Canadian Sisters Found Dead In Thai Resort

[cdnski12]

"They had skin lesions and it seemed that they had bled from the gums. Also, their fingernails and toenails were blue"

It sounds like the symptoms of a diving accident. isn't it ?

They would have water in their lungs if it were a diving accident.

[smedly]

very very sad indeed - I am shocked and stuck for words, my greatest sympathy to family and friends at this time - god only knows they will need it

RIP

I hope this is fully investigated and the truth is uncovered - I think it is important going forward that everyone is protected from this happening again - if it is rat poison then we need to know how they were exposed - which meal they had that wasn't chicken perhaps and where they had it.

[ttelise]

very very sad indeed - I am shocked and stuck for words, my greatest sympathy to family and friends at this time - god only knows they will need it

RIP

I hope this is fully investigated and the truth is uncovered - I think it is important going forward that everyone is protected from this happening again - if it is rat poison then we need to know how they were exposed - which meal they had that wasn't chicken perhaps and where they had it.

Arsenic can cause lessions, but the dose has to be fairly concentrated so I doubt low chronic levels in water would be cause. Intentional, acute poisoning with a fairly high dose would be consistent with evidence of vomiting, lessions, bleeding gums and cyanosis.

[NomadJoe]

very very sad indeed - I am shocked and stuck for words, my greatest sympathy to family and friends at this time - god only knows they will need it

RIP

I hope this is fully investigated and the truth is uncovered - I think it is important going forward that everyone is protected from this happening again - if it is rat poison then we need to know how they were exposed - which meal they had that wasn't chicken perhaps and where they had it.

Arsenic can cause lessions, but the dose has to be fairly concentrated so I doubt low chronic levels in water would be cause. Intentional, acute poisoning with a fairly high dose would be consistent with evidence of vomiting, lessions, bleeding gums and cyanosis.

Are you medically trained or is that just a guess?

[Hellhound66]

Condolences to the families -heartbreaking.

If you are going to speculate at least take into consideration the salient point.

1. why didn't they call for help or exit the room in search of help

a. They were taking something illegal and were to scared to.

b. There was some sort of paralysis involved

Cyanosis, bleeding gums, vomiting and lesions could point to:

a. Drug overdose

b. Lethal snake bite (paralysis involved)

Pure speculation backed up by a little research.

Again my heart goes out to the family in question.

[cardholder]

very very sad indeed - I am shocked and stuck for words, my greatest sympathy to family and friends at this time - god only knows they will need it

RIP

I hope this is fully investigated and the truth is uncovered - I think it is important going forward that everyone is protected from this happening again - if it is rat poison then we need to know how they were exposed - which meal they had that wasn't chicken perhaps and where they had it.

Arsenic can cause lessions, but the dose has to be fairly concentrated so I doubt low chronic levels in water would be cause. Intentional, acute poisoning with a fairly high dose would be consistent with evidence of vomiting, lessions, bleeding gums and cyanosis.

Are you medically trained or is that just a guess?

Why do you feel the need to know ?

Edited June 16, 2012 by cardholder

[smedly]

addressed to who ?

I want to know if some vendor is chopping up dead poisoned rat and serving it in meals to customers in agenerally unregulated industry (if your question was directed at me)

[Phatcharanan]

The Cleaners Knock but don't go in ?? Bull, they only knock as a courtisy and then go in to clean. Verey suspicious !!

Grow up.

[missy1827]

Very, very sad. My condolences to the family and friends.

R.I.P.

[ttelise]

Condolences to the families -heartbreaking.

If you are going to speculate at least take into consideration the salient point.

1. why didn't they call for help or exit the room in search of help

a. They were taking something illegal and were to scared to.

b. There was some sort of paralysis involved

Cyanosis, bleeding gums, vomiting and lesions could point to:

a. Drug overdose

b. Lethal snake bite (paralysis involved)

Pure speculation backed up by a little research.

Again my heart goes out to the family in question.

What drug over dose causes lessions. Maybe if doing meth chronically over a long period of time. Snake bite might be easier to ID at bite site and both get bit and go back to their room and die without seeking help. Not likely and really inconsistent with facts and human nature.

