British father attacked and left for dead on Koh Tao searches for children missing in Thailand

David Polley, 48, from Bath, had been living in Thailand for 13 years and told Thaivisa how he is desperate to see his children again.

“I just want to know my children are alive and well”, David said.

David hasn’t seen his children Mikey Polley, 6, and Leila Polley, 4, for almost two years but believes they are still in Thailand.

David believes his ex-girlfriend and the children’s mother, Nuttlada Ladlakhon, has taken Mikey and Leila and are living in Thailand with another British man.

David’s plight began in October 2015 when he was robbed and brutally assaulted on Koh Tao where he was working as a diving instructor.

During the attack David suffered severe and life changing injuries which resulted in him being put on a life support machine and being placed in a coma for three days in Bangkok Samui Hospital, where he remained for the next month while he received treatment.

He was later flown back to the UK to continue his rehabilitation, spending a further three months in hospital.

David’s injuries meant that he was left with permanent brain damage and suffered from severe memory loss.

When he came round from the coma a confused David was asking family members if he could see his father, only to be told his father had tragically died five years earlier.

David then returned to Thailand in February 2016 to be with his family but that is then what had already been a traumatic period in his life took a considerable turn for the worse.

Returning to his house in Jitsin Village, Sairee Beach, he found the property ransacked and many of his belongings gone, including his two motorbikes, as well as all of his children’s and girlfriend’s possessions.

He later discovered one of his Thai bank accounts had been emptied and that his house had been transferred into the name of Nuttlada Ladlakhon, who David says, borrowed 1.8 million baht against the property without his knowledge as he recovered in the UK. The house is now up for sale for 3 million baht, David said.

David has officially reported his children as missing to the Thai and British police and also to the British Embassy in Bangkok.

But investigations into their whereabouts have so far drawn a blank, with the police in the UK telling David there is little they can do and the Thai police seemingly uninterested in the case.

The lack of assistance from the police has left David at a dead end and has forced him to try and search for his children himself.

Currently in the UK where he is still required to attend weekly rehab sessions due to the injuries suffered to his brain during the attack, David has taken to social media in a bid to try and find out where is children are.

David’s attempt to contact his ex-girlfriend’s family has also proved unsuccessful. The family, who live near Udon Thani, denied having seen Nuttlada and the children or knowing their whereabouts.

David said that to this day he has never been told if anyone was charged for assaulting him but that his main focus now is getting to see his children again.

Anyone who has seen either of the children or their mother or has information as to their whereabouts is urged to email David at[email protected].