Belgian ends it all with a helium bottle in Bangkok

[billd766]

This is the besy way to go for all concerned when the time has come...can use nitrogen as well. Clean, neat, and painless. (Google "NO2 exit bag")

It has been in my worst case exit plan for several years now.

[balo]

If he was terminally ill I can understand his decision, if not I will not agree that this is the way to go. He could probably get help in his home country if he wanted to.

[robblok]

This is what the various governments should be using for the Death Sentence, I am however beginning to believe in Public Hangings for Rape Murder Cases !!

There was a whole documentary about the death sentence and how to do it better. However it seemed that if it was too painless governments did not want it. There are ways like this that are so easy that people feel its not punishment enough. Too easy.

(im against the death sentence in general as many mistakes are made, however there are cases that make me question my point of view)

[dageurreotype]

This is the besy way to go for all concerned when the time has come...can use nitrogen as well. Clean, neat, and painless. (Google "NO2 exit bag")

Well I took your advice and goggled it and among one of the many results decided on a 'failed attempt' recount. This from the blog:

'I took a deep inward breath, I remember it feeling cold and refreshing, like walking into an air conditioned room on a hot humid day. I said out lout "I loved you all more than you'll ever know", and noticed I had the squeaky helium voice.'

Sorry, but ..

[F4UCorsair]

Where do you buy helium to start with? only in a party's accessories shop I guess, but this a restricted

substance to buy, how did he managed to buy a canister full of it is a mystery,

and why go into all this troubles if balcony diving is the in thing now days in Thailand?....

Your comment makes no sense at all. If it is a restricted substance how come it’s readily available in party accessory shops?

I'm guessing, but probably so they can inflate party balloons. It's probably not available to the general public??

[fatyank]

RIP and my sincere condolences to his family & friends

Why ?

he is part of the RIP brigade

[scotchonrocks]

Helium is a limited resource. Like N2, it is available to the open market unrestricted but it should not be because of the limited supply. It cannot be extracted from the atmosphere and is used in MRI and CAT scanners for supercooling the magnets, for laser cutting and specialist welding applications and of course the diving sector for saturation systems. A big discovery was made in the past month (Tanzania) which is good because reserves were running down and the supply chain was getting critical.

It is a painless way to go but what a sad end to this 37 year old. There are other ways and reaching out is the best policy. RIP and condolences to his family.

[PETERTHEEATER]

Police discovered that he was suffering from a liver disease.

Amazing detective work at the scene with a scalpel?

[scubascuba3]

As Helium is a limited resource they should ban the use in balloons.

It's certainly a better way to go than the condo method.

[sahibji]

i feel very depressed with such tragedy.

why go to a foreign country and commit such an

act. or circumstances developed leading him to this end.

[oxo1947]

Why ?

Because he didn't have a balcony...............

[SOTIRIOS]

...discovered he was suffering from liver disease.....???

...pray tell....

[berybert]

RIP and my sincere condolences to his family & friends

Why ?

Why not?

Because it doesnt mean anything.

[SteveB2]

RIP to the gentlemen. What a tragically young age of just 37 to commit suicide.

A few years ago Michael Portillo (a former British Member of Parliament) carried out some formal research into the development of a humane killing method to be used by governments for carrying out the death penalty.

The title of the documentary detailing his findings is called 'How to kill a human being' and is well worth a watch, should you be of sound mind and not suffering from depression with a dark wish to pop your cork... The section on the use of inert gas execution begins at time-stamp 41:25

Not surprisingly (and obviously, really), the conclusion of Portillo's investigation, is that the use of any hypoxic inert gas ( helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe) ) or even a physiologically inert gas such as Nitrogen is 'the perfect killing method'.

To quote one of the researchers Dr Mohan Raj who contributed to the investigation "breathing pure nitrogen would render one unconcious in 15 seconds, and dead in under 1 minute"

As a mixed gas supplier, we hold several of these potentially hypoxic gases on our premises for supply as blended Trimix (helium mixed gas) for tech divers diving to deeper than 50m/165ft and for MIG/TIG welders. As part of their training, these specialist divers and welders are made only too aware of the dangers of using hypoxic gases. Still, every year, deaths occur through unintended incidents of divers breathing the wrong gas at depth. There are no reliable symptoms to make the diver aware that he is breathing zero oxygen content gas. He simply passes out, loses his breathing regulator, drowns underwater and that is that.

Of interest for helium, is that there are many grades of purity available. Balloon helium is the weirdest - its specification is simply that it 'will make a balloon float’ - so in fact, balloon helium could even have 21% oxygen in it and be perfectly breathable. The other grades used for diving and technical use begin at 99.995% purity - these ultra-pure grades are thoroughly hypoxic and will see someone off very promptly indeed.

Deciding 'cause of death' for someone who has committed suicide by breathing pure nitrogen would (without the evidence of a Nitrogen cylinder and exit bag nearby) be impossible. Nurse Betty explains the use of an exit bag . This is since ISO2533 ambient air contains approx. 21% Oxygen, 78%Nitrogen, 1%Argon. Thus any Nitrogen in the blood would be expected to be from ambient air.