Arsenic or other poisons can kill quickly if large dose. Delayed onset give them enough time to get back to room. Probably seemed like food poisoning at onset. The victims would initially puke and/or diarrhea and possibly garlic taste consistent with acute food poisoning. Stomach cramps and sweating set in and, if high enough dose, could go into shock, seizures kidney failure and die quickly. Lesions are consistent with acute as is cyanosis and bleeding gums for accrue high dose poisoning.

Not aware of any narcotics that would cause all of these symptoms in an acute application so assuming they were chronic drug users is more irresponsible than assuming the obvious which would be what any normal investigator would begin with as a differential diagnosis.

[Jimjim]

Stories like this, especially mysterious tourist deaths from Thailand, just break my heart.

I feel for the families, with these girls still so young and full of life ahead of them. And they just wanted to have a wonderful holiday and end up dead for mysterious reasons.

I hope answers are found. This type of thing seems to happen far too often in Thailand. I know that there are tropical diseases and bugs in Thailand which befuddle even the doctors in this part of the world and which you won't find elsewhere but a death like this just sounds different, though I don't know exactly what it could be.

I don't think guessing games by forum posters help, by the way. We will know when we know. If we know, that is...

[MeganPozza]

How tragic!!! I'm nearly a veterinarian (one year to go), so NOT a human doctor, but this really does sound like some sort of poisoning. Warfarin toxicity (rat poison) in dogs and cats results in a coagulopathy - that is, the blood doesn't clot like it's supposed to. The end result is widespread hemorrhage, resulting in anemia (hence the cyanosis) and spontaneous bleeding (which would explain the bleeding gums and skin lesions, which were likely echymosis or petechial skin hemorrhages). As someone already said though, it is really impossible to say for certain. Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) causes similar symptoms, and this can result from a multitude of severe illnesses. We refer to DIC jokingly as "Death Is Coming", because its onset typically spells doom and gloom for the patient (multi-organ failure!) unless you IMMEDIATELY intervene. It seems so odd though that that this happened SO acutely that neither sister was able to call for help or medical intervention. I don't know how Warfarin toxicity works in humans, but in dogs there's usually 72 hour lag time before things get really bad, and during that time animals act lethargic and inappetant. They don't just roll over and die...it's a gradual onset of symptoms. I suspect the same would be true of humans if Warfarin were implicated. (But then again, I am not a human doctor...)

There's also the fact that this is Thailand we're talking about, which is in the part of the world considered a hotbed for emerging infectious diseases. So there's always the possibility that we're talking about something infectious here...although you'd except more cases, so an N of 2 is really more suggestive of poisoning.

Scary and sad regardless. Hopefully the autopsies will provide some answers!!

[cougar52]

In spite of floods and political unrest, there were 19,098,323 foreign visitors to Thailand in 2011. Given the enourmous numbers of visitors, I'm sure that percentage-wise, the number of farang deaths is a tiny amount, probably much lower than that many other countries. The sensationalist headlines that this website constantly reports make it seem like a dangerous place. It's not.

You must be a Thai, with this being only your 2nd post, it seams you are trying to protect your national Image. To make a statement that "The sensationalist headlines that this website constantly reports make it seem like a dangerous place. It's not." You fail to list all the countries that comprise that 19 million people. Are you aware, that of the top 20 countries in that 19 million, Canada is not even listed. Not to mention that the largest number of FOREIGN visitors are from places Asean, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong (all Asian countries), and not Farang as you decided to label them.

[waza]

very very sad indeed - I am shocked and stuck for words, my greatest sympathy to family and friends at this time - god only knows they will need it

RIP

I hope this is fully investigated and the truth is uncovered - I think it is important going forward that everyone is protected from this happening again - if it is rat poison then we need to know how they were exposed - which meal they had that wasn't chicken perhaps and where they had it.

Arsenic can cause lessions, but the dose has to be fairly concentrated so I doubt low chronic levels in water would be cause. Intentional, acute poisoning with a fairly high dose would be consistent with evidence of vomiting, lessions, bleeding gums and cyanosis.

Are you medically trained or is that just a guess?

