Australian tourist found dead in Thai hotel room

An Australian man has been found dead inside a hotel room in Thailand one day before his flight back home, according to local media.

The tourist, reportedly aged in his early 20s, was discovered by a hotel staff member in the district of Tambon Thepkrasattri on the holiday island of Phuket on Wednesday morning, local time.

An Australian tourist has been found dead inside his hotel room in Phuket, Thailand.Credit: Bloomberg

Police were called around 10am, local time, and found the man in bed wearing a black T-shirt and holding a mobile phone, The Phuket News reported.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed an Australian had died.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who died in Thailand,” the spokesperson said on Thursday night.

The holidaymaker, who is yet to be formally identified, was born in India and had an Australian passport, according to Reuters.

There were bandages on the man’s elbow and wrist. His friends told local authorities the injuries were from a recent motorcycle accident, The Phuket News said.

Police said there were no signs of assault or a break-in in the room.

“I saw him lying there with a mobile phone resting on his chest. He was still on a call with someone. The line hadn’t been disconnected, and he had died like that. There were no signs of struggle or anything suspicious,” police lieutenant colonel Thanom Thongpaen told Reuters.

“It appeared he had been on the call for about 12 hours. The phone screen had gone dark, but we could still see the call duration and confirm he was on a call.

“We don’t know who he was talking to. I tried speaking into the phone, but there was no response. The line remained active, but there was no voice on the other end. The phone was locked, so we couldn’t examine it further.”

There was no sign of drugs or alcohol in the room, other than “about 10 pills in blister packs” which came from a hotel staffer after the tourist requested over-the-counter pain medication, according to Thongpaen.

“He likely took the medication before he passed away,” Thongpaen said, adding that there was yet to be a “clear cause of death”.

The man was travelling alone, but hotel staff had a phone number for a friend from Australia who was travelling at the same time in Phuket, and notified them of the death.

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