The man was named as Peter Ullrich on Thursday, after relatives had been notified. A police report notes no suspicious circumstances. Swiss Embassy officials are awaiting instructions as to whether Mr Ullrich will be cremated.


PHUKET POLICE are questioning a Thai woman after a long-stay tourist from Europe plunged to his death from a Patong balcony today.

Officers have determined that the man, from Switzerland, fell four storeys from a balcony soon after taking a telephone call on his mobile about 9am

Phuketwan has been given the man's name but is withholding publication until the Swiss Embassy and relatives in Switzerland have been notified.

He was 65, police have established, and had a heart condition. The fall took place at an apartment block near the Patong temple and the t-intersection turning towards Patong beach.

The man fell onto a grassed area, breaking his neck.

The woman being questioned is the man's Thai wife, named as Piyamas Kongka 34. The couple shared the 20,000 baht a month apartment.

She told police they had been together for about two months. She worked in a bar but stopped working and became a housewife after they fell in love.

Her ''husband'' took medicine every day for a heart condition and suffered from dizziness when at a height, she said.

Khun Piyamas told police that she had been cooking when the man fell.

The balcony, at the rear of the apartment, did not have a high rail, police said. The dead man was tall, photos taken at the scene show.

He was only wearing shorts when he fell to his death.