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Phuket Expat Death Tally at 38, Arrest Number Totals 78

Thursday, June 28, 2012
PHUKET: A total of 78 non-Thai passport holders have been arrested on Phuket for a variety of offences so far this year - the vast majority in Patong, according to statistics from the office of Phuket's Police Commander.

The statistics also show that a total of 38 tourists and expat residents have died on Phuket between January 1 and June 25, according to the police figures.

Of the deaths, 16 have been recorded at Kathu Police Station, which oversees Patong, and another 14 have been tallied at Chalong Police Station, in southern Phuket. The other six police stations on Phuket tallied eight deaths between them.

The causes of four of the 38 deaths have yet to be established. Six of the 16 deaths in Kathu were recorded as being due to illness, with a seventh caused by an accident.

Patong and the Chalong district are the regions where the greatest number of expats live on Phuket. Seven of the deaths recorded for Chalong were due to illness, the police say.

Seven deaths across all of Phuket were recorded as due to ''accidents.''

None of the deaths are recorded as drownings. This is because deaths by drownings on Phuket beaches are not usually attended or recorded by police.

Lifeguard and charity foundation sources have established that there were six drownings on Phuket's beaches between May 18 and June 19, and five of those were tourists or expat residents.

Natural deaths at home or in Phuket hospitals go unrecorded in the police statistics.

Of those expats and tourists charged with crimes, 60 of the 78 were in Patong's Kathu district, with eight in Phuket City.

In Kathu, five arrests were made for theft, 19 for not wearing helmets or other driving offences, 18 involved drugs, eight were for overstays, five were over work permits, two were for having no visas, and three fell into the category ''others.''

Foreign victims of crime number 13 so far this year, say the statistics, with 11 of those in Kathu and six of those involving theft.

Comments

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Surprising to me that you can get yourself arrested for not wearing a helmet. And with only 13 foreign victims of crime, could this reflect victims not reporting incidents?

Posted by spud67 on June 28, 2012 19:00

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If they really only report there are 13 victims of crime for the year so far then I shall take the rest of the stats with a pinch of salt as well. 13 crime victims? Utter rubbish. Maybe 13 where they have actually solved the crime.

Posted by stevem on June 28, 2012 22:49


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