Phuket heartbreak blamed for Burmese worker suicide

PHUKET: Police believe a Burmese teenager took his own life early this morning after his girlfriend left him for another man.

Named only as “Mr Tum”, the 19-year-old was found dead with a nylon rope wrapped around his neck hanging from a ceiling hook in his bedroom at about 4:45am, Patong Police Capt Jakkrapong Luang-aon told the Phuket Gazette.

Mr Tum was wearing only black shorts when police arrived at the scene. Inside his shorts’ pocket was a mobile phone set to display a picture of his ex-girlfriend as the screen wallpaper, Capt Jakkrapong explained.

Mr Tum was found by his 25-year-old co-worker Mr Cheep. Both men worked at the same Korean barbecue restaurant in Soi Nanai.

“Mr Tum was with his ex-girlfriend for several months, but they were arguing a lot recently and she had started to see a new guy,” Mr Cheep reportedly told police.

— Thawit Bilabdullar