American tourist, 50, found dead hanging from apartment balcony in Thailand
An American tourist was found dead hanging from an apartment balcony in Thailand.
Timothy Tahei Witsil, 50, from Florida, was watching the street below when he is believed to have collapsed on the sixth-floor balcony of the Grand Residence Hotel in Pattaya.
Shocked passers-by alerted police when they looked up and noticed the unconscious holidaymaker draped motionless over the railing in the early hours of May 18.
Police arrived at the scene at 1 am local time, where they found onlookers gathered on the street outside the seven-storey building.
The shirtless holidaymaker, wearing grey jeans and sandals, was seen slumped forward on the railing beside a white plastic chair.
The TV in his room had been left on, and he had placed two bags on his bed.
Lieutenant Colonel Saijai Kamjulla said Timothy is believed to have died more than three hours before he was discovered.
The police chief said: 'No wounds or signs of assault were found on his body, while the room also showed no evidence of a struggle or disturbance.
'We have inspected the scene and taken photographs as evidence. The tourist's body will undergo a post-mortem exam to determine the exact cause of his death.'
A passerby named Tae said that he had was sitting with a friend on benches opposite the building when he noticed someone hanging from the balcony.
He added: 'I looked more closely when I realised the person wasn't moving. I was shocked because it looked like he was dead. I asked a motorcycle taxi rider nearby to help me call the police.'
Former fishing village Pattaya became popular with American troops on 'rest and relaxation' breaks in the 1950s and 1960s when the U.S. military had bases in Thailand while fighting Communism in Vietnam.
The handful of bars in the coastal town quickly grew and it is now the world's biggest sex holiday destination, with round-the-clock prostitution and drugs - a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah rife with crime and debauchery.
Government chiefs have attempted to clean up the city, but regular violence, depravity and claims of corruption continue to blight its reputation.
