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Michelle Smith's murder was recorded: other significant deaths were not

Phuket Police Expat Death List Omits Two Victims of Tiger Disco Blaze

Thursday, October 4, 2012
PHUKET: The following is a list of expat deaths on Phuket between February 16 and September 14 in cases to which Phuket police were called.

The list is provided by Phuket's Police Commander to Phuket's honorary consuls, who farewelled Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at a meeting last month.

Sadly it's by no means a comprehensive list of all expat deaths on Phuket. Police do not attend all road crashes.

Nor are deaths that come a considerable time later, perhaps in hospital, recorded.

As we've discovered, Phuket police are also seldom called to drownings. A major omission from the list is seven of the eight drownings - all of them involving tourists - that occurred over two months from mid-May on Phuket's west coast beaches.

Another important and as yet unexplained omission is the two expat deaths among the four killed in the Tiger Discotheque fire in Patong on August 17.

The deaths of British tourist Michael Tzouvanni, 24, and French tourist Emmanuel Becard, 30, who perished along with two Thai women, are not recorded here.

Phuketwan continues to publish the list whenever possible because we believe transparency is essential in all matters of life and death, wherever they occur.

It's great that Phuket, alone among all Thai places where expat live in numbers, has such an open view of the need to report deaths publicly.

Once scaremongers on Phuket have their say about expat suicides and a tabloid or two play up their point of view, doubts enter the minds of even those who understand that death never takes a holiday, and nor does depression or mental illness.

What we'd like to see happen is for the list to grow more comprehensive, and more definitive. We'd also like to see others publish it.

These days, it's good for tourism officials on Phuket and in Thailand to understand that transparency is essential in dealing with all life and death issues.

We hope that at some point, the Phuket honorary consuls will speak as a group to Phuket's new governor and to Phuket's new police commander.

We hope they let them know with one voice the importance of making tourist (and resident) safety a clear priority.

And that includes asking all Phuket police station superintendents to ensure this list is always complete.

It would be even better if Public Health and all of Phuket's hospitals were asked to work with Phuket police to make the list totally comprehensive and transparent.

Expat Deaths Recorded by Phuket Police Since February 16


Manfred Borowsky Germany, February 16 Chalong illness
Einar Jan Fredrik Sweden , February 26, car crash in Chalong
Jukka Tapio Olkinuora Finland, February 27, heart attack Kathu
Robert Francis Mullaly Australia, March 6, falling accident in Kathu
Fedor Samsonnov Russia, March 7, electric shock in Chalong
Lars Jimmy Karlsson Sweden, March 14, reasons unknown in Chalong
Gary Meadown Australia, March 16, reasons unknown in Phuket City
James McIntosh England, March 20, heart attack in Kathu
Klaus Von Ameln Germany, March 21, cancer, Chalong
Jose Luis Landin Spain, March 21, cancer, Chalong
Boris Falkovskiy Russia, April 3, hanged in Kathu
James Desmond England, April 4, old age, Chalong
Jens Houe Denmark, April 16, Blood loss, Kathu
Rudolf Otto Paul Germany, April 24, congenital disease, Chalong
Franz Simmet Germany, May 4, congenital
disease, Kathu
Marcus Ralf Burghardt Germany, May 18, hanged in Kathu
Paul James McNeil Australia , June 7, reasons unknown in Cherng Talay
Sergey Mukurdumov Uzbekistan, June 15, motorcycle crash in Tungtong
Michelle Smith Australia, June 20, murdered, Kata Noi
Ingram Trek Atlas US, June 21, congenital disease, Kathu
Abduliah Mohammed Oman, June 26, congenital disease, Kathu
Li Tianoi China, June 30, drowned in Kathu,
Thomas Odin Luxmore US, July 22, congenital disease, Kathu
Danie Kevin Cruwys Australia, July 23, hanged in Thalang
Peter John Cook England, July 24, drowned in
Kathu
Ronald Emory Green US, July 31, car crash in Kathu
Francois Richard Leppert Switzerland, August 6, Suicide in Chalong
Craig Thomas Kite US, September 3, overdose,
Kamala
Miccel Jame Mackdier Australia, September 6, congenital disease, Kathu
Maureen Swinton Australia, September 14, heart attack in Phuket City
Christian Werner Roth Mexico, September 14, car crash in Thalang
Sergey Panteleev Russia, September 14, heart attack, Kathu

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

gravatar

Craig Thomas Kite US, September 3, overdose,Kamala:

Is this the same person:
http://www.utahcountyonline.com/Dept/Sheriff/Corrections/MostWantedDetail.asp?ID=3748073

Posted by Sherlock on October 4, 2012 14:35

gravatar

why are my posts never published?

Posted by Sherlock on October 4, 2012 15:38

Editor Comment:

Your posts have never not been published, Sherlock. It's difficult to know what you're on about.


Thursday December 5, 2024
Horizon Karon Beach Resort & Spa

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