Sen Sgt Maj Somkiet Phetkaew of the Patong Police explained to The Phuket News that Russian national Denis Timoshenkov, 38, was staying at the Patong Phuket Mirage Hotel.
“He had refused to leave the hotel after his checkout time, and so hotel staff called police,” Sen Sgt Maj Somkiet said.
The hotel manager explained to The Phuket News today that Mr Timoshenkov was supposed to check out on Friday (June 14).
However, the Russian man was still in his room on Saturday. The manager told The Phuket News that he tried to resolve the issue through talks, but said that Mr Timoshenkov was unintelligible.
“Hotel staff said he was always drunk, all the time,” Sen Sgt Maj Somkiet said.
Tired of the man not vacating his hotel room, staff at the hotel called Patong Police to the hotel on Sunday.
“Officers tried to talk with him, but they could not understand him. He seemed very drunk,” Sen Sgt Maj Somkiet said.
Instead of creating a scene with officers taking him into custody, the officers cooperated with Kusoldharm rescue workers to bring him to Patong Police Station, Sen Sgt Maj Somkiet explained.
After Mr Timoshenkov arrived at Patong Police Station, the officers let him sleep in an open-access area of the station.
However, Mr Timoshenkov soon disappeared, only to be found by police officers in front of the police accommodation building located in the police station compound, Sen Sgt Maj Somkiet said.
“No one saw him leave the police station,” he added.
Other police officers who were going to the apartment building saw him on the ground, with his small black travel case still standing upright beside his body.
Mr Timoshenkov was unconscious, so the officers raised the alarm and the Kusoldharm rescue workers were called back to the police station to render assistance, Sen Sgt Maj Somkiet said.
“The rescue workers could not find any pulse, so they rushed him to Patong Hospital (not even 200 metres away across the intersection), but he was confirmed dead,” he explained.
“We have yet to receive confirmation of the cause of death, but at this stage police believe that Mr Timoshenkov died after going into shock from alcohol poisoning,” Sen Sgt Maj Somkiet said.