For anyone with their thinking cap on who wanted to hide their own death, pure Nitrogen could be supplied in an incorrectly marked cylinder - (for example in a Green/White top Medical Oxygen cylinder) and delivered at high flow rate 25L/min via a normal hospital oxygen rebreather bag such as those used by patients with breathing difficulties or reduced lung function. This would produce a high level of inspired inert gas, on free flow (so leading to a completely empty cylinder a few tens of minutes after death. It would be quite difficult to extract a gas test sample of sufficient quantity to analyses from an empty cylinder - thus the death would appear as though the patient simply expired during his normal oxygen treatment.

A peaceful death indeed.

Edited July 10, 2016 by SteveB2

[Lamkyong]

Where do you buy helium to start with? only in a party's accessories shop I guess, but this a restricted

substance to buy, how did he managed to buy a canister full of it is a mystery,

and why go into all this troubles if balcony diving is the in thing now days in Thailand?....

Helium is used for arc welding

try argon inert for welding

[Winniedapu]

I would have thought Nitrogen would have been easier to come by. though he/mights have said he was blowing up quite a lot of floaty balloons.... nitrogen not

so good for them.

Sleeping tablets would have been an easier way to go, though hypoxia would kick in quite quickly after he turned the gas on...

Perhaps he just wanted to sound like the Chipmunks for a bit?

Winnie

Edited July 10, 2016 by Winniedapu

[Doc46]

Where do you buy helium to start with? only in a party's accessories shop I guess, but this a restricted

substance to buy, how did he managed to buy a canister full of it is a mystery,

and why go into all this troubles if balcony diving is the in thing now days in Thailand?....

Just to prove ,,,,I did it my way,,,,

[manfredtillmann]

Sad story.. 37y old. Some might say middle aged but theres plenty of guys who would say the 30's are their prime time.

No girl in the world is worth to take your own life.. and liver disease isn't a death sentence in any way.

Thailand is not the place to come with a liver disease.

...discovered he was suffering from liver disease.....???

...pray tell....

check out:

http://www.medicinenet.com/alpha_1_antitrypsin_deficiency/article.htm

and get yourselves checked, you might be one of many...

it changes your life to find out!

in many ways.

[HooHaa]

If he was terminally ill I can understand his decision, if not I will not agree that this is the way to go. He could probably get help in his home country if he wanted to.

I'm certain your understanding is very important to him.

[KittenKong]

" .. or mess left for others."

He was very thoughtless in not alerting somebody beforehand that he may be soon found dead.

A corpse left to rot for several days is a ghastly job for people to clean up.

If I had decided to do that I would not want anyone finding out in advance and stopping me.

For all we know he was also thoughtful enough to put down a plastic sheet too. I think the guy went well compared to the way that many in that situation go.

[halloween]

As Helium is a limited resource they should ban the use in balloons.

It's certainly a better way to go than the condo method.

I suppose everything has its limit, but "Helium is the second lightest element and is the second most abundant element in the observable universe," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium

Any non-oxygen environment would have the same effect.

[scubascuba3]

As Helium is a limited resource they should ban the use in balloons.

It's certainly a better way to go than the condo method.

I suppose everything has its limit, but "Helium is the second lightest element and is the second most abundant element in the observable universe," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium

Any non-oxygen environment would have the same effect.

It's not abundant on earth.

Helium discovery a 'game-changer' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36651048

And i doubt CO2 would work in an exit bag

[halloween]

As Helium is a limited resource they should ban the use in balloons.

It's certainly a better way to go than the condo method.

I suppose everything has its limit, but "Helium is the second lightest element and is the second most abundant element in the observable universe," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium

Any non-oxygen environment would have the same effect.

It's not abundant on earth.

Helium discovery a 'game-changer' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36651048

And i doubt CO2 would work in an exit bag

To dispel your doubts, I can only suggest you give it a try.

[scubascuba3]

As Helium is a limited resource they should ban the use in balloons.

It's certainly a better way to go than the condo method.

I suppose everything has its limit, but "Helium is the second lightest element and is the second most abundant element in the observable universe," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium

Any non-oxygen environment would have the same effect.

It's not abundant on earth.

Helium discovery a 'game-changer' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36651048

And i doubt CO2 would work in an exit bag

To dispel your doubts, I can only suggest you give it a try.

Its ok I'll leave it to you, or you do more research

[midas]

Where do you buy helium to start with? only in a party's accessories shop I guess, but this a restricted

substance to buy, how did he managed to buy a canister full of it is a mystery,

and why go into all this troubles if balcony diving is the in thing now days in Thailand?....

Your comment makes no sense at all. If it is a restricted substance how come it’s readily available in party accessory shops?

