Two foreigners died in Bangkok from Sunday night to early Monday morning. One drowned in a canal in an apparent attempt to retrieve a water gun, while the other fell to his death from a hotel fire escape.

At 7.30pm on Sunday rescue workers were told that a foreigner had fallen from the Pratunam pier into the Saen Saep canal. Scuba divers retrieved the body from the canal under the Chaloemlok bridge.

Witnesses said the visitor had celebrated the Songkran water festival nearby. After accidentally dropping his water gun into the canal, he jumped into the water to retrieve it and drowned. His name was not given.

At 1am on Monday police at the Lumpini station was called to a hotel on Sukhumvit 2 Road in Klong Toey district. There they found the body of a 54-year-old Japanese man lying in front of a damaged car. The deceased man was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, but no shoes.

The car had a dented roof and a shattered windscreen. There were blood stains on the bonnet.

Police found that the man had checked in at the hotel alone at 12.45am. He then climbed fire exit stairs to the seventh floor of the hotel, from where he fell to his death.