German tourist’s suicide jump at Suvanarbhumi airport

[Thaivisa News]

Samut Prakan:- A German tourist was fatally injured after he jumped from the fourth-floor connecting way of the car park building and the outbound passenger terminal of the Suvanarbhumi International Airport Thursday afternoon.

Pol Col Kittipop Chompunut, commander of the Suvarnabhumi police station, said the suicide happened at 4 pm.

The tourist was identified as Michale Walter, 45.

He jumped from the connecting platform between the car park and the road in front of the fourth floor of the passenger terminal in Zone 3 of the airport.

Kittipop said he was alerted of the jump right after it happened and informed the Samitivej Hospital to rush an emergency medical team to the scene along with a police officer.

The officials found Walter lied on the first floor in front of the outbound passenger building. He suffered severe injuries on his head and neck and was rushed to the Simitivej. He died later at the hospital.

Police found Walter’s black bag at the spot. Police checked footage of security camera at the spot and saw that Walter put down his bag before he stepped back from the fence and ran toward it and jumped over it with his head pointing down as if he jumped into a swimming pool.

Pol Lt Thirayut Khengraeng, an officer of the Suvarnabhumi police station who inspected the scene, said Walter entered Thailand on February 15 and was scheduled to leave on March 16.

So far, police did not know his motive.

Police have informed the German embassy of the incident to contact his relatives to retrieve the body.

Police said several farang tourists have committed suicides by jumping from the connecting platform between the car par and the fourth floor of the outbound passenger terminal at the rate of three or four suicides each year.

[ratcatcher]

How very sad..................

[tonydandelot]

3-4 a year on same spot, sound suppernaturel, something about that place , like the bridge in scotland or england where the dogs always jump off.

need to be investigated, not by the thai police offcourse

[hanno]

3-4 a year on same spot, sound suppernaturel, something about that place , like the bridge in scotland or england where the dogs always jump off.

need to be investigated, not by the thai police offcourse

You actually managed to beat the "must have been the girlfriend" crowd, the supernatural angle is a new one to explain why someone who didn't work things out in LOS took this terrible way out.

RIP.

[ravip]

3-4 a year on same spot, sound suppernaturel, something about that place , like the bridge in scotland or england where the dogs always jump off.

need to be investigated, not by the thai police offcourse

The appetizer! More to follow.

RIP.

[WhamBam]

Very sad when people do this. How desperate must someone be to end it all like this?

And 3 to 4 a year from the same spot? Maybe the need higher railings or box them in.

[dddave]

I remember an almost identical one last year at the same spot but have never seen reports of 3 or 4 a year from there.....maybe a bit of hyperbole.

[robertthebruce]

Poor Man, we never know what goes on in Peoples Minds..

[redandyellow]

A TWO Part Observation on the Unfortunate, Ongoing, Persistent, as in Chronic, Unresolved Issue:

Part ONE. Does anyone have ACCURATE statistics on how many farang either jump, fall over the short railings, or are pushed to their deaths over balconies in Thailand, year on year?

I'm looking for totals, and accurate tallies for the three main types of fall. I realize it would be easier to get the US nuclear codes from Obama, but I like tough challenges.

Signed, Wishing upon a Star

Part TWO. Are there inherent farang (personality) types that are more prone to jump, fall or get pushed? If so, are the broad categories of money, alcoholism-drugs, general health and women not the root cause in 100% of cases, in no particular order?

I could have fit the first category nicely, as I lost 40 million Baht ( 1.2 million Canadian dollars , when it was almost at par) in the markets 18 months ago, it was my own fault, and amounted to 90% and change of my life-savings..and I'm in Thailand plenty of the time. I didn't look for any sympathy in the bottle, as I knew no one gave a crap (even my Thai wife was indifferent, she said it wasn't my fault) nor did I contemplate "the jump."

Bottom line? It probably-usually takes at least TWO categories to do the deed, and I only fit one, like a glove

Signed, But not always

[Mcffee]

Guess it's the connecting platform between the departure hall @4th floor and the car stop. Scary heights that when looking over the fence trigger the imagination...

[doremifasol]

Poor man.....he could make it to the airport but not back home.....

My thoughts are with his family

RIP

[rasmus5150]

The jumper never contemplated what kind of trauma onlookers will have for many years to come. Why do they have to do their selfish act in such a public place? I know they probably have lost the will to live through extremely sad circumstances, but the majority of us have chosen to die of natural causes many years from now.

[BKKSnowBird]

Why do this at an airport? Are they that sad to be leaving?

[96tehtarp]

This is very sad. I don't know if this frequent jumping habit speaks more of Thailand or Western counties.

[xtc2]

he was alerted of the jump right after it happened and informed the Samitivej Hospital to rush an emergency medical team to the scene

Doesn't bode well for travelers that there is apparently no emergency medical team available at the this supposed international hub of aviation.

What's the response time from Samitivej to the airport?

[gk10002000]

A TWO Part Observation on the Unfortunate, Ongoing, Persistent, as in Chronic, Unresolved Issue:

Part ONE. Does anyone have ACCURATE statistics on how many farang either jump, fall over the short railings, or are pushed to their deaths over balconies in Thailand, year on year?

I'm looking for totals, and accurate tallies for the three main types of fall. I realize it would be easier to get the US nuclear codes from Obama, but I like tough challenges.

Signed, Wishing upon a Star

Part TWO. Are there inherent farang (personality) types that are more prone to jump, fall or get pushed? If so, are the broad categories of money, alcoholism-drugs, general health and women not the root cause in 100% of cases, in no particular order?

