21-year-old Australian tourist falls from hotel to his death in Patong, Phuket

[snoop1130]

PHOTO: Kusoldharm rescue worker

 

 A 21-year-old Australian tourist fell from a hotel in Patong to his death last night (May 17th.)

 

The Phuket Tourist Police reports they were notified of the body at 10:00 P.M. The 21-year-old male Australian tourist (The Pattaya News is withholding his name pending notification of his family and his embassy) came to Phuket with 11 friends, according to the Phuket Tourist Police. He checked in at the hotel on May 14th and was scheduled to return to Australia on May 28th.

 

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No signs of a struggle or altercation were found in the victim’s room, according to Phuket Tourist Police. The tourist was staying alone, said hotel staff and police, before falling out of his room. Several bottles of whisky were found on a table, some appearing to have been half-consumed, stated investigators present at the scene.

 

Full Story: https://thepattayanews.com/2022/05/18/21-year-old-australian-tourist-falls-from-hotel-to-his-death-in-patong-phuket/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2022-05-18

 

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[Adumbration]

Things are slowly starting to get back to normal.

[beechbum]

RIP young fella.

[Onerak]

OMG. such sad story. 

[aussienam]

Sad story.  Balcony rails are way too low here.  I've been drunk before and felt very uneasy and unsafe.  I can see how easy it is to fall.  Thai safety standards are woefully inadequate/non-existent.  Death traps everywhere. 

Compounding the issue is yes there are obvious unfortunate accidents, but homicides seem to be under/improperly investigated and written off far too often.  

Murders do occur here of course and frequently it seems.  Foreigners are easy targets and relatives have little to no influence on pushing investigations further.  

Then, there is corruption as an additional layer of issue where there are cover-ups, altered autopsy/ cause of death reporting, money exchanging hands and apathy. 

 

We can speculate on cause of death. Hopefully there was no foul play and we can accept the police reported version. 

 

Sad and tragic ending for a young guy on vacation.  Poor parents now dealing with grieving of their dead son.  

 

Thailand can be awesome and it is for most.  But it can be incredibly dangerous too.  No second chances when you are dead.  

[ikke1959]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Several bottles of whisky were found on a table, some appearing to have been half-consumed, stated investigators present at the scene.

For a young man staying alone in a room is this a bit strange .... several bottles on the table and some half consumed....It looks that he was not alone, because if I think that you drink out of 1 bottle and maybe a spare one for when you emptied the bottle.. but several???

[Taco]

Strangely high gravitational forces on balconies in LOS

[rwill]

Low railings and intoxication.  Not a good combination.  If you can lean over a rail at waist height the bulk of your weight is on the wrong side.

But without seeing the particular hotel you can't really state the rails are too low.  I see people that lean out way over the rails to get a better view.

 

Looking at the photo in the linked article several bottles = 2 of them.  Funny enough the Thai brand bottle is blurred out but the Jim Beam is not.  It's still easy enough to see what the brand is if you are familiar with it.

 

Condolences to the family.

Edited May 18, 2022 by rwill

[RichardColeman]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Several bottles of whisky were found on a table, some appearing to have been half-consumed,

Sheesh, several ? Quite easy to see after atleast 1.5 bottles of whiskey why the balcony might appear to  be the toilet !

[2long]

The only thing more dangerous in this country than the roads and women is the balconies!

[ChrisY1]

43 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

For a young man staying alone in a room is this a bit strange .... several bottles on the table and some half consumed....It looks that he was not alone, because if I think that you drink out of 1 bottle and maybe a spare one for when you emptied the bottle.. but several???

Young guy wouldn't buy "several" bottles of Thai <deleted>.....maybe one...unless there were others there in the room.

[hotchilli]

15 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Sheesh, several ? Quite easy to see after atleast 1.5 bottles of whiskey why the balcony might appear to  be the toilet !

I had an old work mate years ago who would pee in the wardrobe when he got smashed...

his missus would make him clean it up and do the laundry every time.

[ThailandRyan]

7 hours ago, aussienam said:

Sad story.  Balcony rails are way too low here.  I've been drunk before and felt very uneasy and unsafe.  I can see how easy it is to fall.  Thai safety standards are woefully inadequate/non-existent.  Death traps everywhere. 

Compounding the issue is yes there are obvious unfortunate accidents, but homicides seem to be under/improperly investigated and written off far too often.  

Murders do occur here of course and frequently it seems.  Foreigners are easy targets and relatives have little to no influence on pushing investigations further.  

Then, there is corruption as an additional layer of issue where there are cover-ups, altered autopsy/ cause of death reporting, money exchanging hands and apathy. 

 

We can speculate on cause of death. Hopefully there was no foul play and we can accept the police reported version. 

 

Sad and tragic ending for a young guy on vacation.  Poor parents now dealing with grieving of their dead son.  

 

Thailand can be awesome and it is for most.  But it can be incredibly dangerous too.  No second chances when you are dead.  

I agree 100%.  When I purchased my condo, the first thing I did was contact a contractor to come in and raise all my balcony railings to a height of 52".  I have never understood why the balcony rail height sat at around 40". Maybe because of a perception with heights of those living in the country, or just because they want to save money.  My neighbor next door did the same thing.  Last thing I would want is a guest or family member to fall over and plunge 45 stories to the ground below.  To actually fall over mine it would take a concerted effort of someone wanting to join the flyer's club.

