Young Brit falls off the 5th floor

[izzix]

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Young Brit dies in mystery fall

PATONG: A young British tourist mysteriously fell from the fifth floor of a building early Monday evening and died en route to hospital.

Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark identified the deceased from his passport as UK national Joseph John Nason, age 22.

Mr Nason and a friend, aged 19, arrived in Phuket on a flight from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on November 2. The pair were staying at the Deevana Patong Resort & Spa on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pee Rd, he said.

The critically-injured Mr Nason, dressed only in his underwear, was discovered by passers-by in front of a five-story shophouse opposite the well-known Christin Massage parlor at 8:10 pm.

He was rushed to Patong Hospital, but died on the way.

Staff at the hotel told investigators that Joseph and his friend liked to eat and drink at a pub near the hotel, Col Grissak said.

The deceased’s friend, shocked when he learned of the death, told police that the pair had had dinner together, then split up to explore the nightlife independently.

He did not know where Joseph went after that, Col Grissak said.

Police said the top floor of the five-story building from which Mr Nason fell was divided into separate rooms for rent.

One local Thai-language newspaper reported that most of the rooms were rented out by people who work in the town’s tailoring industry.

However, as of this afternoon, police have few leads as to what may have caused the fall, and they are still unsure as to exactly which room Mr Nason fell from, Col Grissak said.

An initial search of several rooms failed to recover any signs of violent struggle or other foul play, he added.

One local newspaper headline described the fall as an act of suicide, but Col Grissak refused to speculate on the cause of death until more evidence became available.

A special team has been assigned to investigate the case, he said.

Mr Nason’s body is being kept at Patong Hospital and the British Embassy has been informed of the tragedy, he added.


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Phuket, Thailand

[beer monkey]

Suicide...????

What, a young lad only 22 doing himself in on his first night in just underpants, what happened to his clothes, a mystery indeed.

[mortiboy]

Maybe he was pushed! Dont say if he was drunk or on drugs.Suicide? ...unlikely.How come they dont know what room he stayed at? Strange how many farang "jumpers" occur in Thailand! Sounds dodgy to me

[beer monkey]

Don't think he was actually staying at that 5 storey converted place Morti, he was staying at the Davenna patong spa resort.

[vlad]

most of the girls that work in the bangla have rooms around that area on the rat u thit wouldnt surprise me if he was pushed by a girl because he was unaware what happens in bar girls rooms or a girls b/f was already there when she took him back like B/M said a young lad on his 1st visit to thailand wouldnt jump himself. and leave his mate to pick up the pieces all a bit to easy to blame young lad ie drugs drink suicide this is 1 more nail in the thai coffin for feeling unsafe in a resort like patters or patong. but knowing the thai police and the mayor they will hope it can be blamed on something trivial and hopefully sweep it under the carpet. Lets not forget a few monthes ago this is a town that let a taxi bike murderer on remand out to shoot a man dead again.

[Ter]

Every time i see these stories about places i used to work and socialize most nights, only a few years ago, my heart sinks and my opinion darkens. My sympathy to the family of the young man. It does not seem like the place i lived in before.
I wish i had an answer.

Ter

[izzix]

Los is the world HUB of balcony fliers for some reason. weird

[Robbie]

Young Brit Falls
My heart goes out to this boy's family, 22 years old, just think this may well have been his first holiday without his parents, a young man setting out on his first journey of discovery, a holiday that should have left him with memories of a wonderful country and beautiful people, instead we are left with another tragedy, another mysterious fall, another family laft with the heartache of losing a loved one.

The question that needs to be asked of the authorities ( police / goverment ) and I ask as a parent whose son does travel in Thailand, ( as well as my self ) how many more, at what point will enough be enough, just how many excuses can and will be used to explain all the deaths in and around hotels to tourists, when will someone stand up and admit there is a problem here and one that needs to be resolved with some urgency.

As to getting answers to these questions, I believe that they will go unanswered until such time as pressure is applied to the people in authority, At present I am still resident in the UK ( I will be joining the ex-pat community in January ) and I am sure some people will say that it is easy for me to rock the boat from here, however I do believe that as a small community in this country we do need to adopt a proactive approach to these deaths, we need to start applying the necessary pressure to the afore mentioned people.

The internet as we know is a powerful tool; lets start to use it, lets tell the people in power they do have a duty of care and enough is enough, investagte, convict, and punish, stop these senseless deaths.

[izzix]

this story seems to have been removed from the Phukete Gazette for some reason...odd

[vlad]

This is happening more and more Robbie but the thai authoroties brush them under the carpet, they dont want an investigation by a tird party because they know an outside force will turn every stone. Till the real reason is found and they will show how bad the local police are at dealing with crimes comitted against Holiday makers there not interested Robbie in doing an in depth investigation anything that could damage the the reputation of the resort they will always say suicide,drugs,or drink ,or accident, its the easiest solution and it doesnt cost much money.
Look at pattaya theres at least 2 people a week found at the foot of a Building they cant all be suicides and izzix is right papers in English like the phuket gazette never report incidents like this because they know questions will be asked by westerners about the police response. If a thai is caught robbing a tourist or selling drugs they cant stop reporting the good work the local police are doing to prevent crime against us but when a seriouse crime occurs there heads are shoved that fast in the ground you never see them.

