Briton dies in Phuket hotel room

PATONG, PHUKET: The body of a British man who died of apparent heart failure was discovered by his father in a Patong hotel room yesterday afternoon.

Kathu Police Duty Inspector Jakkapong Luang-aon identified the body as that of UK national Kevin Dean, age 47.

Mr Dean’s body was discovered at about 2:30pm on the bathroom floor of his room at the Club Coconut Resort Hotel on Nanai Road.

Seventy-eight-year-old John Dean, Kevin’s father who was staying in another room at the same hotel, said his son had been in failing health for some time and that he was on the verge of kidney failure.

“Kevin had his first kidney transplant 25 years ago…and 25 years is a long time. So, it’s near the end of it. It was a combination of things, a kidney was about to fail, due to fail,” he told the Gazette from his room at the same hotel.

The amount of medication he was taking may have contributed to his death, he said.

“Time was getting near, so I was starting to worry. So, I went to his room, opened the door, looked in. Kevin was…I found Kevin dead,” he said sadly.

Mr Dean said this was the second death of a family member after losing his wife about one year ago.

“We were on holiday. We stayed in Phuket for a month and were due to fly back yesterday…He was quite cheerful, enjoyed the holiday,” he said.

His late son worked in the UK as a psychiatric nurse, he said.

Police found a bag of drugs in the room that contained the blood thinning agent Warfarin, and several other prescription medications.

Despite being controlled, many other prescription drugs are sold over-the-counter at many drug stores in Patong.

Mr Dean’s body was sent to Patong Hospital for examination to determine the cause of death, which is initially presumed to be cardiac arrest.

Mr Dean told the Gazette he intends to have his son’s remains cremated at a local temple and take his ashes back to the UK.

— S. Nongkaew & A. Khamlo