it was difficult to get anything out of them, but I spoke to them to try and get him back but they didn’t know where he was.

‘We were trying to work out where he was because no one knew where he was and we got information that he was a temple.

‘We located him in the end but we didn’t know where he was at all. It was so horrible knowing nothing and we were all just trying and trying and trying.’

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Anthony has since been identified and the family are waiting for consular repatriation in order to get him on a flight home.

The 43-year-old added: ‘It just keeps running through my head, how did it happen? We don’t know anything, just that he was in a bike accident.’

‘It has been hell, and he is still over there now.

‘We are just waiting for him to come home.

‘We are devastated, I have been trying to comfort them all, but they are devastated. It doesn’t feel real, I think it will hit when he is home.’

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities.’

The family have also set up a GoFundMe Page to get some help with the costs of the funeral to give their loved one the send off he deserves, and the generosity of others has seen the fundraiser reach £2,450.

Anthony will be leaving behind his four children and his seven adoring grandchildren Aaron Murphy, Sophie Murphy, Chloe Murphy, Ellie Murphy, Georgia-Rose Garrett Murphy, Jaxon Garrett Murphy and Holly Murphy.