A 30 year-old urban explorer from Middlesbrough was found dead after an apparent fall from a fifth-storey hotel balcony in Bangkok.

Jim Smith was in Thailand on business when his body was found in the gardens of a Bangkok hotel on Monday morning. Having become an avid urban adventurer, many colleagues and fellow explorers believe that his death was a tragic accident while attempting to climb from the hotel balcony. Mr Smith was known in the UK for his urban exploring.

Urban exploring, which has become popular in the UK over the past decades, involves scaling or photographing unique or interesting monuments and buildings to share with others. The quickly growing hobby has garnered a large fan base online and many have taken to blogging about their experiences.

Mr Smith was staying at the hotel on his own when he fell and some fellow explorers have posted on the popular forum – 28 Days Later – that its possible drinking was involved. At present, circumstances surrounding Mr Smith’s death are purely circumstantial and no official report has been filed pending an investigation. Mr Smith was in Bangkok on business and his employer and family have since flown to Thailand upon hearing the news.

Many bloggers have taken to recalling trips and ‘explorations’ they went on with Smith, with one detailing a recent sojourn to popular urban explorer spot – Angel in the North in Gateshead. Urban exploration is gaining momentum worldwide and gathering a large following on the internet. However, there are risks involved with this new trend, many of the sites featuring challenging climbing or derelict buildings.