I'm guessing, but probably so they can inflate party balloons. It's probably not available to the general public??

there is no mention of any restrictions whatsoever on sales to the general public on this website

"Standard Helium Tank

This lightweight, portable tank with 8.9 ft3 of helium/air mixture is perfect for mixing and matching balloons to customize your celebration. The easy-to-use tank inflates up to 30, 9" latex balloons; 16, 11" latex balloons; or 16, 18" foil/Mylar balloons."

http://www.balloontime.com/products/products-list/

Edited July 10, 2016 by midas

[dageurreotype]

Oh stop. It's been a widely used 'exit' in CM for years now. Not just some holidaymaker with an agenda. Dear god this forum's 'news' gets more desperate by the day. Isn't it time for another farang dun in by thai tart/crackdown on farang breeding ferrets thread yet?

[halloween]

I suppose everything has its limit, but "Helium is the second lightest element and is the second most abundant element in the observable universe," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium

Any non-oxygen environment would have the same effect.

It's not abundant on earth.

Helium discovery a 'game-changer' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36651048

And i doubt CO2 would work in an exit bag

To dispel your doubts, I can only suggest you give it a try.

Its ok I'll leave it to you, or you do more research

How much research do I need to do to know that if there is no oxygen gas (O₂) in what you are breathing, you will die. If you are ignorant enough to believe CO₂ can be a replacement, then you are beyond help. 1% CO₂ in air, with 20% oxygen, is enough to cause symptoms of poisoning.

In an exit bag, it would NOT be a pleasant death, as the high CO₂ levels would trigger gasping. The same effect could be achieved by simply tying a bag over your head and allowing the body to convert the available oxygen. But it would still kill you.

[scubascuba3]

I suppose everything has its limit, but "Helium is the second lightest element and is the second most abundant element in the observable universe," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium

Any non-oxygen environment would have the same effect.

It's not abundant on earth.

Helium discovery a 'game-changer' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36651048

And i doubt CO2 would work in an exit bag

To dispel your doubts, I can only suggest you give it a try.

Its ok I'll leave it to you, or you do more research

How much research do I need to do to know that if there is no oxygen gas (O₂) in what you are breathing, you will die. If you are ignorant enough to believe CO₂ can be a replacement, then you are beyond help. 1% CO₂ in air, with 20% oxygen, is enough to cause symptoms of poisoning.

In an exit bag, it would NOT be a pleasant death, as the high CO₂ levels would trigger gasping. The same effect could be achieved by simply tying a bag over your head and allowing the body to convert the available oxygen. But it would still kill you.

Well done for doing some research rather than just wikipedia. The experts in this field seem to suggest Helium or Nitrogen, only the very thick suggest CO2. Anyway i think we've done this to death..

[halloween]

I suppose everything has its limit, but "Helium is the second lightest element and is the second most abundant element in the observable universe," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium

Any non-oxygen environment would have the same effect.

It's not abundant on earth.

Helium discovery a 'game-changer' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36651048

And i doubt CO2 would work in an exit bag

To dispel your doubts, I can only suggest you give it a try.

Its ok I'll leave it to you, or you do more research

How much research do I need to do to know that if there is no oxygen gas (O₂) in what you are breathing, you will die. If you are ignorant enough to believe CO₂ can be a replacement, then you are beyond help. 1% CO₂ in air, with 20% oxygen, is enough to cause symptoms of poisoning.

In an exit bag, it would NOT be a pleasant death, as the high CO₂ levels would trigger gasping. The same effect could be achieved by simply tying a bag over your head and allowing the body to convert the available oxygen. But it would still kill you.

Well done for doing some research rather than just wikipedia. The experts in this field seem to suggest Helium or Nitrogen, only the very thick suggest CO2. Anyway i think we've done this to death..

Any non-oxygen environment would have the same effect. Was that statement wrong?

[Confuscious]

Belgian ends it all with a helium bottle in Bangkok

belgium.PNG

Image: Daily News

BANGKOK: Pahonyothin police called to an address in the northern part of Bangkok found a Belgian man with a hose leading from a black bin over his head. The hose was connected to a green canister of helium gas.

Found Friday he is thought to have been already dead for 3-4 days as decomposition had started to set in. His name was Stefan Don and he was just 37.

There was no sign of injury or evidence of a struggle in his room.

Police discovered that he was suffering from a liver disease. He had a Thai girlfriend but police had so far been unable to contact her.

Police supposed that he had committed suicide but his body was set for autopsy to confirm the reason for his death.

Source: Daily News

-- 2016-07-10

w

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Helium is a strange way to commit suicide as it doesn't produce any feeling of suffocation, but depletes the body of oxygen, leading to loss of consciousness and death. Flying off balconies is the usual modus operandi and this has got to be an absolute first so I presume this will be a field day for the armchair sleuths so let's see what TV detectives come up with !!!

Probably a lot of hot air excusing the pun,

RIP

--------------------------

I recall a report of a previous expat who chose basically the same route.

Altjough, as iI recall the previous guy put on a divers helmet and breathed in helium from the helmet.

Same basic idea however.

"He used a can of helium and a plastic bag, also known as an exit bag, to choke himself. According to Chiang Mai City News, this method of suicide is common among people who suffer from diseases as they can force themselves to inhale a gas like helium, nitrogen, or carbon monoxide. The process causes the person to first lose consciousness and is similar to going to sleep."

http://www.thailawforum.com/blog/man-commits-suicide-after-spending-savings-in-chiang-mai