Symptoms of arsenic poisoning begin with headaches, confusion, severe diarrhea, and drowsiness. As the poisoning develops, convulsions and changes in fingernail pigmentation called leukonychia may occur. When the poisoning becomes acute, symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, blood in the urine, cramping muscles, hair loss, stomach pain, and more convulsions. The organs of the body that are usually affected by arsenic poisoning are the lungs, skin, kidneys, and liver. The final result of arsenic poisoning is coma to death.^{[citation needed] http://en.wikipedia....senic_poisoning}

^{However, I have seen these symptoms many time in patients with multiple organ dysfuntion syndrome or MODS}

The condition usually results from infection, injury (accident, surgery), hypoperfusion and hypermetabolism. The primary cause triggers an uncontrolled inflammatory response........ However, in one-third of the patients no primary focus can be found.

Edited June 16, 2012 by waza

[cardholder]

addressed to who ?

I want to know if some vendor is chopping up dead poisoned rat and serving it in meals to customers in agenerally unregulated industry (if your question was directed at me)

It wasn't.

[Hellhound66]

Condolences to the families -heartbreaking.

If you are going to speculate at least take into consideration the salient point.

1. why didn't they call for help or exit the room in search of help

a. They were taking something illegal and were to scared to.

b. There was some sort of paralysis involved

Cyanosis, bleeding gums, vomiting and lesions could point to:

a. Drug overdose

b. Lethal snake bite (paralysis involved)

Pure speculation backed up by a little research.

Again my heart goes out to the family in question.

What drug over dose causes lessions. Maybe if doing meth chronically over a long period of time. Snake bite might be easier to ID at bite site and both get bit and go back to their room and die without seeking help. Not likely and really inconsistent with facts and human nature.

Arsenic or other poisons can kill quickly if large dose. Delayed onset give them enough time to get back to room. Probably seemed like food poisoning at onset. The victims would initially puke and/or diarrhea and possibly garlic taste consistent with acute food poisoning. Stomach cramps and sweating set in and, if high enough dose, could go into shock, seizures kidney failure and die quickly. Lesions are consistent with acute as is cyanosis and bleeding gums for accrue high dose poisoning.

Not aware of any narcotics that would cause all of these symptoms in an acute application so assuming they were chronic drug users is more irresponsible than assuming the obvious which would be what any normal investigator would begin with as a differential diagnosis.

Thanks -you clearly know a lot more than me -as I said I just did some research. Actually if plausible I was thinking of a snake in the room. The key point is still why didn't they call for help. To me that really points to them doing something they should not have been plus the fact that they had just been out and come back to their rooms. But if you say that lesions are not consistent with drug overdose and more like poisoning then my speculation doesn't hold up unless someone sold them something as drugs which was in fact poison -but then why only two people and not more? Anyway thanks for the info and again very sorry to see this happen to two young people.

[Hellhound66]

very very sad indeed - I am shocked and stuck for words, my greatest sympathy to family and friends at this time - god only knows they will need it

RIP

I hope this is fully investigated and the truth is uncovered - I think it is important going forward that everyone is protected from this happening again - if it is rat poison then we need to know how they were exposed - which meal they had that wasn't chicken perhaps and where they had it.

Arsenic can cause lessions, but the dose has to be fairly concentrated so I doubt low chronic levels in water would be cause. Intentional, acute poisoning with a fairly high dose would be consistent with evidence of vomiting, lessions, bleeding gums and cyanosis.

Are you medically trained or is that just a guess?

Symptoms of arsenic poisoning begin with headaches, confusion, severe diarrhea, and drowsiness. As the poisoning develops, convulsions and changes in fingernail pigmentation called leukonychia may occur. When the poisoning becomes acute, symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, blood in the urine, cramping muscles, hair loss, stomach pain, and more convulsions. The organs of the body that are usually affected by arsenic poisoning are the lungs, skin, kidneys, and liver. The final result of arsenic poisoning is coma to death.^{[citation needed] http://en.wikipedia....senic_poisoning}

^{However, I have seen these symptoms many time in patients with multiple organ dysfuntion syndrome or MODS}

The condition usually results from infection, injury (accident, surgery), hypoperfusion and hypermetabolism. The primary cause triggers an uncontrolled inflammatory response........ However, in one-third of the patients no primary focus can be found.

leukonychia produces whitening of the nails

[george]

UPDATE:

Canadian sisters found dead in Thai hotel room

BANGKOK: -- Two sisters from Quebec found dead in a Thai hotel room have been identified.

