Polish man found dead with throat slashed in Bangkok Sukhumvit Soi 23 hotel

[Preman]

Another Death!

Someone above mentioned that Thailand is no more dangerous than other countries at night in certain areas.

Quite a fair statement. Many areas in many cities around the world are dangerous.

However, the same poster said "just stay away from the sex industry in Thailand late at night".

Almost impossible in the major cities and entertainment areas!

Given that Thailand attracts so so many sex tourists, and given the high incidence of Farangs found dead in rooms in various circumstances - and the higher percentage of them supposedly from suicides, - poses a lot of questions.

Likewise, the incidence of suicide balcony jumpers.

Just too many hotel room suicides, just too many balcony suicides to be ignored!

Are they all over-aged suicidal alcoholics? No they are not. The age is spread out - not just older age suicidal nuts!

Or does Thailand just attract suicidal nutters? If so ` Why?

Or, - the more obvious? Crime. Murder.

This does not happen in Thailand. Right? But we read about it more than a few times weekly.

Sure, they may be some suicides, but can anyone on this forum really say that Thailand does NOT have a higher frequency of supposed suicide deaths than most countries amongst its tourist and ex-pat (farang) visitors?

Yes - Thailand does. Go research!

Is Thailand dangerous? Yes!

Is Thailand corrupt generally? Yes!

Is the Judicial System corrupt? Yes!

Is the media reporting suppressed / restricted? Yes!

So, can we expect any reasonable reporting on any issues? No!

Very Sad!

But - this goes on in all countries. Thailand is just becoming worse!

[empireboy]

Condolences to all family and friends.

If it was suicide, which seems doubtful in light of the the many knife-less less painful options... what a tough guy!

It's sad when anyone reaches such a point. If it wasn't suicide, which is more probable, then the Police position is deplorable!

Again, sincere condolences to those who knew him fondly.

[Time Traveller]

Why am I reading of this Bangkok incident in a newspaper from Chiangrai?

local media fear repercussions. So they wait until others have reported the news first.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Time Traveller

[claffey]

If the word is 'safety chain' rather than 'safety chair' then it looks like suicide. Sad, if so. To all reading this thread: if you meet someone who's lonely or sad, try to cheer 'em up. As a farang coming to and residing in Thailand for a third of a century, I've noticed farang men (particularly middle aged and older) rarely if ever get eye contact when out and about town. Come on guys, it's ok to love or even idolize Thais, but don't be so standoffish when seeing a 'stranger' in public. I don't go to bars, but I do have the occasion to meet farang men my age once in awhile. They're travelers, like me. Without exception, every man I converse with has interesting stories to tell. One guy told me about sneaking out of Czechoslovakia on foot, across hundreds of miles - to gain freedom from Soviet domination. Another told me about captaining a small pleasure boat with Rod Stewart as guest. Open up. It wasn't so long ago we were all schoolboys running around the sandlot, yelling at our buddies to 'pass the ball'

I do agree with you - but! I come across half a dozen miserable looking foreigners each and every time I visit my local Mall; I smile, I nod, I greet them, I say "Hello", Sawadee". 'Good morning", "Good day" - but nothing. They look straight through me, sometimes dont even look at me! I've given up now - after ten years of trying to be friendly.

And why should they say hello? Do you think all Asian people in Europe should automatically be friends too? I'm not gonna say hello to someone because they have the same colour skin as me.You actually come across as a little bit weird.Walking around malls saying hello to people because they have the same skin colour as you! Do you say hello to Indian and African people too? Amazing, how some people can travel the world for decades but have no sense of cultural awareness or the world around them...

[Straight8]

As soon as I read "foreigners found with throat slit" I knew the word "suicide" will be in the first line mentioned.

All farang deaths in Thailand are "suicide"

Case closed!!

[elgordo38]

Why wouldn't they investigate. It probably wouldn't take much to do a proper investigation unless their Som Tam is getting cold.

1. Were his fingerprints the only ones on the knife.

2. Assuming they are his prints ONLY. Were the prints in the right place for someone cutting his own throat.

3. If you cut your own throat, which is not unheard of, but rare, might there be blood in very specific places for such an act.

4. Where was his body in relation to the blood and knife?

5. Was the knife in his dominant hand. Look for a selfie to determine the dominant hand.

6. I wonder if police have ever heard of "hesitation marks". Any of those?

7. No signs of a struggle, but really how close did they look? Any unexplained marks, cuts, scratches or bruises on his body?

...and I'm sure there are a few other specific questions that can be asked and investigated assuming they could be bothered.

