A hapless fisherman died after accidentally shooting himself in the face with a harpoon.

Uthen Khongpetch, 49, was hunting fish for lunch at a pond in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, early morning on January 16.

He fired his harpoon into the water but it was said to have bounced off a rock and ricocheted toward his head. The projectile pierced through his skull and he fell face-down into the pond.

Police officers arrived at the scene in the Phan Thong district after receiving a call from Uthen's wife Jintana Promrat, 48, at around 10 am. They found the deceased lying on the bank from where Jintana had pulled him out of the water.

Police Lieutenant Komdech Boonkeat, deputy chief of investigation of the Phan Thong police, said: 'We collected the dead man's sneakers and a 7ft speargun at the scene.

'His wife had already removed the harpoon earlier embedded in his left eyebrow. The rescue team have retrieved his body which will be sent to the Phan Thong Hospital for a post-mortem exam.'

Uthen's wife Jintana said they would regularly visit the pond early morning.

She said: 'We would come here at around 5 am. My husband would go fishing by himself and I would continue sleeping in the car. This time, I woke up hours later but he still hadn't returned. I went looking for him and I was shocked when I saw him with his head plunged in the water.

'I rushed over and discovered that his harpoon was stuck into his head. I quickly pulled it out and called the rescue workers and police to help us. But my husband was already dead by the time they arrived.'

Seri Rueangdet, a member of Chonburi Provincial Administration Organisation, warned other villagers when using harpoons.

He said: 'Accidents like these can happen at any time. This case should serve as a warning for all fishermen to be diligent in checking their fishing equipment.'

Harpoon accidents sometimes occur in rural parts of Thailand, where villagers use them to go fishing or hunting untrained.

In March, a fisherman Sujit Klingtalay, 45, survived being shot by his friend in the head with a harpoon during a drunken row in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

In June, drunk local Wattana Sookkaew, 35, was skewered by a foot-long harpoon just below his sternum while he was playing with the weapon, also in Nakhon Ratchasima province. He was rushed to the Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, where volunteers were called to shorten the metal projectile before surgery.

Villager Manuschai Boonklang, 46, was impaled in the torso when the harpoon he had left loaded suddenly discharged while he was eating dinner at his home in Buriram province on December 5.

The projectile pierced four inches deep into his flesh but missed his vital organs. He was rushed to the Satuek Hospital, where doctors and rescue volunteers removed the 24-inch spear.