Phuket police investigate Englishman’s “whiskey poisoning’

PHUKET: Patong police have sent a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red Label whiskey for laboratory tests to determine whether a 77-year-old Englishman found dead in his Phuket guest suite was poisoned.

Duty Officer Lt Col Jongserm Preecha today told the Gazette that the tests were only a precaution.

No evidence of fighting was found in the man’s room, in a hotel off Patong’s famed Soi Bangla, he said.

Police were notified of the man’s death at 8pm last night, Lt Col Jongserm added.

The man was identified from his passport as a British national. He checked into the hotel on February 13, Lt Col Jongserm said.

His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

In the suite, police found the body on the sofa, with half a 700ml bottle of Red Label whiskey, a can of Coca-Cola, a glass and the man’s watch on the table in front of him.

The TV and air conditioning were still on when police arrived, Lt Col Jongserm said.

The man’s body has been taken to Patong Hospital, pending further instructions from the British embassy in Bangkok, he added.

— Pimwara Choksakulpan