Quit your making to much sense I am getting a headache. Seriously you are right all of the above steps should have been taken but like a bad car accident the guy was more than likely just written off. Tourism must be protected at all costs.

Edited July 20, 2015 by elgordo38

[Sviss Geez]

Yes, do investigate further, people don't just slit their throats like this, there are many better and faster

ways to die, foul play for sure, sexual act that went horribly wrong maybe,,,,

10 cm is lengthy, if you take out a ruler and look.

We need to see what kind of knife, if the knife is present (which is suspect not because these items are shown in pictures normally in these articles).

10 cm sounds to me like a box cutter.

"We" need to see? Why? The report isn't published here for an investigation by Thaivsa. God help the world if that's what had to be done.

[claffey]

Another Death!

Someone above mentioned that Thailand is no more dangerous than other countries at night in certain areas.

Quite a fair statement. Many areas in many cities around the world are dangerous.

However, the same poster said "just stay away from the sex industry in Thailand late at night".

Almost impossible in the major cities and entertainment areas!

Given that Thailand attracts so so many sex tourists, and given the high incidence of Farangs found dead in rooms in various circumstances - and the higher percentage of them supposedly from suicides, - poses a lot of questions.

Likewise, the incidence of suicide balcony jumpers.

Just too many hotel room suicides, just too many balcony suicides to be ignored!

Are they all over-aged suicidal alcoholics? No they are not. The age is spread out - not just older age suicidal nuts!

Or does Thailand just attract suicidal nutters? If so ` Why?

Or, - the more obvious? Crime. Murder.

This does not happen in Thailand. Right? But we read about it more than a few times weekly.

Sure, they may be some suicides, but can anyone on this forum really say that Thailand does NOT have a higher frequency of supposed suicide deaths than most countries amongst its tourist and ex-pat (farang) visitors?

Yes - Thailand does. Go research!

Is Thailand dangerous? Yes!

Is Thailand corrupt generally? Yes!

Is the Judicial System corrupt? Yes!

Is the media reporting suppressed / restricted? Yes!

So, can we expect any reasonable reporting on any issues? No!

Very Sad!

But - this goes on in all countries. Thailand is just becoming worse!

Actually I find it quite easy to stay away from Red Light districts at night... Its probably not the walking around that gets you in trouble.Its when you start soliciting and becoming involved with people that work in those areas. That's when the real trouble begins. I would argue that many of the old sex pats who visit .and indeed live here also have some form of psychological problems. These problems are exacerbated by the illusion that these young hookers actually fall for them! Add to the mix alcohol, drugs, hot weather etc and it all ends in tears.. Personally, I'm usually at home with my family after 8 pm every night.Hence, the chances of something untoward happening to me is lessened.

Yes, Thailand has problems. But every country does! What angers me is Westerners who assume that they know it all. They come here and say Thailand needs to do this.Thailand needs to do that. That is despite the fact that they have chosen to live here! For example, what right has people from America have to criticise gun laws in Thailand when you can see evidence in the news every day of shootings in America. People move here with closed minds and apply their own imperialistic mindset to what happens here. This is not Europe or America. This is Thailand.It is what it is...and that's why we love it...right...?

[NCC1701A]

if the victim had any sizable amount of cash on him, a Thai thief and murderer would be very comfortable doing what ever it took to get at it.

but access to the 21st floor? elevator cameras, 21st floor cameras, lobby cameras?

hotel staff willing to kill and climb down from the 22nd floor unit above that is also empty? then climb back up? maybe a maid saw some big cash and called her mafia boyfriend.

maybe she left the balcony door unlocked. the suspect would have to wait for the perfect time to open the door and move across the hotel room. no signs of a struggle? fast stab to the neck.

soi 23? who did he do boom boom with in the past few days? ID cards at lobby?

on the other hand, maybe he was drunk and very depressed, and that made cutting his own throat easier to do.

do hotel balcony doors have locks with key access on the outside? do balcony doors use keys at all?

no note, no friends, family? health issues? cancer?

Edited July 20, 2015 by NCC1701A

[RickBradford]

That leads me to believe the body was not far from the knife (if they think it was a possible suicide) so the victim was most likely in the bathroom and possibly did not notice someone enter from the balcony.

The hotel (which I am fairly sure was) where this man was staying does not have balconies.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

An unfortunate accident.

Happens every day.

Just google "when shaving goes bad".

[NCC1701A]

That leads me to believe the body was not far from the knife (if they think it was a possible suicide) so the victim was most likely in the bathroom and possibly did not notice someone enter from the balcony.

