Elon Musk X intern, 21, drowns on holiday in southern Thailand

An engineering intern who worked with Elon Musk on his X platform has drowned while on holiday in southern Thailand.

Christopher Fang, 21, from Vancouver, Canada, sparked panic when he went for a morning swim but failed to return to his hotel on Natai Beach in Phang Nga province on June 30.

Police scoured the area and questioned locals, who said they had seen Christoper, or Chris to friends, walking along the sand shortly before 9am local time.

Rescue teams were called and several boats searched the area along the coast without success. Officials said the search was hampered by choppy seas caused by strong wind and rain that battered the area, with severe floods in neighboring Phuket.

The search was called off at 6:30pm and resumed on July 1 with jet skis, scuba divers and speedboats.

Local fishermen finally spotted Christopher's body floating in the sea and pulled him ashore. Tragically, his friends confirmed it was him.

Devastated friends said Christopher had only arrived in the country on June 27 and feared he may have been jet lagged - hampering his decision making before going into the ocean.

They added: 'Chris was the smartest guy ever. I don't know what he was thinking going in the sea. He would not have done this under normal circumstances if he had a clear head. I fear he was tired.'

The Phang Nga Province Tourist Assistance Center (TAC) said: 'We were notified of the missing tourists and checked with people in the area. It was concluded that the tourist was swimming in the sea when he drowned and disappeared.

'The conditions at sea were torrid due to the storms in the region. It made the search more difficult.'

Sanpong Saton, head of the Phang Nga Security Department, said rescources from across the region were drafted in to find Christopher. Locals volunteers helped with the operation and fishing vessels were alerted to a missing person.

He added: 'Friends of the victim were concerned when he did not return. They asked for help from the hotel and called the emergency service.

'Someone nearby the beach said they saw him go swimming and then disappear. Unfortunately the conditions were not suitable for swimming.'

Chamroen Thipphayaphongthada, the governor of Phang Nga province, said that Christopher's relatives had been informed through the Embassy of Canada to Thailand, in Bangkok.

Thailand's monsoon season from June to November causes choppy seas - making it potentially dead to venture into the water, even when staying in the shallows.

Tragically, the country's ocean claims the lives of dozens of tourists each year when they swim during choppy conditions.

Christopher is understood to have been on holiday with friends.

According to his LinkedIn account, Christopher was a Software Engineering student at the University of Waterloo and a Full-stack Software Engineer.

He had just achieved his dream of working at X, formerly Twitter, with his hero Elon Musk. He completed an internship between January and April this year.

He had previously been a Software Developer Intern at Postalgia as well as a Fullstack Software Engineering Intern at Jobox and Pixlee TurnTo.

Additionally, he was a multigenre music producer and composer, being a multi-instrumentalist as a national-level violinist, high-level pianist, and avid guitarist and French horn player.