Tsunami survivor one of two Kiwis to die overseas

John Grant Kerr. Photo / Supplied

A Kiwi who survived the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami has died in a freak motorbike accident in Thailand.

John Grant Kerr, 53, broke his neck after falling off his bike at Patong Beach in Phuket on Monday.

He was one of two New Zealanders to die this week after crashes on foreign roads.

Gisborne Boys' High School teacher John McFarlane died in hospital in South Korea a week after being injured in a minibus crash.

Kerr died instantly after hitting his head on the footpath about 100m from the bar he bought in 2005. His sister Marlene Foley said he bought the Kiwi Bar in the Otop Market area in 2005 and renamed it Anzac Bar in 2007.

The former Aucklander was in Phuket with friends when the tsunami hit the island in 2004 and moved there a year later.

Foley said her brother was a keen traveller and a "fun-loving and caring person".

His bar was popular with tourists and he was a social person with a lot of friends.

"His nieces and nephews call him the 'fun uncle'," said Foley. "It has blown me away at the number of people that knew and loved John."

Family and friends travelled to Phuket for Kerr's funeral today. Some of his ashes will be scattered in Phuket and the rest will be brought home to New Zealand for a family farewell.

Many of his friends have left tributes on a Facebook page dedicated to the Anzac Bar.

They described him as a great host who made their trips to Phuket special.

McFarlane had been head of physical education at Gisborne Boys High for many years and had raised thousands of dollars for IHC.