 

RIP to the young man, he may have been intoxicated, or he may have been leaning back against the rail to take a selfie of his view.  Either way i send my condolences to his family.  A young man never to see his entire life as it grows.

[ThailandRyan]

55 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

For a young man staying alone in a room is this a bit strange .... several bottles on the table and some half consumed....It looks that he was not alone, because if I think that you drink out of 1 bottle and maybe a spare one for when you emptied the bottle.. but several???

Maybe he was being Covid conscious and he had friends bring there own bottles so they could each drink their own instead of chugging from one bottle. Who knows, but in the end he has passed on. Hopefully he was not pushed, even by accident.  CCTV Cameras will tell how many cam and left his room....

[kiwikeith]

13 hours ago, Adumbration said:

Things are slowly starting to get back to normal.

Very sad, your quote is what i thought, maybe test the bottles for DNA, or just file as suicide, tragic so young,

 

[Onerak]

1 hour ago, ikke1959 said:

For a young man staying alone in a room is this a bit strange .... several bottles on the table and some half consumed....It looks that he was not alone, because if I think that you drink out of 1 bottle and maybe a spare one for when you emptied the bottle.. but several???

I used to keep four/five varieties of whiskey/rum/brandy/wine and most of them were half empty.

[robert888d]

So sad.So.many people seem to 'fall' to their deaths from balconies in Thailand.

RIP young man.

[ikke1959]

1 hour ago, ThailandRyan said:

Maybe he was being Covid conscious and he had friends bring there own bottles so they could each drink their own instead of chugging from one bottle. Who knows, but in the end he has passed on. Hopefully he was not pushed, even by accident.  CCTV Cameras will tell how many cam and left his room....

That is what I meant..... strange several bottles were open and used.... and that for a man alone

[ikke1959]

21 minutes ago, Onerak said:

I used to keep four/five varieties of whiskey/rum/brandy/wine and most of them were half empty.

In 2 days time??? arrived on the 14th and the night of  16th/17th  he fell?? They should check were his money / wallet and bankcards and passport are....

Edited May 19, 2022 by ikke1959

[bbko]

2 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

That is what I meant..... strange several bottles were open and used.... and that for a man alone

Plenty of men sleep alone here in Pattaya, nothing strange about that, and as for the several bottles, maybe they were different brands and the young lad wanted to sample various types.

[ikke1959]

11 minutes ago, bbko said:

Plenty of men sleep alone here in Pattaya, nothing strange about that, and as for the several bottles, maybe they were different brands and the young lad wanted to sample various types.

sleeping alone is something different than being alone and drink.... Young people like to sit together......there are more questions than answers at this moment.. and everyone knows that some place are not always safe for young boys... because 21 yrs old and lockdown in the past years... probably not so many experience 

Edited May 19, 2022 by ikke1959

[Tropposurfer]

RIP young fella. How sad for him and his family. Booze and heights don't mix.

 

A national ENFORCED standard is needed immediately one that mirrors Aussie or Euro standards. Seems they simply ignore what Codes they have here at build stage inspections.

But don't hold your breathe on such a simple and obvious need being entrained!

We completed a multi-storey build in Oz not very long back and our balcony balustrades were @ 1,120.0 mm. for the 3 floors above ground. Pool fence @ 1120 mm.

 

Very safe and just slightly above the Aussie Building Codes. My new build here has 1120 mm balustrades and are safe as can be even for a very tall person like myself or taller.

An 1100 mm + height balustrades means a person of say 6'3' has to physically lift themselves about 300 mm off the ground to get their centre of gravity at over-balance point, which, if you're rotten drunk, might seem like a good idea.

 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Tropposurfer

[Tropicalevo]

2 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

Young guy wouldn't buy "several" bottles of Thai <deleted>.....maybe one...unless there were others there in the room.

He was on holiday with 11 friends.

 

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

came to Phuket with 11 friends,

 

[Tropicalevo]

33 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

In 2 days time??? arrived on the 14th and the night of  16th/17th  he fell?? They should check were his money / wallet and bankcards and passport are....

In the photo in the original story, his wallet is next to the bottles - and it still has money in it.

[cardinalblue]

Never mix alcohol and heights…

[bbko]

2 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

Young guy wouldn't buy "several" bottles of Thai <deleted>.....maybe one...unless there were others there in the room.

Photo from the link shows only 2 bottles of different brands, and one almost full, and his wallet still has money.  People try to read too much into a story.

[sammieuk1]

Bungalow but not near a main road for me in this mysterious skydiving land ????Rip

[RafPinto]

5 minutes ago, bbko said:

Photo from the link shows only 2 bottles of different brands, and one almost full, and his wallet still has money.  People try to read too much into a story.

Who puts slippers on top of the table?

[shackleton]

Story mentioned 21 years old must be more to this story than drink involved 

Seems pretty young to be falling our of a hotel room

Usually Condos involved 

RIP 

[grubman]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Maybe he was being Covid conscious and he had friends bring there own bottles so they could each drink their own instead of chugging from one bottle. Who knows, but in the end he has passed on. Hopefully he was not pushed, even by accident.  CCTV Cameras will tell how many cam and left his room....

Maybe the bottles were of different kinds of Whiskey, and he have indulged having different drinks during his stay in the hotel room, I know when i have a few drink i don't drink a whole bottle and have a few different half empty bottles of whiskey in my house, its not a strange to have half empty bottles

 

Maybe some of you guys drink the whole bottle at once ????