Two loyal pet dogs kept watch over a Swedish pensioner who died at home in a village in Thailand.

Johansson, 65, had been living alone in the house in Ban Nong Bua Daeng village in Udon Thani province, with only his pet dog to keep him company.

He had married a Thai woman named Banyen, who passed away several years ago.

Following her death, Johansson reportedly became more withdrawn, travelling frequently between Thailand and Sweden, and avoiding interaction with neighbours, villagers said.

As Johansson often kept to himself, no one in the community knew that he had died until a foul smell wafted from his home on Monday morning.

Residents initially thought it was a dead dog, but upon paying a visit to the man's house and peeking through the windows, they were startled to find his already decomposing body on the bed on May 15.

Nong Han police officers conducted an investigation after the grim discovery but found no traces of forced entry, theft, or assault. Several beer cans were found next to the bed, while the night light on a bedside table had been left on.

Outside the glass slide doors was Johansson's lonely pet dogs, still keeping watch over the house. Villagers said they had heard them howling at night a few days earlier as though mourning their owner.

Police Captain Apiwut Leephonthong, deputy investigator at the Nong Han Police Station, said: 'The body was already dark and bloated, with flies swarming the bedroom. We believe the man had been dead for around a week before he was found.'

Authorities conducted a post-mortem examination before making arrangements for Johansson's transfer to the Ban Pak Dong Cemetery, where his body will be temporarily kept.

The Swedish Embassy has been notified to contact his relatives for the retrieval of his remains.