Hong Kong tourist dies in Phuket ICU after “mysterious’ swimming incident

UPDATE: Since this story was posted online, staff at Bangkok Hospital Phuket have confirmed that Mr Lai has died in the hospital’s ICU. “We cannot release any details as per the family’s request,” the staffer said.

JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa staff confirmed they have been notified of Mr Lai’s death. “We are still working with the police in determining what happened. We will issue a public statement once we have more information,” the staffer said.

Original story:

PHUKET: A tourist from Hong Kong is unconscious in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Bangkok Hospital Phuket (map here) after being pulled out of a swimming pool at a five-star resort in Phuket.

Manhoe Lai, 31, was swimming in a pool at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa in Mai Khao just after midday yesterday when for an unknown reason he lost consciousness, Lt Thanom Thongpan of the Tah Chat Chai Police told the Phuket Gazette.

“He was pulled out of the pool by guests who were in the water at that time. Hotel staff immediately reported the incident to police,” Lt Thanom said.

“Mr Lai was swimming while his wife was at poolside. She did not notice anything wrong until she saw him being pulled out of the water by other guests,” he added.

Mr Lai’s wife reported that her husband was not known to be suffering from any pre-existing medical condition.

“[She said] they always have a yearly physical checkup and they just did it before coming to Thailand,” Lt Thanom said.

“At this stage we have no idea what caused the incident. We hope that more information from the doctors will be able to help us in our investigation,” he added.

Bangkok Hospital Phuket staff confirmed to the Gazette this morning that Mr Lai has remained unconscious in the ICU since his arrival at the hospital yesterday.

“Right now we are working with police to collect more information relevant to the case. We will issue a statement later when we have more information,” a staffer at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa told the Gazette.

— Orawin Narabal