This is the sort of story that you read and think, “It could only happen in Thailand.” Details are sketchy at the moment because the only testimonial that has been taken is that of a 25-year-old bar girl, although we aren’t allowed to say that in print.

What supposedly happened, according to what Phuket police say the bar girl told them, is this:

A married farang man was out on his boat about 500 meters offshore from Kata. He was accompanied by the aforementioned bar girl while his family were at a resort. At about 10 pm, an unknown farang diver swam up to the boat in full diving gear. He was invited aboard the boat and spent about an hour drinking beer with the couple.

At some point, the diver said goodbye and then pulled a gun from his bag, ordering the bar girl to tie up the farang yachtsman. Somehow, the girl and her companion launched an attack at the diver. The farang man hit the diver with a large boating hook – once on his left wrist and once on his left eye.

The diver then shot the farang in his shoulder before jumping overboard and eventually dying of blood loss. The farang who was shot is now in hospital.

The girl called for help and was rescued by Marine Police. I’m not a fan of conspiracy theories, but this story is just so bizarre that there must be more to it.

The farang who was shot was identified as New Zealander Pierre-Alain Oberson by Thai police. He was later confirmed as a Swiss national. Go figure.

The English-language press hasn’t seemed too fussed about the whole ordeal, whereas the Thai press has been all over it, with pictures of the dead frogman featuring prominently.

Just who the heck was this mysterious, bearded diver? The police in Phuket were so intrigued by his gun that they were quoted as saying that the diver may have been a weapons expert. This promoted them to ask Interpol if the diver matched the description of any international terrorists!

You couldn’t make this stuff up.