German tourist, 33, injured in fall from hotel while smoking on balcony
A German tourist was seriously injured in a fall from a hotel balcony in Thailand while smoking.
Philipp Hohmann, 33, from Bergisch Gladbach, was said to have been smoking cannabis when he tried to lean against the balcony wall of his second-floor room in resort city Pattaya.
But he reportedly toppled backwards over the edge without a safety railing, plunging some 20 feet to the ground below.
His panicked German friend informed the hotel receptionist, who then called emergency services at around 3:16 am local time on October 1.
Paramedics arrived to find Philipp lying on the ground with a severe head wound and heavy bleeding after the fall. Blood flowed onto the pavement, and leaves and branches were strewn after he struck a tree on the way down.
The tourist was conscious and able to speak as he was rushed to hospital.
Police later inspected his room and found no signs of a struggle. Officers said broken glass, marijuana and smoking paraphernalia were discovered.
Police Captain Sakkyaphap Chaidech of Pattaya City Police Station said: 'We found no signs of a struggle or anything suspicious inside the room. We are continuing to question the injured man's friend and examine the evidence at the scene to establish exactly how he fell from the balcony.'
Pattaya has seen several cases of tourists falling from hotels and condominiums, with alcohol or marijuana sometimes blames as the causes.
On September 4, Indian tourist Abhishek Jagannath Kunjir, 42, was seriously injured in a fall from a seven-storey hotel on Soi Buakhao 15, with rescuers reporting the smell of alcohol.
On May 21, Chinese tourist Chen Ronggui, 33, died after falling from the sixth floor of a hotel off Soi 17 in South Pattaya, crashing through a glass canopy. Police found alcohol bottles in his room.
While on March 15, British tourist Beth Klug suffered multiple spinal fractures and was unable to move her arms after plunging from a fourth-floor balcony at a 22-storey hotel in South Pattaya. Officers she smelled strongly of alcohol.
The astonishingly high rate has spawned the grim moniker 'The Pattaya Flying Club' to describe the circumstances of those who die in balcony falls.