The hotel (which I am fairly sure was) where this man was staying does not have balconies.

which place are you thinking of? at first i thought of grand millennium, but not really on soi 23.

Edited July 20, 2015 by NCC1701A

[Sviss Geez]

I guess Thai Police never heard of doing finger prints of the knife and room, hey! what about the door knob?

I guess you've never heard of reading the report, the police are still investigating.

[jagfx]

Plenty of detectives on this forum. Just send all Thai crime/incidents here and they will be solved

Without knowing all the facts, it appears more than likely to be a suicide. I have personally attended 3x similar cases as a Police Officer or Security Officer. It is not very common way of killing yourself and sane persons normally don't do it. All three I attended were also suffering from mental health issues. People do find some strange ways to kill themselves, and can go out of their way to make sure they don't chicken out half way through it. The thing is it hardly gets reported in the western countries unless it is someone high profile. Most people may be surprised by the number of suicides each year in some countries...

[IAMHERE]

As soon as I read "foreigners found with throat slit" I knew the word "suicide" will be in the first line mentioned.

All farang deaths in Thailand are "suicide"

Case closed!!

Geez, I'd of thought some were committed by Ghost for sure.

[NCC1701A]

the problem with fingerprints and DNA is that it leads you to the person who is guilty.

[retarius]

Doesn't it seem that an awful lot of farangs are leaping off hotel balconies, being slashed by knives, drowning and being beaten to death with hoes? Why is this? Don't people come on holiday to have a good time and enjoy themselves? I don't recall any similar daily body count in Spain or Greece as tourists do away with themselves or get murdered.

[claffey]

Doesn't it seem that an awful lot of farangs are leaping off hotel balconies, being slashed by knives, drowning and being beaten to death with hoes? Why is this? Don't people come on holiday to have a good time and enjoy themselves? I don't recall any similar daily body count in Spain or Greece as tourists do away with themselves or get murdered.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/man-dies-two-brits-seriously-5675807

it took me two seconds to find that. Im sure it's one of many.I think the real issue should be the behavior of tourists and not the competency of the local police forces. Surely its better to find out why people are killing themselves or getting killed while on holidays rather than examining the judicial processes of different destinations. Hundreds of tourists die every year in all the main holiday destinations.Its not just Thailand. These deaths need to be considered in the context that millions of tourists travel to these destinations and have a good holiday.However happiness doesn't sell news does it?Can you imagine the following headline...' Man from Halifax has wonderful family holiday in Thailand'.....

[mango66]

Its a case for Koh Tao RTP team,

even that local RTP already decided it was suicide !

KT RTP have the last will of the victim already in the hand!

RIP !

[mango66]

the problem with fingerprints and DNA is that it leads you to the person who is guilty.

for fingerprints check you would need a database of

all 5 Billion people from the earth, pol comm. mentioned !!

DNA they have done already by the sucessfull team which worked on KT case !!

Blood is for sure from the victim , they found;

[JohnThailandJohn]

Despite the importance some people like to have in themselves being a foreigner in Thailand, tourist really don't give a crap if somebody kills themselves or was murdered. Beyond natural disasters, epidemics and political unrest are the only things that really slows down tourism. Unless one of these things happen, despite military control, foreign arrivals will likely break a new record this year and this is considering the fact the end of last year brought one of the most publicized murder cases ever in Thailand the end of last year.

LA & NY have murders and rapes, including tourists, but people still flock to these places as tourists destinations. Nobody is coming to Thailand because they think it is safe and sterile ... those looking for this in SE Asia would go to Singapore.

Had this happened in his home country doubtful it would make the news unless he was well known. Not sure about Poland but believe the UK has about 7,000 suicides a year and US probably double that. It is uncommon for suicides to get reported in either place regardless if local or tourist. If the government was so concerned here, you wouldn't even be reading these stories.

Cops say looks like a suicide but are still investigating ... nothing reported seems to contradict this.

Edited July 20, 2015 by JohnThailandJohn

[wabothai]

The police hasn't gotten the message yet that they should keep their mouth shut untill proper investigation has been done.

does not seem so hard to me.

[JohnThailandJohn]

Doesn't it seem that an awful lot of farangs are leaping off hotel balconies, being slashed by knives, drowning and being beaten to death with hoes? Why is this? Don't people come on holiday to have a good time and enjoy themselves? I don't recall any similar daily body count in Spain or Greece as tourists do away with themselves or get murdered.

You don't read many stories about people on vacation killing themselves here. Thailand has a lot of vices and is a less developed cheaper destination and older lonely males make up a portion of the tourist coming here. Many hearts broken, money lost and drunken nights. Las Vegas is not that different and has the highest suicide rate of probably any city in the world but certainly that of the US.