A cousin of the family says the sisters are Audrey Belanger, 20, and Noemi Belanger, 26, both of Pohenegamook, Que.

The cousin, who wished not to be indentified, said the pair studied in Quebec City and worked at a family store in Pohenegamook, a small town of 3,000. He said word of the sisters' death has rocked the close-knit community.

Poisoning is suspected, but Thai police in the resort area of Phi Phi Islands are still trying to determine the cause of the sisters' deaths. Local media reports quoted police as saying there were no signs of violence at the scene.

The Phuket Gazette, a local Thai paper, reported the women's bodies were discovered in their hotel room Friday. The Gazette said the sisters checked into the Phi Phi Palms hotel Tuesday and went out that night, but they stayed in their room all day Wednesday. By Friday hotel staff became concerned and went into their room to check on them, the Gazette reported.

The Manager newspaper website quoted police Lt. Col. Rat Somboon as saying the women had probably been dead for more than 12 hours when their bodies were discovered with vomit and other signs of a toxic reaction.

Canada's ministry of foreign affairs confirmed the deaths in statement issued to CTV News on Saturday.

"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the Canadian Citizens who passed away in Thailand," said Claude Rochon, a spokesperson from the ministry.

Canadian consular officials in Thailand are providing assistance to the families of the victims and are working with local Thai authorities on their investigation, said Rochon.

In an interview on Saturday, Alan Morison, editor of Phuketwan.com, shared the latest news of the investigation with CTV News Channel.

Speaking from the Thai city of Phuket, Morison said his reporters spoke with hospital officials who told them the bodies had rashes on them.

This might support the theory that the women were poisoned, said Morison.

Morison also said the case resembled a case in 2009 when a Norwegian tourist and an American tourist fell ill and died. Their causes of death have yet to be determined, said Morison.

Thailand is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. In 2011, more than 19 million people visited the country. An estimated 100,000 Canadians visit Thailand each year.

The Phi Phi Islands, located of the south-western coast, are an especially popular tourist spot. Known for their white sand beaches and clear water, the islands have been granted national park status by the Thai government.

Source: CTV News http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120616/canadian-women-thailand-hotel-discovery-120616/

[george]

Canadian sisters found dead in Thailand

MONTREAL - Two young sisters from Quebec were found dead Friday on a popular tourist island in southern Thailand, QMI Agency has confirmed.

The bodies of Audrey and Noemi Belanger, aged 20 and 26, were found in a hotel room at 9 p.m. on Phi Phi Island, according to local Thai media.

The sisters were from the town of Pohenegamook, about 200 km northeast of Quebec City.

Joanie Ouellet, who said she worked with one of the two women at a grocery store, said “the mood is quite sad in the town today.”

The sisters’ great-aunt, Colette Belanger, told QMI Agency she heard about the deaths on the news.

“I doubted that it was Audrey and Noemi,” she said.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada confirmed that female Canadian citizens died in Thailand and consular officials were aiding the family of the deceased.

Police on the island of Phi Phi told a local newspaper authorities received a report stating that the two bodies were found in the same hotel room.

Local Thai media have reported the deaths were mysterious.

Lt-Col. Rat Somboon of Krabi Provincial Police told the Phuket Gazette “there was a lot of vomit in the room, and both bodies showed similar signs (of trauma).”

“They had skin lesions and it seemed they had bled from the gums. Also, their fingernails and toenails were blue,” he added.

The Phuket Wan Tourism News reported that a hospital official said it is unclear how the women died.

Noémi (L) and Audrey Belanger from Pohénégamook, Quebec,

were found dead on the island of Phi Phi, Thailand.

The news organization also reported that the Phi Phi Island is notorious for attracting young travellers who drink heavily at the bars that reportedly stay open until dawn.

Local Thai media are likening the case to the deaths of three Western tourists who were thought poisoned on the island in 2009.

However, police and medical authorities have not been able to determine the cause of the three deaths.

The Phuket Gazette reported that a 48-year-old Norwegian tourist staying at a villa on Phi Phi Island was admitted to hospital in April 2009 with severe diarrhea and died soon after.

About a month later, the same newspaper said a 26-year-old American couple fell ill and one of them died. Both had been “vomiting for some time before going to the hospital,” the paper reported.

