PHUKET: An Australian man has been transferred to a Phuket City hospital after tumbling with two other men from a resort balcony in Patong.
The fall took place at the Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa about 9.15pm last night.
The other two men on the balcony at the same time escaped without serious injury. All are aged in their mid 20s and believed to be friends.
Investigators are looking into the reasons for the fall.
Phuket has a long history of balcony falls, with Australians among the tourists who have toppled or jumped to their deaths.
A problem with some resorts - although it's not clear at this stage whether this was a factor at Graceland - is that balcony railings are either built purely for decoration or to an Asian scale.
Larger tourists sometimes have problems, especially after consuming a few drinks.
An obscure record for surviving a balcony fall on Phuket is held by the anonymous Australian man who plunged 18 floors in November, 2012 and lived to tell the story.
''Eighteen floors, that's got to be a world record,'' said the 39-year-old, who requested anonymity when Phuketwan spoke with him at the Vachira Phuket Hospital months after.
''It doesn't seem real,'' he said. ''I know people in here who have fallen from three floors and had similar injuries. Eighteen is just a massive number. But it makes you value life a little bit more.''
Even if you take into account that Thais label the ground floor the first floor, 18 floors is a massive distance to fall.
The man crashed through a lower level awning that gave way but slowed the pace of his plunge at the right time.
The man now being treated in a Phuket City hospital after being transferred from Patong Hospital is thought to have fallen two floors.
The fall took place at the Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa about 9.15pm last night.
The other two men on the balcony at the same time escaped without serious injury. All are aged in their mid 20s and believed to be friends.
Investigators are looking into the reasons for the fall.
Phuket has a long history of balcony falls, with Australians among the tourists who have toppled or jumped to their deaths.
A problem with some resorts - although it's not clear at this stage whether this was a factor at Graceland - is that balcony railings are either built purely for decoration or to an Asian scale.
Larger tourists sometimes have problems, especially after consuming a few drinks.
An obscure record for surviving a balcony fall on Phuket is held by the anonymous Australian man who plunged 18 floors in November, 2012 and lived to tell the story.
''Eighteen floors, that's got to be a world record,'' said the 39-year-old, who requested anonymity when Phuketwan spoke with him at the Vachira Phuket Hospital months after.
''It doesn't seem real,'' he said. ''I know people in here who have fallen from three floors and had similar injuries. Eighteen is just a massive number. But it makes you value life a little bit more.''
Even if you take into account that Thais label the ground floor the first floor, 18 floors is a massive distance to fall.
The man crashed through a lower level awning that gave way but slowed the pace of his plunge at the right time.
The man now being treated in a Phuket City hospital after being transferred from Patong Hospital is thought to have fallen two floors.
Just a standard night out for a few Aussies. Only a small fall from grace.
Posted by Manowar on October 1, 2014 14:10
Editor Comment:
Let's hope all three find it a laughing matter soon.