Rescuers in Thailand said they had recovered the body of a woman on Tuesday after a tourist diving boat capsized off the island of Phuket at the weekend. Six other people, most of them foreigners, remain missing.

The boat overturned in the sea around the Similan Islands on Sunday night, a police officer told Reuters, adding there were 23 survivors.

"A plane spotted the body this morning at the site of the accident. We are still looking for the rest," said Lieutenant Colonel Wallop Paung-paka of the police marine patrol, who added that the dead woman was a foreigner.

Japanese, Swiss, German and Austrian nationals were reported to be among the missing, along with one Thai cook from the boat.

Phuket is one of Thailand's top tourist destinations, especially popular with divers.

Reuters