Sirisombat said Warne had visited a tailor to have a suit made earlier on Friday and ordered two local masseuses to come to his villa.

He added: “It was just massage. He didn’t die because of the massage. He wasn’t well.”

Thai police interviewed Warne’s travel companions for information.

Neophitou told reporters: “We really just want to get Shane home. That’s all we want to do.”

The potential risks attached to crash diets

Crash diets could cause a sudden deterioration in heart function and those with existing problems should seek medical advice before starting one, according to a landmark study into their impact.

Research presented at the 2018 Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) conference found that 21 obese volunteers put on a very low-calorie diet saw their heart fat content surge by 44 per cent after one week.

This correlated with a deterioration in heart function, including its ability to pump blood, according to researchers.

The average age of participants in the study was 52.

Lead author Dr Jennifer Rayner, of Oxford University, said: “The metabolic improvements with a very low-calorie diet, such as a reduction in liver fat and reversal of diabetes, would be expected to improve heart function. Instead, heart function got worse in the first week before starting to improve.

“The sudden drop in calories causes fat to be released from different parts of the body into the blood and be taken up by the heart muscle. The heart muscle prefers to choose between fat or sugar as fuel and being swamped by fat worsens its function. After the acute period in which the body is adjusting to dramatic calorie restriction, the fat content and function of the heart improved.

“If you have heart problems, you need to check with your doctor before embarking on a very low-calorie diet or fasting. People with a cardiac problem could well experience more symptoms at this early time point, so the diet should be supervised.

“Otherwise, healthy people may not notice the change in heart function in the early stages. But caution is needed in people with heart disease.”