The family of dead Kill Bill and 70’s television series Kung Fu star David Carradine have reacted angrily to photographs of the dead actor being published in the Thai Rath newspaper in Bangkok.

Reportedly the photos on the cover and inside of the Saturday issue of the vernacular Thai Rath tabloid show the actor’s body in the Thai hotel room where he died.

An angry Keith Carradine, David Carradine’s half-brother, threatened legal action against any “invasions of privacy”.

However, it’s difficult to see how any case such as this could be pursued in Thailand, where the photos of dead people are published in the vernacular press daily.

At the same time the Thai police officer in charge of the investigation, Colonel Somprasong Yentuam, superintendent of Lumpini police station, said if instructed to work with the American FBI on the case he and his men would provide their full cooperation.

Keith Carradine’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, said the family had contacted the FBI because, “all we really know is not much more than what the public knows, and that’s disturbing”.

The FBI confirmed that it was in touch with Thai authorities to see if they wanted assistance on the case, but said the agency usually only became involved in overseas investigations if a crime had been committed.

Police Colonel Somprasong said police have not yet concluded their investigation but all evidence pointed to either suicide or death by asphyxiation while participating in auto-erotic asphyxiation to gain sexual pleasure.

Carradine’s family have disputed the 72-year-old actor committed suicide and rapidly arranged for his body to be removed from Thailand and sent to the US for an independent autopsy.

Thai police medical examiners completed an autopsy on Friday and while the results will not be available for three weeks, sources at the hospital said it stated there was no signs of injury to his body and “he died from an acute lack of oxygen.”

Carradine will be well remembered for his roles as Kwai Chang Caine, the fugitive roaming Shaolin monk in the 1970s television series Kung Fu, as well as ‘Big’ Bill Shelly in Boxcar Bertha.

In a career which included more than 200 movies and production episodes over 45 years, Carradine notched up three Golden Globe Award nominations, an Emmy nomination and a string of other accolades.