A 34 year old Chinese woman named ‘Zou’ fell to her death from the 10th floor of a 5 star hotel in Karon Beach, a popular resort area in southern Thailand. She had visited Phuket 18 times before.
The woman had arrived in Thailand on Monday, holding a tourist visa. She was identified as a tourist from China. According to Hassen Hamrouni, a 35 year old Tunisian national, he and the woman were in a romantic relationship. They had checked into the Pullman Hotel in Karon at 3pm on Thursday and were occupying a room on the 10th floor.
On Thursday evening, after dining and drinking at a hotel restaurant, they returned to their room at 10pm. Mr. Hamrouni stated that while they were in the room, his girlfriend repeatedly expressed a desire to end her life. However, he did not take her statements seriously.
According to interviews, during the early hours of Friday morning, while Mr. Hamrouni was in the bathroom, the woman made her way to the balcony and attempted to jump off. He managed to intervene in time, bringing her back into the room and trying to console her.
Approximately an hour later, the woman again rushed to the balcony and attempted to jump off. Her boyfriend tried to hold onto her leg but was unable to maintain his grip due to her weight. Tragically, the woman fell to the ground from the 10th floor.
Kritchana Kingmala, a hotel receptionist, was on a walkway to the hotel lobby around 4am when he heard people shouting. Looking up, he saw a man holding onto a woman’s leg on the 10th-floor balcony. The woman fell onto the walkway and succumbed to her injuries shortly after.
Mr. Kingmala immediately notified the hotel’s security chief, who in turn alerted the local police. Following the incident, forensic police and a doctor from Vachira Phuket Hospital conducted an autopsy on the woman.
Her body remains at the hospital pending the conclusion of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding her tragic death. The local consulate has been informed.
