Swiss man falls to his death at Phuket airport

Second such incident in a month at airport car park believed to be a suicide

PHUKET: A 53-year-old Swiss man fell to his death from a parking building at Phuket international airport on Friday night.

Police rushed to the airport after being told that a foreign man had suffered injuries after jumping from the parking building at about 7.30pm on Friday, Pol Col Salan Santisatsanakul, chief of Sakhu police station, said on Saturday.

The officers found bloodstains on the ground floor of the building. The injured tourist, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead on arrival at Thalang Hospital, said Pol Col Salan.

Police believed the tourist jumped deliberately. A security guard at the airport said he had noticed the man apparently surveying the area since the daytime.

Last month, a 50-year-old Australian man fell to his death from the car park building at the same airport.

Tourism and Sports Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol said the Tourist Assistance Centre (TAC) at the Phuket airport was working with the Swiss consular office in Phuket to contact relatives of the deceased.

Ms Sudawan said the ministry would hold a meeting with the agencies concerned to discuss how to tighten safety measures following the incident.

Any tourist who has a problem or needs help can contact the TAC and tourist police at the Phuket airport and other airports across the country, or contact the tourist police call centre at 1155, she added.