Finally, the paper reported that a Norwegian woman, who had been staying in the room adjacent to the couple, died in hospital after also falling ill.

-- http://cnews.canoe.ca/

[colind88]

Condolences to the families -heartbreaking.

If you are going to speculate at least take into consideration the salient point.

1. why didn't they call for help or exit the room in search of help

a. They were taking something illegal and were to scared to.

b. There was some sort of paralysis involved

Cyanosis, bleeding gums, vomiting and lesions could point to:

a. Drug overdose

b. Lethal snake bite (paralysis involved)

Pure speculation backed up by a little research.

Again my heart goes out to the family in question.

What drug over dose causes lessions. Maybe if doing meth chronically over a long period of time. Snake bite might be easier to ID at bite site and both get bit and go back to their room and die without seeking help. Not likely and really inconsistent with facts and human nature.

Arsenic or other poisons can kill quickly if large dose. Delayed onset give them enough time to get back to room. Probably seemed like food poisoning at onset. The victims would initially puke and/or diarrhea and possibly garlic taste consistent with acute food poisoning. Stomach cramps and sweating set in and, if high enough dose, could go into shock, seizures kidney failure and die quickly. Lesions are consistent with acute as is cyanosis and bleeding gums for accrue high dose poisoning.

Not aware of any narcotics that would cause all of these symptoms in an acute application so assuming they were chronic drug users is more irresponsible than assuming the obvious which would be what any normal investigator would begin with as a differential diagnosis.

Thanks -you clearly know a lot more than me -as I said I just did some research. Actually if plausible I was thinking of a snake in the room. The key point is still why didn't they call for help. To me that really points to them doing something they should not have been plus the fact that they had just been out and come back to their rooms. But if you say that lesions are not consistent with drug overdose and more like poisoning then my speculation doesn't hold up unless someone sold them something as drugs which was in fact poison -but then why only two people and not more? Anyway thanks for the info and again very sorry to see this happen to two young people.

There is an insecticide called Methomyl that produces those type of symptoms and it is very commonly used in Thailand.

Edited June 16, 2012 by colind88

[EyesWideOpen]

I am going to go out on a limb here, and state that whatever happened to these girls, you will NOT EVER see a screaming headline next month that says they were farang tourists poisoned in the land of smiles. This will go the way of every other mysterious death like this, never really solved and then swept away under the rug Thai style. In the real world a toxicological examination of the body would solve this case instantly. This will never happen here, and toxins will only be alluded to. What incredible pain for the families.......

[ttelise]

The Thai authorities unable to determine cause of deaths for two that died of similar symptoms in 2009 is disconcerting. Are they retarded? I cannot think of any causes of death in the US that go unexplained even if the bodies are in states of advanced decomposition. Either retarded or concealing cause. Arsenic easy to rule out if looking for it.

[ttelise]

I am going to go out on a limb here, and state that whatever happened to these girls, you will NOT EVER see a screaming headline next month that says they were farang tourists poisoned in the land of smiles. This will go the way of every other mysterious death like this, never really solved and then swept away under the rug Thai style. In the real world a toxicological examination of the body would solve this case instantly. This will never happen here, and toxins will only be alluded to. What incredible pain for the families.......

Exactly. I was posting same thing at same time. Very easy matter here. Guys in charge are either retarded or criminally concealing. No need for unexplained deaths with technology easily accessible.

[ttelise]

Condolences to the families -heartbreaking.

If you are going to speculate at least take into consideration the salient point.

1. why didn't they call for help or exit the room in search of help

a. They were taking something illegal and were to scared to.

b. There was some sort of paralysis involved

Cyanosis, bleeding gums, vomiting and lesions could point to:

a. Drug overdose

b. Lethal snake bite (paralysis involved)

Pure speculation backed up by a little research.

Again my heart goes out to the family in question.

What drug over dose causes lessions. Maybe if doing meth chronically over a long period of time. Snake bite might be easier to ID at bite site and both get bit and go back to their room and die without seeking help. Not likely and really inconsistent with facts and human nature.

Arsenic or other poisons can kill quickly if large dose. Delayed onset give them enough time to get back to room. Probably seemed like food poisoning at onset. The victims would initially puke and/or diarrhea and possibly garlic taste consistent with acute food poisoning. Stomach cramps and sweating set in and, if high enough dose, could go into shock, seizures kidney failure and die quickly. Lesions are consistent with acute as is cyanosis and bleeding gums for accrue high dose poisoning.