You will also notice Thailand doesn't have an issue with reporting suicides where other placesgeneral don't report them unless it is a well known person.

[dageurreotype]

Its a case for Koh Tao RTP team,

even that local RTP already decided it was suicide !

KT RTP have the last will of the victim already in the hand!

RIP !

The initial RTP on Koh Tao quickly identified the real murderers and was then quickly transferred. Not always as straightforward as all BiB are morons, is it.

[ourmanflint]

"accidentally brutally cut his head off while combing his hair"

[Nobb]

Throat slashed and they call it suicide. Suicide means the case closed and they do not have to answer any questions. I never heard of a man cutting his own throat. Knife on floor sure if some one else did it but wanted it to look like a suicide! So sad!

[lostmebike]

The BIB have to be the laziest and most incompetent police force in the world.

No amount of bad publicity, as with recent incidents and disgraceful comments made by a senior officer, changes anything as all is ignored, no one in authority comments and it's business as usual.

Yes. Their `pathetic-ness` never ceases to amaze.

[greenchair]

If the word is 'safety chain' rather than 'safety chair' then it looks like suicide. Sad, if so. To all reading this thread: if you meet someone who's lonely or sad, try to cheer 'em up. As a farang coming to and residing in Thailand for a third of a century, I've noticed farang men (particularly middle aged and older) rarely if ever get eye contact when out and about town. Come on guys, it's ok to love or even idolize Thais, but don't be so standoffish when seeing a 'stranger' in public. I don't go to bars, but I do have the occasion to meet farang men my age once in awhile. They're travelers, like me. Without exception, every man I converse with has interesting stories to tell. One guy told me about sneaking out of Czechoslovakia on foot, across hundreds of miles - to gain freedom from Soviet domination. Another told me about captaining a small pleasure boat with Rod Stewart as guest. Open up. It wasn't so long ago we were all schoolboys running around the sandlot, yelling at our buddies to 'pass the ball'

I don't know why you would think

If it says safety chain , then it's automatically suicide.

There were demo going around for years on how to put those safety chains on and off from outside the door.

It is a great way to get the police to think no one has been in the room.

He most probably was having a shower, when someone possibly slipped into his room.

No valuable being missing means nothing.

The most common thing I know about suicide.

Is people are very concerned about the way they will be found.

Few of them wish to be found naked or not nicely dressed. It would have to be an extremely sharp knife to cut ones own throat.

Not buying suicide on this one either.

[JohnThailandJohn]

If the word is 'safety chain' rather than 'safety chair' then it looks like suicide. Sad, if so. To all reading this thread: if you meet someone who's lonely or sad, try to cheer 'em up. As a farang coming to and residing in Thailand for a third of a century, I've noticed farang men (particularly middle aged and older) rarely if ever get eye contact when out and about town. Come on guys, it's ok to love or even idolize Thais, but don't be so standoffish when seeing a 'stranger' in public. I don't go to bars, but I do have the occasion to meet farang men my age once in awhile. They're travelers, like me. Without exception, every man I converse with has interesting stories to tell. One guy told me about sneaking out of Czechoslovakia on foot, across hundreds of miles - to gain freedom from Soviet domination. Another told me about captaining a small pleasure boat with Rod Stewart as guest. Open up. It wasn't so long ago we were all schoolboys running around the sandlot, yelling at our buddies to 'pass the ball'

I don't know why you would think

If it says safety chain , then it's automatically suicide.

There were demo going around for years on how to put those safety chains on and off from outside the door.

It is a great way to get the police to think no one has been in the room.

He most probably was having a shower, when someone possibly slipped into his room.

No valuable being missing means nothing.

The most common thing I know about suicide.

Is people are very concerned about the way they will be found.

Few of them wish to be found naked or not nicely dressed. It would have to be an extremely sharp knife to cut ones own throat.

Not buying suicide on this one either.

The most common thing you know about suicide wrong. People committing suicide in the nude is common. People committing suicide are generally not in a good mental state. Many suicides could care less about others as they know they will be gone soon while others care very much and leave notes and such and others, at least in part, want to hurt others through their suicide.

[arunsakda]

Yes, do investigate further, people don't just slit their throats like this, there are many better and faster

ways to die, foul play for sure, sexual act that went horribly wrong maybe,,,,

In 2006 American keyboardist Vince Welnick of The Tubes/Grateful Dead killed himself by cutting his own neck. Rare but I guess it happens.