Thai mystery hotel death toll jumps to fourA fourth person has ’secretly’ died at a Thai hotel where last week two British pensioners were found dead in separate beds.
After an earlier incident in which a 23-yr-old New Zealand woman was taken fatally ill with supposed ‘toxic poisoning’ Thai police today admitted today that in fact there was also a FURTHER earlier incident just days before in which a Thai guest also died.
The admission came after a complaint from a foreign guest who saw a body on a stretcher being dragged down the fire escape of the Downtown Inn in Chiang Mai, across the hotel’s pool area, which had been temporarily closed, and into an ambulance of a local foundation.
“The body was covered with a sheet, but seemed to be that of a woman.â€
The fourth death has not been previously mentioned to the media but today the manager of the city centre Downtown Inn also admitted that a Thai woman died on the premises, shortly before the New Zealander Sarah Carter was taken fatally ill.
A Chiang Mai police spokesman also confirmed the death and named the woman as Waraporn Pungmahisiranon but stressed: “It is dangerous to jump to conclusions.â€
Thanthep Bunkeow, the hotel manager, said: “I am referring all calls to the Thai Police and the Ministry of Public Health. I cannot say what the cause is. You will have to talk to them.â€
The Downtown Inn is part of a hotel group in Chiang Mai which also owns the Empress and Park Hotels in the city.
Waraporn Pungmahisiranon was in fact the first person to die in the hotel last month.
According to Police said she died on February 3rd, several days before Sarah Carter and two friends were taken sick.
The New Zealanders and Thai woman were in adjacent rooms, 518 and 516.
A guest at the hotel said on condition of anonymity: “None of us understand why the first death was kept a secret. I saw them take the body out down a fire escape before the girls were taken illâ€.
“Police had ‘Forensic Police’ signs on their jackets. There was a much easier way of getting the body out but I guess they did not want to alarm guests. They closed the pool area before walking the body through the pool area down to a foundation ambulance. We never saw this reported anywhere.
“We are confused. We were told that the British couple died of heart attacks after having sex. We were told the Thai woman had a heart attack. We do not know what to believe.â€
When Sarah Carter from Auckland died early on February 9th at Chiang Mai Ram Hospital at first police and the hotel’s management put the death down to ‘toxic seaweed’ which the young woman had allegedly eaten at the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar.
A friend, Amanda Eliason, 24, who, police said, also ate ‘toxic seaweed’ recovered after emergency heart surgery.
The third New Zealand woman in their group, Emma Langlands, 23, who ordered a different meal from a stall in a food market at Chiang Mai’s Night Bazaar, also allegedly suffered food poisoning but later recovered.
George and Eileen Everitt, aged 78 and 73, were found dead in separate beds at their room on the fourth floor of the hotel ten days ago.
A spokesman for the British Embassy said: “The cause of death has still not been established.†The bodies of the two senior citizens are still in Thailand.
A spokesman for Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health said that the investigation was not complete.
Meanwhile in New Zealand the body of Sarah Carter has already been buried at an emotional funeral ceremony and no local autopsy was carried out as the family left their trust in Thai authorities.
But the family say that the ‘toxic seaweed’ connection had already been ruled out.
Richard Carter, Sarah’s father, said he had still not been told by Thai authorities what had caused his daughter’s death.
“One death before and two in the following days indicates it’s not just pure coincidence,†he told the New Zealand Herald.
The New Zealand Consulate had been helpful but had received little information from the authorities in Thailand.
Mr Carter said he hoped the New Zealand Government could apply pressure.
“We need to get answers, not so much for ourselves, but for other travellers going to Thailand.â€
Mr Carter said the initial shock and trauma of Sarah’s death had subsided but had left behind a “constant anguishâ€.
“We will never have Sarah with us and that’s a difficult thing to live with each day.
Letters and phone calls of support had helped, he said, but each day started with the awful thought of never seeing Sarah again.
“That is a constant thing that will never leave us,†Mr Carter said.
Richard Langlands, Emma’s father, said his daughter had only just recovered and started showing signs of her old self.
“In the last few days…she has started revisiting what happened. She is very interested now in helping to determine what happened.â€
The girls had been told by the hotel manager about the death of the Thai womanâ€, he said.
Peter Eliason, Amanda’s father, said the only communication from Thai health authorities had been an email asking for a new blood sample from his daughter.
“At the time (of the illnesses) we were concerned only with getting our daughter safe and getting her out. Now it is becoming very suspicious. It’s all a bit too coincidental.â€
Mr Eliason, a farmer in New Plymouth, said tests results were promised within two weeks.
“It’s way more than two weeks now and we need to have some answers.â€
http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2011/03/03/thai-mystery-hotel-death-toll-jumps-to-four/
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