[Irish Alan]

Hopefully there is nothing more untoward to this than just another unfortunate accident. As someone recently rightly said some balconies have very low rails not designed for taller fahlangs. Had a neighbour die in Spain 30 0dd years ago just being drunk and falling over the balcony. Surely you do not pay expensive air fare to go 6,000 miles to commit suicide.

Condolences to the family.

[beer monkey]

this story seems to have been removed from the Phukete Gazette for some reason...odd

Yet Another mystery...

[anon]

To set the record straight...

Joe was actually 19 not 22

It wasn't his 2nd day of holiday. He had only just arrived in Thailand & been in his Phuket for 2 hours. So quoting that he liked to eat & drink at a pub near the hotel is rubbish as he hadn't even had time to unpack his suitcase!

Found in his underwear opposite the massage parlour? He was fully clothed (minus his wallet)

Suicide?! Not a chance. Joe was such a lovable, popular guy, so high on life and so excited about this adventure. He had worked so hard to save for this trip & was looking forward to celebrating Xmas in Thailand.

I decided to post a message on this forum because I found it very hard, after reading this news report, that is so inaccurate, listening to people speculating over inaccurate facts. I hope that by posting this message, people will have a balanced & honest view of things and not just that load of twaddle fabricated by the Phukett Gazette to go by. (which has now been removed from their website, Mmmmmmm wonder why?!!!) I want people to discuss this, I want to discover the truth, I want to expose the corruption. I feel that we owe it to Joe (& many other innocent people) to do our best to expose this for what it really is. He was such a lovely bloke, genuine, funny, honest & not a bad bone in his body.

I am 100% convinced that this is a cover up for a nasty crime that has been committed. Joe had so much to experience & everything to live for, it is such a tragedy that he never had the chance to live it !

Now i'll leave it to you to cast your own judgments...

RIP Joe, Forever in our thoughts, God Bless X

[Ter]

Thanks for the update on the real story as i found it hard to understand, to be honest i still find it hard.
I can only hope with yours and everyone else's input this tragic loss can be resolved for his grieving family and friends and with the hope to prevent further loss.

Ter

[Robbie]

Young Brit Falls;
The newspapers have gone quiet on this sad case and from the Thai authority's point of view this can only be good;call it an accident, incident closed, this kills of any media interest and the story dies.

I would like to suggest that we do not let this happen, would it be possible to e-mail this forum topic and link to the Phuket Gazette or any other national paper in the hope that this generates some interest, lets get the media behind us; lets get them asking the same questions as us, why is this allowed to happen.

I believe that it only takes one person in authority to make a stand and agree with us that enough is enough, it only takes that one person to realise that sometime in the near future the world media or some independent journalist will start to document all these cases, and in a country where saving face is part of the culture; things will start to happen, lets hope that it is not to late, lets hope that it is in time to save the next young tourist to Thailand.

Keep the topic alive, ask questions, push for answers, work together and get the message out there to the people in authority, enough is enough, we want these senseless killinks to stop.

R.I.P.

[anon]

Hi Robbie,

Thanks for posting. I agree with all the points you raised. However, I don't think family would appreciate any exposure to the press right now, that is a decision I am sure they will think about when ready. I do believe that word of mouth is a very powerful tool though.

Thanks for your support, it is very much appreciated.

[letigger]

Annon,

I live in Phuket, Just to let everyone know the story is back on the Phuket Gazette web site.

Would also like to offer my help If needed, Condolences to the Parents and Family.

[beer monkey]

*most text removed

Suicide?! Not a chance.

As we thought Anon, thanks for the updates you gave already.

[woody]

i understand the family not wanting publicity but

the only chance of anything proper being done

is to make as much noise as possible

on boards such as thai visa and others

else it will be swept away in a week

and the case closed

[anon]

i understand the family not wanting publicity but

the only chance of anything proper being done

is to make as much noise as possible

on boards such as thai visa and others

else it will be swept away in a week

and the case closed

I completely agree, unless the papers are informed this will just be another case swept under the carpet. I can't bear the thought of this happening. I just need to wait a couple of days, for two reasons, firstly I will have spoken to Joe's parents directly and made sure that they approve (no matter what I think, I feel that it is right to make sure that they are happy about this) and secondly, I will have been presented with more facts, which will only strengthen the case when the papers are informed.

Letigger, thanks so much for offering your help and updating me on the new story that has been posted on the Phukett News website. I'm going to take a look now and see what has been reported.