Not aware of any narcotics that would cause all of these symptoms in an acute application so assuming they were chronic drug users is more irresponsible than assuming the obvious which would be what any normal investigator would begin with as a differential diagnosis.

Thanks -you clearly know a lot more than me -as I said I just did some research. Actually if plausible I was thinking of a snake in the room. The key point is still why didn't they call for help. To me that really points to them doing something they should not have been plus the fact that they had just been out and come back to their rooms. But if you say that lesions are not consistent with drug overdose and more like poisoning then my speculation doesn't hold up unless someone sold them something as drugs which was in fact poison -but then why only two people and not more? Anyway thanks for the info and again very sorry to see this happen to two young people.

There is an insecticide called Methomyl that produces those type of symptoms and it is very commonly used in Thailand.

I think one returns to a normal state, from flu like symptoms, if exposure to Methomyl is ceased. If pumped into their rooms at high levels, then maybe die. Maids cleaning room and people entering would notice effects. Not sure about lessions or bleeding gums. It might be more of a central nervous symptom agent as opposed to arsenic which causes acute renal failure.

[atyclb]

"Impossible even for someone with an advanced medical degree to diagnose a cause of death from a few comments in an article. Futile to do so."

But far from impossible to render a differential diagnosis especially given the old adage "90% of diagnosis comes from the history"

.

Edited June 16, 2012 by atyclb

[impulse]

Good say, you right i live 4 year here never had problems, i am from Belgium i think it is more safe here

Sadly, your perception is incorrect. A person is 4x as likely to be murdered in Thailand (per 100,000 populations) as in Belgium:

Source, the UN. http://www.unodc.org...es-05012009.pdf

Belgium: 1.6- 2.1 intentional homicides per 100,000. Thailand: 8.2- 9.0.

A person in Thailand is also probably several times more likely to be killed in traffic (per 100 million vehicle miles driven) than in Europe. I haven't looked that one up for Europe, but my recollection is that the factor for the USA is 12x more likely to be killed in traffic in Thailand.

Edited June 16, 2012 by impulse

[telldem]

R.I.P sisters.

Sent from my iPhone 4 S using Thaivisa Connect App

[David006]

very sad indeed....

this is not a speculation about these poor girls however last year my poor FIL was found dead in our house while he was house sitting for us....similar inasmuch he had multiple skin lesions and vomiting and blue nails...was taken by police to local hospital....conclusion multiple snake bites...snake not identified....

[Lite Beer]

Canadian sisters found dead on Phi Phi Island The Nation

PHI PHI: -- The bodies of two Canadian sisters have been found in a hotel room on the popular resort island of Phi Phi, police said yesterday.

The sisters, aged 26 and 20, were found dead on Friday afternoon by hotel staff on the Andaman sea island, 800 kilometres south of Bangkok.

"Their bodies were found a little after midday [on Friday]. They were sisters," Pol Lieutenant Pongpan Waiyawat told AFP. "We have to wait for the post-mortem to determine the cause of death, but based on initial investigations there's no sign of violence in their room."

Koh Phi Phi has a reputation for boisterous nightlife and binge drinking - tourists are sometimes encouraged to drink alcoholic concoctions out of small plastic buckets.

The latest tragedy echoes the mysterious death of two women tourists in a guesthouse on the island, which is about an hour's boat-ride from Phuket, three years ago.

The Phuketwan website said: "American Jill St Onge, 27, was in one room with her boyfriend Ryan Kells, while Norwegian Julie Michelle Bergheim, 22, and her friend 'Karina' signed in for the room next door. Within hours, St Onge and Bergheim were dead, and Kells and 'Karina' narrowly avoided the same fate. The Laleena guesthouse has since changed its name but the mystery lives on. Despite pathologists and chemists in Norway and the US trying to solve the mystery, no cause of deaths has been determined. The fact that the 2009 deaths remain unsolved and the victims were also young women is likely to lead to intense media coverage"

-- The Nation 2012-06-17

[Bender]

I was just wondering where were all the thai apologist.

Just realized this is the week end, and all the property agency, tourism agency, travel agency... are closed .