Mystery Illness Kills Northern Tourists

[dab69]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44155883/ns/travel-news/

"BANGKOK тАФ An investigation into the mysterious deaths of a U.S. woman and four other tourists in hotels in northern Thailand has suggested a link to toxic chemical exposure, but failed to determine exactly what killed them, according to a government website Tuesday.

..The victims тАФ from New Zealand, France, and Britain as well as the U.S. тАФ were staying at three different hotels in the popular northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.

A Thai tour guide also died, and three other tourists fell ill but recovered.

No one has been declared responsible in the spate of deaths, which came in January and February.

"The specific agents that caused the deaths and illnesses in these events cannot be identified, and it can not be determined exactly how people were exposed to them," the Department of Disease Control said on its website Tuesday.

The results were most revealing concerning a 23-year-old New Zealand woman who died Feb. 6, her two females companions тАФ both also 23 тАФ who got sick but recovered, and a 47-year-old Thai woman who died February 3.

The four are "most likely to have the same cause of illness, probably exposure to some toxic chemical, pesticides or gas," the report states.
.The deaths of a British couple in their 70s found in their hotel room Feb. 19 were "possibly related" to the those deaths "as they occurred in the same hotel," the report states.

This is old news

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/467540-exact-cause-of-chiang-mai-hotel-deaths-may-be-impossible-to-find-health-official/

[Brad the Impala]

Old news, but made current by the very inconclusive report made yesterday by the Thai Government.


Authorities in Thailand say they are still not certain what caused the death of six tourists in the northern city of Chiang Mai but suggest some may have died from being exposed to pesticide or other toxic chemicals.

The deaths include that of a Thai tourist guide, two tourists from Britain, one tourist from France, one tourist from New Zealand and one from the United States. The tourists were staying in three different hotels in the city during January and February 2011. Three other tourists also fell ill but recovered.

The latest news comes from a posting on the Thai government's Department of Disease Control website on Tuesday, that said the authorities have have conducted an investigation into the mysterious deaths but the results were inconclusive, and the "specific agents that caused the deaths and illnesses in these events cannot be identified". It also says the authorities cannot establish exactly how the victims came to be exposed to them.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232800.php

Think of it from the Thai authorities point of view - the remains were probably all shipped back to the respective countries with little or no tissue samples kept - some were probably cremated in Thailand to keep repatriation costs down. They probably had very little material to work with.

They can only really wait for another death to occur and then go overboard with forensics and toxicology tests.

A few tourists do die each year. Probability is a weird branch of maths that demonstrates that from time to time, seemingly highly improbable events and coincidences do occur. It is also possible that the hotel most closely associated (and now, I think, shut) had been a mecca for people indulging some form of clandestine and dangerous activity..

[Beachlover]

It is also possible that the hotel most closely associated (and now, I think, shut)...
Really? It's been shut. When did this happen?

I'm proud to say that on one of my earlier trips to Bangkok, I stayed at First Hotel, which was voted Asia's Worst Hotel in 2009 and Asia's 8th Dirtiest Hotel in 2010 on TripAdvisor. :rolling:
http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/sleep/thai ... ist-373699 (http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/sleep/thailand-tops-dirtiest-hotels-asia-list-373699)

As a backpacker with low expectations, I had no issues with anything and didn't experience any creepy crawlies myself but my fellow travelers were complaining about bites and shit crawling around while they were trying sleep the next morning... Glad I stay in nicer joints these days.

[krobbie]

I stayed at First Hotel, which was voted Asia's Worst Hotel in 2009 and Asia's 8th Dirtiest Hotel in 2010 on TripAdvisor.

If you want a real horror stay and a reminder of why we should all be grateful for better circumstances take a look at the New Trocadero Hotel in Lower Surawong Road. Yikes. Truly heinous!

I didn't think for a moment that Thai Authorities would come up for a reason for these deaths. They must protect their tourist market. An outside (of Thailand) authority should have overseen the procedures but Thai authorities would no allow it. What a croc.

[Beachlover]

Apparently, despite the ambigious investigation results, authorities have announced new measures to protect tourists...

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Mystery tourist deaths see Thailand bring in new health measures

Thailand announced new measures yesterday to protect tourists after five foreigners died mysteriously in one city in just over a month, saying they were likely poisoned by unidentified toxic chemicals or pesticides....

Thailand's Department of Disease Control listed actions that will be taken to prevent more illness in Chiang Mai and other key destinations for tourism.

They included the close monitoring of the use of chemicals and pesticides in hotels, inspections of markets and street food vendors, health and safety training by local authorities, a review of investigation procedures and the setting-up of a website to advise tourists on potential health risks.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-inc ... 1ix4w.html (http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/mystery-tourist-deaths-see-thailand-bring-in-new-health-measures-20110817-1ix4w.html)
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If you want a real horror stay... take a look at the New Trocadero Hotel in Lower Surawong Road. Yikes. Truly heinous!
LOL... Review on Tripadvisor says, "Its not a hotel, its a breeding ground for cockroaches and bugs."

[pong]

to suss the minds all of you-that NT HTl was closed and under extensive renovation (about completely stripped inside) when I passed last time in BKk-now 4/5 weeks ago. TA-as I have noted before from time time I have to read/delve through a lot of those touristy sites) is a wonderful mirror of about anything an OZie (making at least 80% of Thailand postings) could ever worry about-in his noworriesmate state.
Of course as it was a Kiwi/NZ guest also foudn dead, the NZ started up the thin then on that Cmai gsthse by suggesting it mioght vane been an overdose of insecticde. Quite well possible- not knowing that you do is a tipical Thai behaviour. Reminds me of all those ├│sohealthy green veggies eaters, who must also get much more insecticide in their mouth as anyone might have though of). However, at that time the verdict was that it would need about a whole container of that stuff to kill people just sleeping in rooms-in 1 room. Dizzyness or headaches would be far more common.
FYO: every year about30-40 dead corpses of tourists have to be gotten out of |Thailand alone to Europe-add to that all the others, like Japanese, Ozzies etc. (other as many fora or persons seem to think-USAers only make out less as 5% of Tourists to LOS). But most of them were victims of traffic, followed by drownings, accidental or even from qualified divers.