PHUKET: Canadian sisters Audrey and Noemi Belanger, who died in mysterious circumstances on Phi Phi last week, were ''lovely,'' a woman who says she knew them has told a British newspaper.
Sami Kay, 24, told the the 'Courier' that she met the sisters as she was promoting restaurants, bars and a pleasure boat on the Thai holiday island, which is popular with 20-somethings.
''My job is going out and speaking to people and handing them leaflets, taking them into bars and restaurants and chatting to them," she said. ''I chatted to them and we ended up dancing at the club."
She added: ''One of my friends walked one of them home and he was arrested but they know it wasn't anything to do with him.
''I don't know what's happened, they're saying they were poisoned. There's lots of rumors flying around. Some people said it might have been a gas leak at the hotel, other people said it could have been fumes from cleaning fluid they use in the flats.
''But you can buy all sorts of stuff here and some people say it could have been something they bought on the beach. You have to be really careful about what you buy and where you buy it from.''
Ms Kay told the 'Courier' that she had become stranded on Phi Phi after hospital staff confiscated her passport.
''I was really ill,'' she said. ''Food poisoning has been spoken about but it was dehydration as well. It could have been bacteria or a virus or something. The hospital is full of people with the same thing - it's shocking.
''The hospital kept my passport because the insurance company wouldn't pay up front for my treatment. They've still got it and I can't leave here until my dad pays the 400 pounds.''
Ms Kay, a teaching assistant from Dundee, Scotland, said she planned to head for Australia as soon as she was able to leave Phi Phi, which is about 100 minutes by ferry from Phuket.
The bodies of Audrey, 20, and Noemi, 26, have been taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok, where autopsies are likely to be conducted.
Sources in Canada say the parents of the sisters are not coming to Thailand and are relying on Canadian Embassy officials to work with Thai authorities on the investigation.
The bodies of the sisters were found in a ground-floor room at the Palms Residence Phi Phi on Friday. Police have discounted violence and the cause of their deaths is unknown at this stage.
Sami Kay, 24, told the the 'Courier' that she met the sisters as she was promoting restaurants, bars and a pleasure boat on the Thai holiday island, which is popular with 20-somethings.
''My job is going out and speaking to people and handing them leaflets, taking them into bars and restaurants and chatting to them," she said. ''I chatted to them and we ended up dancing at the club."
She added: ''One of my friends walked one of them home and he was arrested but they know it wasn't anything to do with him.
''I don't know what's happened, they're saying they were poisoned. There's lots of rumors flying around. Some people said it might have been a gas leak at the hotel, other people said it could have been fumes from cleaning fluid they use in the flats.
''But you can buy all sorts of stuff here and some people say it could have been something they bought on the beach. You have to be really careful about what you buy and where you buy it from.''
Ms Kay told the 'Courier' that she had become stranded on Phi Phi after hospital staff confiscated her passport.
''I was really ill,'' she said. ''Food poisoning has been spoken about but it was dehydration as well. It could have been bacteria or a virus or something. The hospital is full of people with the same thing - it's shocking.
''The hospital kept my passport because the insurance company wouldn't pay up front for my treatment. They've still got it and I can't leave here until my dad pays the 400 pounds.''
Ms Kay, a teaching assistant from Dundee, Scotland, said she planned to head for Australia as soon as she was able to leave Phi Phi, which is about 100 minutes by ferry from Phuket.
The bodies of Audrey, 20, and Noemi, 26, have been taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok, where autopsies are likely to be conducted.
Sources in Canada say the parents of the sisters are not coming to Thailand and are relying on Canadian Embassy officials to work with Thai authorities on the investigation.
The bodies of the sisters were found in a ground-floor room at the Palms Residence Phi Phi on Friday. Police have discounted violence and the cause of their deaths is unknown at this stage.
