A French backpacker was found dead after ignoring warning signs and falling from a notorious waterfall in southern Thailand.

Ryan Meghan, 20, climbed to the fourth tier of the Waterfall on Koh Samui island in Surat Thani province with his friends and girlfriend on December 2. He separated from the group to go swimming but disappeared after five minutes.

French tourist Merina Emma said they called out to Ryan but they became worried when he did not answer them. They searched the area and found his mobile phone and slippers next to the river, leading them to believe he may have been swept by the currents.

The holidaymakers called local officials and a search was launched for the missing backpacker. However, poor weather conditions and visibility forced rescuers to suspend operations until the morning of December 3.

Officers brought rappelling gear and a drone and resumed the search at 8:40 am. They finally found lifeless Ryan clad in black shorts and wedged in a crack between boulders on the third tier of the waterfall.

He had a cracked skull and elbow and was believed to have fallen some 50 feet from the waterfall's fourth terrace level.

Authorities have retrieved Ryan's body, which was taken to the Koh Samui Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Police Captain Pongnatee Ubon of Koh Samui Police Station, said: 'There are warning signs that tell backpackers not to go to certain parts of the waterfall because they are dangerous.

'When we received the emergency call, police were accompanied by experienced rescue staff but the conditions made it too dangerous for them, so the operation continued the next morning.

'I want to tell tourists who are visiting the waterfall to avoid it when there has been heavy rain and do not go to high or too close to the rocks.'

Local officials said tourists had been banned from entering the fourth tier due to recent rains that had strengthened the water currents.

Officers said the French Embassy in Bangkok has been notified of Ryan's passing and has contacted his family.

The death at one of the island's beauty spots is the latest following the incident involving ex-EastEnders star Paul Nicholls, who fell and spent two nights stranded on a waterfall in Koh Samui before being rescued and taken to hospital, where he stayed for several weeks in 2017.

In July 2019, Spanish tourist David Conesa from Barcelona fell to his death at the same waterfall when he slipped while clambering down wet boulders.

Months later, in November 2019, French tourist Bastien Palmier plunged 260 feet to his death after ignoring warnings to take selfies at the idyllic beauty spot.

While last May 2022, a Romanian tourist Nane-Iosana Bodea died when she slipped while snapping photos at the Na Muang waterfalls nearby.

In December last year, British backpacker Joshua Kohler, 20, suffered severe head injuries and a fractured coccyx bone after ignoring warning signs to climb the 130ft high neighbouring Na Muang waterfall only to plunge down the slippy surface.