THE SUDDEN unexplained death of a young woman tourist on Phuket has left a grieving father asking questions about what killed his daughter.

Student nurse Sherifa Waleed Khalid, 24, was found dead in her room at the Thara Patong Beach Resort in Patong yesterday.

It was a tragic and unexpected end to a happy family holiday.

On Wednesday, the young Kuwaiti citizen went to Phi Phi on a day trip with her family, according to the Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, Police Colonel Grissak Songmoonnark.

Her father told police that his daughter developed a bad cough after the Phi Phi trip, and she told family members that she felt sick.

The father took his daughter to Patong Hospital later that evening, Colonel Grissak told Phuketwan today.

''A doctor at Patong Hospital prescribed medicine for the cough,'' Colonel Grissak said. ''The young woman took some medicine then retired for the night.''

On Thursday morning, Sherifa failed to appear. Her father assumed she was sleeping and shaking off the illness, Colonel Grissak said.

About 4pm, keen to check on her condition, her father attempted to wake his daughter by knocking on the door, but there was no response.

The father organised for hotel staff to open the room.

His daughter, the colonel said, was lying on the bed with a blanket over her head. When the blanket was pulled back, it was plain that she was dead, Colonel Grissack said.

There was discharge around the young woman's mouth, the colonel added.

Police officers were called to the hotel. Their initial estimate was that Sherifa had been dead for at least 10 hours.

Colonel Grissak said police took possession of the medicine provided by the hospital pharmacy. Investigations are continuing.

A spokesman for the Kuwaiti Embassy told Phuketwan the father was getting every assistance in returning to Kuwait with his daughter's body.

He was unable to say where inquiries in the case might lead from here.

While there is no obvious connection, the deaths of two young women tourists on Phi Phi earlier this year also remain unexplained.

The women had been staying with friends who fell sick with similar symptoms in adjoining rooms at the same accommodation, Laleena Guesthouse, on the island.

In one case, only when a worried maid opened the door to one room was it revealed that two women tourists inside were seriously ill.

No progress has been made in determining the cause of the Phi Phi deaths.

Laboratory test results on chemicals taken from the guesthouse three weeks after the deaths are still pending, police said today.

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