PHUKET: Ten foreigners have died on Phuket between January 11 and January 20 in the worst run of foreign deaths on the island that anyone can remember.

The irony is that 100 extra police arrived on Phuket on January 11 to bolster Phuket's undermanned police force and make the island safer for 30 days.

Deputy Commander of Phuket Police, Colonel Peerayut Karajedee, revealed the streak of foreign deaths yesterday at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City.

Four expats were found dead in one day at Patong on January 13, driving the statistical aberration.

The one death that has yet to have a conclusive cause established is the death of Stephan Henricus Maria Buczynski, 26, who was found in the water at Patong.

He has a four-centimetre cut to the back of his head and Phuket police are still waiting to hear the result of an autopsy conducted in Bangkok.

Robbery has been dismissed as a motive because he was carrying a large sum of money in a waterproof pouch around his neck.

Mr Buczynski and a friend were involved in an altercation with an Australian man earlier on his holiday but that's not thought to have any bearing on his death.

An Italian man with a chronic illness, a Dane who suffered and a heart attack and an Austrian found at Patong Condo apartments were the other deaths that day.

Two British men whose deaths were connected to alcohol, an 87-year-Swiss man who drowned at Patong and an Australian who may have suffered an overdose were among the other deaths.

Colonel Peerayut said that with the Patong Safety Zone now covering all of Phuket, police were making a priority of safety and security.

He said 14 foreigners had been charged with offenses in the 10-day period. Most of the cases involved drunk driving, with some thefts.

There was one foreign victim in that time, a Chinese tourist who claimed she was raped by a taxi driver at the weekend in Phuket City, Colonel Peerayut said.