HIV-infected katoey in suicide leap

KATHU: A katoey (transsexual) who had learned he was infected with HIV jumped to his death from the sixth floor of the Patong Condotel in Rat-U-Thit Rd yesterday. Kathu police, called to the building, found Jeera Unarom, 22, standing on a ledge. He jumped soon afterwards. A friend, Khun Pitichai Wongsa, 33, who lived in the same building and worked in the same bar, said that Jeera, who came from Phang Nga, had learned two weeks earlier that he was infected with HIV. He had already had problems with his family because he had had a sex change operation. He feared that when they learned about the HIV his family problems would only worsen. Khun Pitichai said that on the day of his death, Jeera had visited him in his apartment. He was drunk. After talking with Pitichai for a while, Jeera left. Later, Pitichai heard that a man was standing out on a ledge on the sixth floor. Realizing it might be his friend, he went up to attempt to persuade him to climb back into the room, but to no avail.