Rock City co-owner dies after heart attack

PATONG: Swedish national Carl Essler, 47, one of the investors in the popular Rock City nightclub in Patong, died after suffering a heart attack early on Wednesday.

He was rushed to Patong Hospital after suffering chest pains in the early hours of the morning and was later pronounced dead.

Fredrik Klingvall, Managing Director of Rock City, told the Gazette, “It has come as quite a shock. He was still quite young, and I had been working with him on the project since December 2003, so I knew him quite well.

“He was a quiet guy. He wasn’t one of the guys to hang around at night. He would come in, have a cup of coffee and read his newspaper, and ask how we did the night before,” Mr Klingvall said.

“Carl was very physically active and enjoyed the outdoors. He was a down-to-earth, hard-working person. He loved scuba diving and the lifestyle in Phuket suited him well.

“We are saddened by this tragedy and I know he’ll be missed by a lot of people on the island. Our sincere condolences to those who were close to him and to his family and friends in Sweden,” he added.