Boonlua Chatree
An obese foreign man died after allegedly falling down
drunk in front of a Jomtien Beach 7-Eleven and being wheeled on a handtruck
to a nearby hotel.
Police found the foreigner dead at the Natural Park
Resort still on the dolly the convenience store staff had brought him in on
around 2:30 a.m. Dec. 27. Workers at the Soi 17 store had believed he was a
guest at the nearby hotel.
As of press time, police have not released the man’s
name, and could not immediately determine the victim’s cause of death,
saying it could have been form heavy drinking, falling off a chair in front
of the 7-Eleven, a heart attack or another health ailment. The body was sent
to the Forensics Institute for further determination.
Aathit Haaruanjak, 16, said he’d seen the heavyset man
drinking from a large vodka bottle outside the convenience store and offered
him a seat at a sidewalk table. The victim then set up shop there, chatting
and offering drinks to foreign tourists entering and leaving the 7-Eleven.
Finally, he drank so much he passed out and fell to the pavement.
Instead of calling police or an ambulance, 7-Eleven
staffers scooped up the big man onto a freight dolly and dumped him at the
Natural Park Resort. Receptionists also didn’t bother to call authorities,
leaving him on the handtruck to sleep off his bender.
Four hours later, when the foreigner was still taking up
space in the lobby, the hotel staff decided to check on him, discovering he
was dead. At that point, they called police.
The foreign man was wearing several pieces of gold
jewelry, but was not carrying any identification, police said.