Chinese tourist airlifted to Phuket “recovering well’

PHUKET: The Chinese tourist who was airlifted from Racha Yai Island by a Royal Thai Navy medivac helicopter yesterday after suffering serious heart palpitations is recovering well, staff at Vachira Hospital Phuket reported today.

“Mr Li Qi Feng, 39, is conscious and fully responsive, but he is still suffering from chest pains,” said coronary care unit Nurse Maliwan Arthan.

Staff at the hospital said that Mr Li is expected to be transferred to Bangkok Hospital Phuket later today in order to undergo further tests, as well as surgery to expand the major blood vessels near his heart.

However, Mr Li’s wife, 37-year-old Li Xiao Yu, told the Phuket Gazette that she would much prefer her husband stay at Vachira Hospital until he is stable enough to fly home.

“He seems to be okay now, but I am still afraid and I just want him to come home with me,” she said.

Mr and Mrs Li arrived in Phuket with their 12-year-old daughter and friends on a late-night flight last Saturday.

They were due to fly to Bangkok tomorrow afternoon and depart the capital for their home in Guangdong this weekend, Mrs Li said.

“Our daughter is now with our friends, who are staying on Phi Phi Island, while we are here at the hospital,” she added.

Mrs Li did not elaborate on whether or not her husband had a pre-existing heart condition.

— Chutharat Plerin