French resident dies after brawl

PHUKET TOWN: A 47-year-old French resident of Phuket, Michel Clavel, died on Wednesday evening of injuries sustained in a drunken brawl in Patong in the early hours of July 2. The investigating officer, Pol Capt Boonlert Onklang of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that Mr Clavel, who was living in Phuket on a government pension, was drinking with about 10 Thai friends in front of a tattoo shop in Soi Sunset, Patong. At about 5 am, an argument broke out, which turned into a fight. Mr Clavel received severe blows to the side and back of his head, fracturing his skull and causing a cerebral hemorrhage. Some of the friends rushed the victim to Patong Hospital. He was transferred to Wachira Phuket Hospital and then again to the Bangkok Phuket Hospital where he was admitted, unconscious, to the intensive care unit. He was put on life support, but died nine days later without regaining consciousness. Capt Boonlert said, “I interviewed the victim’s friends but they all denied being involved in the fight. I also interviewed witnesses but they were all drunk.” One of Mr Clavel’s friends, Kitti Rattanadilok Na Phuket, was arrested after he admitted knocking the victim down during the argument. He was charged with causing bodily harm and is currently being held in the Phuket Provincial Prison. Capt Boonlert said that, with the death of Mr Clavel, Kitti would now face more serious charges. He added that he did not believe the victim had received his injuries in a fall. “The autopsy shows that the injuries he received were not consistent with a fall,” he said. “I believe it is more likely that he was hit about the head with a blunt object.” Mr Clavel had a Thai wife and a five-year-old child. He had lived for the past 10 years in Phuket Town, in Soi Onglao Uthis, off Mae Luan Rd. His body was taken to Laem Petch temple in Patong for cremation.