TRIBUTES have been paid to a Scots Thai boxer who has died in Thailand.

Jordan Coe, 20, is reported to have been found dead in a heavy tracksuit after failing to return to his hotel.

It has prompted speculation that the professional athlete, who is originally from Maddiston near Falkirk, died of heatstroke.

His coach, Craig Floan, said the boxer may have been trying to lose a few pounds before a fight.

He had been due to fight Khon Bola, a Cambodian boxer, in the Muang district of Thailand last night.

Last week Mr Coe wrote on Facebook that he loved fighting. He wrote: “Almost three years living in Thailand and with each year, I always learn more and more. Thank you to my team, family, friends and fans for always helping me on my journey.”

Mr Floan, a coach at the Glasgow Thai Boxing Academy, said that Mr Coe began fighting at a gym in Grangemouth. He later trained in Glasgow before he moved to Thailand after finishing school to “live the dream”.

Mr Coe lived in Ubon Ratchathani, in the east of Thailand, according to his Facebook profile.

Mr Floan added he had fought in Australia, Japan and Cambodia, as well as in Thailand and Britain winning 11 out of the 12 fights last year.

He said: “As a person he was very cheeky. He was an entertainer, everybody knows that he was famous for dancing out of the ring and dancing in the ring. As a fighter, he was tough as nails. He would fight anyone. He had a very, very promising career.”

The coach has now set up an appeal to raise money for Mr Coe’s family to help pay to repatriate his body and funeral expenses.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are providing assistance to the family of a British national following their death in Thailand. Our thoughts are with them.”