The mother of a Manx boy who drowned in a swimming pool accident in Thailand on Friday has strongly rejected many of the claims made about the incident in the Thai media.

Fourteen-year-old Nathan Clark Griffiths was with his brother, stepbrother, stepmother and father in the resort of Pattaya when the tragedy occurred.

His mother Marion says Nathan, who was exploring the pool with his brother Rhys, removed an unsecured grill to a vent, but it's unclear how he ended up inside the pumping system beyond it.

Marion says contrary to what the Pattaya Daily News has reported about it being an hour before Nathan's disappearance was noticed by his stepmother, his brother Rhys alerted the lifeguard straight away.

The lifeguard didn't believe Rhys or his Thai stepbrother Kevin so they went to get dad Jimmy, who jumped in to look for Nathan.

Only then did the lifeguard believe them and a search of the pumping system commenced.

Nathan's body was found in a pipe, around 15-20 minutes after the alarm was raised.

Marion, who lives on the Island, says the boys were due to return on Wednesday, having spent a year out in Thailand at an international school.

His family are now working with the British Embassy in Bangkok to bring his body back to the Isle of Man, where a service will be held.

A tribute page has been started up on Facebook and already has hundreds of members and messages of condolence on it.