PATTAYA, THAILAND – An 86-year-old Canadian man died on Thursday morning in Jomtien after falling from the 14th floor of a high-rise condominium.
Emergency response in Jomtien
According to Pattaya City Police, an emergency call was received at around 7:30 a.m. and officers, investigators, tourist police and rescuers from the Sawang Boriboon Foundation were dispatched to a 27-storey condominium in Moo 12 in the Jomtien area. In the parking lot next to the tower, responders found the man’s lifeless body, later identified as a Canadian national who lived in an apartment on the 14th floor of the building.
Apartment showed no signs of crime
Investigators then examined the deceased man’s apartment. Police reported no indications of a struggle or theft, and valuables were found untouched. The account of Isra Srisaad, a 25-year-old security guard at the building, formed a central basis for the ongoing investigation.
Guard, wife and caregiver questioned
Srisaad told officers that the man’s Thai wife left their shared apartment at about 5:00 a.m. as usual to visit a second house with a garden. Around 6:00 a.m., a caregiver arrived as she normally did in the mornings to look after the man, who was in poor health. When the caregiver entered the apartment, she could not find him.
“She searched everywhere and finally looked over the rear balcony railing,”
said Isra Srisaad, security guard.
She then saw the man’s body on the ground next to the building. Police stated they were treating his serious health problems, which reportedly weighed heavily on him, as a possible motive.
Police consider suicide as likely cause
Based on the current status of the investigation, police said they assumed suicide. The body was sent to the forensic department at the Police General Hospital for a full autopsy to determine the precise cause of death. Officers planned to continue questioning the wife and the caregiver to clarify the sequence of events before the fall and either confirm or rule out the suicide hypothesis.
Fourth high-rise fall in about a week
The case came amid a noticeable series of similar incidents in Pattaya, marking the fourth fall from a great height within roughly a week and the third in the past three days. Police said they were evaluating each case separately and that no direct connection between the incidents had been established.
Previous tourist falls under review
Police reported that a young French tourist suffered serious injuries the previous day after falling drunk from a fifth-floor hotel balcony; officers were treating that case as an accident. Two days earlier, a naked Belgian tourist fell from a hotel in central Pattaya, with authorities also examining a possible accident. In the previous week, a Chinese tourist had fallen from a hotel in South Pattaya under still unclear circumstances.
Support services for those in distress
Authorities noted that support services were available in Pattaya and across Thailand for people experiencing depression or suicidal thoughts. The Samaritans of Thailand could be contacted online to provide assistance in such situations.