I could have fit the first category nicely, as I lost 40 million Baht ( 1.2 million Canadian dollars , when it was almost at par) in the markets 18 months ago, it was my own fault, and amounted to 90% and change of my life-savings..and I'm in Thailand plenty of the time. I didn't look for any sympathy in the bottle, as I knew no one gave a crap (even my Thai wife was indifferent, she said it wasn't my fault) nor did I contemplate "the jump."

Bottom line? It probably-usually takes at least TWO categories to do the deed, and I only fit one, like a glove

Signed, But not always

I am really busy but it will be simple, but tedious to go online and just read through Pattaya Mxxl website and start counting. Make a list. I estimate in Pattaya alone I read one per week for sure as an average

[gk10002000]

I would think some college student in Thailand would take this on as a project. Research the published papers from a few cities and make the list. I also think the report would be squashed because it might be deemed as showing too much negative information and might hurt tourism or the country's reputation.

[geriatrickid]

This is very sad. I don't know if this frequent jumping habit speaks more of Thailand or Western counties.

It speaks to the demographic of middle aged males who commit suicide. The two age groups (for EU, Canada, Australia) males with the most pronounced suicide rates are 80 years+ and 45-49 years. It comes as no surprise then that these 45-49 year old males figure prominently in foreigner suicides in Thailand.

[Jeremy50]

he was alerted of the jump right after it happened and informed the Samitivej Hospital to rush an emergency medical team to the scene

Doesn't bode well for travelers that there is apparently no emergency medical team available at the this supposed international hub of aviation.

What's the response time from Samitivej to the airport?

There is one. Watch 'Bangkok Airport' to enlighten yourself.

[tom21]

must be because he arrived 4 days before his flight and the thought of the wait???. not sure why he done it but why there

[soihok]

Thankfully he didn't kill anyone else by landing on them.

[96tehtarp]

This is very sad. I don't know if this frequent jumping habit speaks more of Thailand or Western counties.

It speaks to the demographic of middle aged males who commit suicide. The two age groups (for EU, Canada, Australia) males with the most pronounced suicide rates are 80 years+ and 45-49 years. It comes as no surprise then that these 45-49 year old males figure prominently in foreigner suicides in Thailand.

When I lived in Niagara Falls there were an awful lot of jumpers over the falls as well. There were so many that the media stopped reporting them as a matter of policy.

[harrycallahan]

"outbound passenger terminal at the rate of three or four suicides each year."

Always outbound. Don't have to be a psychologist to work it out.

[bangkokheat]

yes well sometimes the frustration here can tend to make you want to kill someone, or even oneself

[ezzra]

Thailand is fast becoming the capital country for all sorts of tourist and expats death, nary a day goes

by without one tourist or two of any description meeting their demise in a myriad of ways,

It's almost like they come here to die in paradise or to fulfill a death wish... paradise lost...

A million ways to die in Thailand...

Edited March 13, 2015 by ezzra

[Suradit69]

3-4 a year on same spot, sound suppernaturel, something about that place , like the bridge in scotland or england where the dogs always jump off.

need to be investigated, not by the thai police offcourse

You actually managed to beat the "must have been the girlfriend" crowd, the supernatural angle is a new one to explain why someone who didn't work things out in LOS took this terrible way out.

RIP.

"...someone who didn't work things out in LOS took this terrible way out."

More likely someone who couldn't face returning to Farang Land. Sad to consider how a visit to Thailand can make some people realize how depressing life back in Farang Utopia really is. Hopefully most people would just start planning their next visit to Thailand rather than this sort of "escape."

As to that place being supernatural, it may just be the easiest place to jump after the decision was made.

[redandyellow]

Thankfully he didn't kill anyone else by landing on them.

Maybe you should strongly consider changing your TV name to.....are you ready?

PRAGMATIC... Ta Da!

[LuckyLew]

Got taken to the cleaners in Thailand or had nothing to go back to

Either way a sad way to end it and painful

RIP

[Maggusoil]

A TWO Part Observation on the Unfortunate, Ongoing, Persistent, as in Chronic, Unresolved Issue:

Part ONE. Does anyone have ACCURATE statistics on how many farang either jump, fall over the short railings, or are pushed to their deaths over balconies in Thailand, year on year?

I'm looking for totals, and accurate tallies for the three main types of fall. I realize it would be easier to get the US nuclear codes from Obama, but I like tough challenges.

Signed, Wishing upon a Star

Part TWO. Are there inherent farang (personality) types that are more prone to jump, fall or get pushed? If so, are the broad categories of money, alcoholism-drugs, general health and women not the root cause in 100% of cases, in no particular order?

I could have fit the first category nicely, as I lost 40 million Baht ( 1.2 million Canadian dollars , when it was almost at par) in the markets 18 months ago, it was my own fault, and amounted to 90% and change of my life-savings..and I'm in Thailand plenty of the time. I didn't look for any sympathy in the bottle, as I knew no one gave a crap (even my Thai wife was indifferent, she said it wasn't my fault) nor did I contemplate "the jump."

Bottom line? It probably-usually takes at least TWO categories to do the deed, and I only fit one, like a glove

Signed, But not always

The sudden loss of a lot of, all or nearly all someone's money can do it alone. It is quite common for a man. The drop in rubber price has caused suicides in a lot of farmers up our way. These are so common and the people so tucked away in the country, they are not reported.

Yes agreed. It is a great shame when a life experience is seen as being so terminal.

Its happened to me also. Some people contemplate it often. Some people never do. Psychological make up is different.

[arrowsdawdle]

Poor man.....he could make it to the airport but not back home.....

My thoughts are with his family

RIP

Maybe going home was what he wanted to avoid.