THE family of retired engineer Jim Green, who was brutally murdered in his Thai home over the weekend, have spent their first day with his wife's family.

In the wake of the terrible news of her son's death, pensioner Mary Green and her five other children left Ripon, North Yorkshire, and flew to Bangkok on Tuesday.

Yesterday, Mr Green's sister-in-law, Carol Green, said: "They all arrived safely in Thailand in the early hours of Wednesday, their time. I don't think they really know what they are going to be doing out there yet.

"At the moment they will just be spending time with Jim's wife's family."

A lot of question marks still surround the circumstances of Mr Green's death, and his wife Yukhonporn's abduction from their riverside home at Ratchaburi, 60 miles from Bangkok, on Saturday night.

The Foreign Office confirmed yesterday that Thai police were still investigating the possibility that Mr Green, 63, had come face-to-face with his killers the previous night, when two teenagers broke into his home.

"There doesn't seem to be any changes. The local authority is continuing to investigate into his death," said a Foreign Office spokeswoman.

Mr Green, who was stabbed in the chest, shot, knocked on the head and then suffocated, is expected to be laid to rest in Thailand.