BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai police on Wednesday identified a head found hanging from a Bangkok bridge and a headless body discovered floating in the river below as an Italian man who they said had killed himself.

The body parts were discovered separately on Saturday and Sunday, prompting a media frenzy over the identity of the foreigner and the circumstances of his death, which police at the time said could be murder.

But General Jongrak Jutanont, deputy national police chief, told reporters that the man almost certainly hanged himself by jumping off the Rama VIII bridge, with the force of the fall ripping the head from the body.

'From the investigation, police found the documents that confirmed the victim was an Italian national named Maurizio Tosadori, 52, from Verona,' Jongrak told a press conference.

The police chief said that Tosadori had been in Thailand since February 6, and was reported to be suffering from financial difficulties which prevented him from paying his bill at a Bangkok guesthouse.

Jongrak read out a note from Tosadori left for the guesthouse operator, saying: 'Thank you very much for everything. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.' Police also discovered in the guesthouse the man's passport, national identity card and clothing matching the items found on the corpse.