Aussie tourist jumps to his death in Phuket

PHUKET: A distressed Australian tourist in Phuket jumped to his death from the sixth floor of a hotel in Patong today.

Marc Gerard Hoy, 34, had worried staff at the Bel Air Resort Phuket near Patong Hospital by behaving strangely when he checked in at 3am this morning.

A female hotel receptionist, who asked not to be named, told the Phuket Gazette that she discovered Mr Hoy sitting silently in the hotel reception in the early hours.

“I said ‘Hello’ to him a few times but he seemed drunk and a bit incoherent. I tried talking to him but he just stared fixedly at our security guard.”

Eventually, Mr Hoy replied to the receptionist and asked to check in. As he filled in the guest form, the hotel security guard, who also asked not to be named, noticed the handle of a small knife poking out at his waist.

Not long after Mr Hoy checked into his room, the security guard went to check on him as he was afraid something bad might be abrew.

“I saw him dancing on the balcony so I asked him to go back into the room,” said the guard.

Around 5:30am, a Chinese tour guide who had brought a tour group to stay in the hotel came down to tell the receptionist that he had seen a lot of blood on the sixth floor.

Staff were said to have immediately called Kathu Police, who came to the hotel together with Kusoldharm Rescue Foundation workers and officers from Patong Municipality’s Department of Disaster Protection and Mitigation (DDPM).

Mr Hoy, who was covered in blood, reportedly began throwing his bloody possessions off the balcony, including his passport and a key from another hotel where he had checked in the previous day.

He climbed over the railing and crept along balconies to the corner of the building while clinging to the bars.

Police attempted to persuade Mr Hoy to climb back inside the building but he refused.

DDPM officials placed a large inflatable cushion on the ground below the Australian.

After about three minutes, Mr Hoy jumped. On the way down his body hit the tin roof of a building below before hitting the cement floor, missing the cushion.

He died instantly, the receptionist said.

Mr Hoy’s body is being kept for examination at Patong Hospital.

— Atchaa Khamlo