Police were today investigating the discovery of a headless body with missing hands that was found floating off the coast of a Thai island.

The mutilated male corpse was seen drifting near the Koh Phi Phi islands in Krabi province by marine conservationists staff on Saturday, June 24.

Police Major Taweelab Suwanlerk from the Krabi Marine Police said they received a report and arrived at the scene some 500 metres west of Koh Phi Phi Lay island.

Authorities said the body was in an advanced state of decomposition and is believed to have been dead for at least five days.

The man was wearing black boxer shorts, and had the words 'father' and 'mother' tattooed on the backs of his shoulders.

Police Major Taweelab said: 'The deceased man may have been of Asian descent. His body will be taken to the Krabi Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

'We do not know if the victim was a tourist or working in the area. There has not been a way to identify him. The injuries could have been from a boat propellor so we did not determine yet that the deceased was murdered.'

Officers did not specify whether the man was murdered or drowned. They said investigations were ongoing to determine his identity following the discovery in the area known as the Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park.

Last May, coast guards found the body of a dead tourist floating off the southern Thai province of Surat Thani.

The unidentified man, believed to have been dead for five days, was first spotted near Thai 'Death Island' Koh Tao before he was found again between Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan islands.