Swedish expat dies on notorious Phuket coastal road

PHUKET: A Swedish expat who ran a Phuket guesthouse died on Saturday in a motorbike accident in Karon on Saturday.

Patong Police received a report that a “tourist” crashed his motorcycle and died on Patak Road in Karon early Saturday morning.

Peter Nyman, 48, died when he overshot a curve on his motorcycle in heavy rain and struck a power pole, said Chalong Police Duty Officer Nittikorn Rawang.

The crash was apparently the result of bad weather conditions and the slippery road surface, Capt Nittikorn said.

The Karon Beach Rescue Unit, the first responders at the scene, transported Mr Nyman’s body to Patong Hospital for examination.

“Peter Nyman had lived in Phuket for almost a year. He lived with his Swedish girlfriend and they ran a guesthouse together in Karon,” a consular official at the Swedish Embassy told the Phuket Gazette.

Mr Nyman’s ex-wife and three children in Sweden have been notified and were “in shock when they found out about him,” the official said.

The accident happened on a dark section of Patak Road, Chalong Police were told.*

Initial police reports about the time and location of the accident differed, but a friend of the deceased contacted the Gazette to clarify.

The friend, Hakan Ekholm, wrote: “It happened at around 2am in Karon. He came from Kata after helping a friend in distress. At the last bend coming into Karon along Patak Road something went wrong. Whether he swerved to avoid something or just misjudged due to bad eyesight we will never know, but he took the curve too far to left, hit a pole and landed two meters below the road surface with a broken neck. He was not drunk, no one knows if he was speeding.”

Mr Nyman was just 300 meters short of completing his return home when the accident occurred, said Mr Ekholm.

Mr Nyman’s relatives in Sweden are now in contact with the Swedish Embassy and police regarding the possible repatriation of his remains, Capt Nittikorn said.

*Note: This report was updated on October 13 to clarify details about the location and time of the accident and add the information provided by Mr Ekholm.

— C Yongcharoenchai & S Fein