PATTAYA, THAILAND – British fashion entrepreneur Quentin Griffiths, co-founder of online retailer ASOS, died on 9 February after falling from a 17th-floor balcony in Pattaya, in a case Thai police said currently appeared to be suicide.
Fall from 17th floor and initial police findings
The 58-year-old died on the evening of 9 February after falling from a high-rise balcony in Soi Kasetsin 7 in Bang Lamung district at around 8:30 p.m., according to Pattaya City Police. Rescue workers found him beside the building with severe injuries and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Locked room, CCTV footage and signs in the apartment
Police Colonel Anek Sarathongyoo, head of Pattaya Police Station, said Griffiths had been alone in a 17th-floor room whose door was double-locked from the inside and could only be secured internally. CCTV footage showed he entered the apartment alone, and no other person was seen entering or leaving before officers arrived.
Investigators reported no signs of forced entry, no visible traces of a struggle and no ransacking, but found indications of alcohol consumption. A chair stood close to the balcony railing, which officers believed might have been used to climb over, reinforcing their working assumption of suicide.
Court cases, business disputes and family conflict
In Griffiths’ car, registered in Chonburi province, and in the apartment, police found extensive paperwork relating to cases at Pattaya Provincial Court, including a so-called Black-Case (A310/2568) and a Red-Case (A1355/2568), indicating one ongoing and one concluded proceeding. Further documents concerned civil disputes with his Thai ex-wife over a jointly run company, which according to police involved shareholdings and questions of assets.
Last year, he had been arrested following a complaint by his former Thai wife, who accused him of diverting around £500,000 from the joint business and falsifying documents. She alleged he had manipulated paperwork to sell land and company shares without her knowledge, while he rejected the accusations and was released after questioning.
Police view on legal pressure and mental strain
A Thai friend cited by police said Griffiths had been highly concerned about the ongoing lawsuits, leading investigators to treat the legal disputes as a key element of their inquiry. Colonel Anek stated that the businessman had apparently experienced significant stress linked to the proceedings, which had not been fully resolved at the time of his death.
ASOS success, share sales and move to Pattaya
Griffiths co-founded ASOS, which launched in 2000 under the name “As Seen On Screen” and later developed into a global online fashion platform that at times reached a stock market value of more than £6 billion. He initially held a senior marketing role before leaving the company after four years, retaining substantial shareholdings and realising around £15 million from share sales in both 2010 and 2015.
After divorcing his first wife in the United Kingdom, he relocated permanently to Pattaya in 2007. He married a Thai woman, with whom he had a son and a daughter, and later divorced again.
International reactions and ongoing forensic work
News of his death, initially little noticed in Pattaya, drew attention in the UK about ten days later. A spokesperson for ASOS said the company was saddened by the co-founder’s passing, while the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed it was supporting the family and in contact with Thai authorities.
The body was transferred to the Forensic Institute of the Police General Hospital in Bangkok for an autopsy and further analysis, a process investigators said could take several months. Until then, the case remains formally open under Thai law, although police stressed that all current evidence – from the locked apartment and CCTV recordings to traces secured at the scene – predominantly pointed towards suicide.