BRITISH MAN DROWNS IN VENICE CANAL ON FIRST NIGHT OF HOLIDAY

A British man died after falling into a canal in Venice on the first evening of a five-day holiday in November 2025. Chatchawan Thongpia, who lived in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, left his hotel at Campo Santa Marina to find a quiet alley in which to smoke CBD he had purchased that day. His partner, Samantha Lichfield, remained at the hotel as the pair had been awake since 2.30am. A witness walking in the area at around 6.30pm spotted a body in the water and attempted to pull the man to safety through the bars of a bridge, but the strong current made it impossible to hold on.

The witness asked a nearby family on the bridge to contact the emergency services. Rescue personnel attended but were unable to resuscitate Mr Thongpia after his body was recovered from the canal. Miss Lichfield told the inquest she grew increasingly anxious as time passed, and was eventually woken by the hotel receptionist informing her that police were downstairs. Italian police confirmed that CCTV footage captured some of Mr Thongpia's movements that evening, but not the moment he entered the water.

An inquest at North Yorkshire Coroner's Court heard the evidence on 10 June 2026. Mr Thongpia, a mechanical engineer born in Thailand, was also said to reside at Brooklands Farm in Exeter. The inquest heard that he is believed to have lost his balance before falling into the canal. The proceedings are ongoing at North Yorkshire Coroner's Court.