Phuket hotel and police accused of covering up fatal electrocution

The family of a Thai woman electrocuted to death in a Phuket hotel is seeking justice after they accused the hotel and police of attempting to cover up the cause of her death to avoid taking responsibility.

The 26 year old woman, Kanokwan “Nam” Intachak, worked as an assistant chef at a well-known hotel in Phuket and died while working on April 21. A witness revealed that Nam screamed, fell onto her back, struck her head on a table, and lost consciousness.

Her family suspected that Nam was electrocuted as there were several electrical devices in the area where she was working.

Thalang Police Station investigated the scene and did not find any traces of physical assault or electrocution. They transferred Nam’s body to Vachira Phuket Hospital for an autopsy. The police then reported on April 22 that Nam had died from a congenital condition, atherosclerosis.

The hotel offered Nam’s family 68,000 baht, and her colleagues contributed an additional 12,100 baht. However, her father, unconvinced by the police report, refused to accept the money.

Amarin TV later reported that the hotel presented a counterfeit autopsy report to the family, and police officers were suspected of being involved in this action.

According to media reports, the family only received the official autopsy result from the hospital at the end of last month, which clearly showed that Nam died by electrocution.

Nam’s father and other family members decided to take Nam’s body in a coffin from their home province of Nakhon Si Thammarat to the hotel in Phuket. They insisted on remaining outside the hotel until the management team took appropriate responsibility and compensated the family for their loss.

In a related report, a Thai high school student in the southern province of Trang was electrocuted to death while attempting to turn off a water dispenser as instructed by a teacher. The schoolboy’s family did not take legal action against the school, expressing an understanding that it was an accident.

However, many Thai netizens condemned the school and teachers for their recklessness and urged all schools with water dispensers to take students’ safety more seriously.