A former Island School pupil and son of an ex-Hong Kong official has been murdered in Thailand. Mark Lemetti had set off from his Scottish home to explore Southeast Asia, but last week his brutalised body was discovered in a rubber plantation in the south of the country. Police believe he was killed for his mobile phone. His death has stunned family and friends in Hong Kong, who remember a 'happy, smiling boy'. The 24-year-old ecology graduate was battered to death. Police believe the murder weapon was a pool cue found next to his body in the rubber plantation in Sungai Kolok, in the province of Narathiwat, 1,200km from Bangkok. His father, Roland Lemetti, formerly a property manager with the Urban Council in Hong Kong and now living in Scotland, flew to Thailand last week to collect his son's body and attempt to uncover what led to his death. Scots-born Lemetti had travelled alone through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia as part of a five-week trip. He was about to return home from his travels when he was murdered. Pakistani-born Mah-ae Bramin, a tour guide who sold the backpacker a bus ticket to the island resort of Phuket, has been arrested and charged with his murder. Thai police said the suspect had tried to escape before they managed to detain him. Officers later found the victim's clothes, toiletries, documents, mobile phone and business cards in the Pakistani's house. Initially it was feared the backpacker may have been caught up in the wave of violence that is sweeping through Thailand's largely Muslim south. The principal of Island School, David James, said he would write to the family on behalf of the school to express their shared sorrow at the tragedy. 'He was always smiling,' said Mr James. 'He was a very lovely, pleasant boy who enjoyed playing a bit of soccer. 'Everyone liked him and when I think how his life ended it leaves me feeling terribly sad.' He said Mark's sister, Francesca, had finished her A-levels in Hong Kong before going on to university, while Mark moved back to Scotland with his family after several years at the school. 'My first reaction on hearing the news was one of horror,' Mr James said. 'At first I thought he might have been caught up in the violence on the Thai border. 'But then I heard how he had been robbed and beaten to death: tragic is the word.'