Foreigner Death Toll On The Rise

PHUKET TOWN: The number of foreigners who have died in Phuket so far this year has surpassed the total recorded in 1997, Phuket Tourist Police told the Gazette today. A total of 33 foreigners died in the province from January 1 through November 25, 1998. By comparison, 23 deaths were recorded in calendar year 1997. Of the 33 deaths recorded to date, nearly half were drowning victims. According to Tourist Police records, the waters claimed the lives of 14 foreigners, double the total reported during all of 1997. Vehicular accidents killed nine foreigners so far this year, with the same number dying from illnesses. One foreigner died as the result of a jet-ski mishap. No murders of foreigners have been recorded in Phuket in 1998, nor have there been any reported suicides. In 1997, two foreigners were murdered and two took their own lives. Tourist Police also reported that the deaths of three foreigners have been recorded from January 1, 1998 through November 25, 1998 in Krabi province. The total included one drowning victim, one person who died of injuries sustained in a fall from a building, and one person who committed suicide. 1997 saw the same number of foreigners die in the province.